analysis of amplifiers, where the type(s) of overall feedback
, as well as some very basic instructions on mea-
loop(s) and the internal configuration are known before-
hand, but it does not provide a designer with the means to
find the correct amplifier type in a certain application. The
ENM can therefore only be applied in a design state where
an important part of the design effort must already be
completed. Fortunately there are, for the initial amplifier-
design procedure, methods making use of loop-gain analy-
sis techniques which suffer less from the identification and
definition problems mentioned earlier. The author does
not dwell on the disadvantage of his method, namely its
reliance on measurements and files of device parameters.
In particular, the application of this method to monolithic
integrated circuits seems to be rather impractical.
Another disadvantage of this type of approach is that
the relation of amplifier behavior to physical device
properties is lost. Though existing methods may be less
accurate because of circuit parasitics and inaccurate device
modelling they are needed to arrive at a stage where the
ENM can be applied successfully as a finishing touch to a
well-designed amplifier.
Summarising, the significance of this book is great
where it presents a rigorous method for feedback stability
assessment. Its significance is limited with regard to the
initial amplifier-design phase.
E.H. NORDHOLT
Illustrated guidebook to electronic devices and cir-
cuits
Fredrick W. Hughes
Prentice Hall Int., 1983, 431 pp., £25.45
ISBN: 13-451-328-2
This American textbook contains much useful information
about a vast range of electronic devices and circuits. Many
of the explanations of circuit or component functions are
at an extremely elementary level. For a UK readership
some of the units used may cause confusion, e.g. 'cir mil-ft'
(p. 3).
Chap. 1 deals with passive components (how to read the
value of a resistor, types of capacitor etc.) wire and cable
(types and sizes), plugs and sockets, switches, batteries and
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 131, Pt. G, No. 2, APRIL 1984
fuses etc.
surements with meters and oscilloscopes. Chaps. 2-4 cover
the principles of operation and characteristics of various
types of transistors, diodes, optoelectronic devices and
vacuum tubes.
Next come three chapters on analogue discrete-
component circuits including power supplies, amplifiers
and oscillators. Chaps. 8-10 give information on the design
and testing of audio, radio and TV circuits. The American
radio and TV systems are described which are, of course,
different in some respects to those used at present in the
UK. In the section on 'Troubleshooting' no warnings
are given of the potentially lethal voltages present in TV
receivers.
Chap. 11, on integrated circuits, describes techniques of
fabrication and gives application of commonly available
circuits e.g. voltage regulators, timers, phase locked loops
etc. Chap. 12 specialises in operational amplifier circuits,
non-inverting amplifiers, differential amplifiers, simple
filters, integrators, differentiators etc.
Chap. 13 deals with digital circuits: gates, flip flops,
counters, adders etc., and towards the end of the chapter is
a section on elementary Boolean algebra.
Chap. 14 on microcomputers gives a useful introduction
to the concepts used in microcomputer systems and gives a
glossary of computer terms.
This book will be useful to those wanting to build elec-
tronic circuits, but who do not require lengthy mathemati-
cal descriptions of the circuits' functions; in fact the
occasional attempts at theoretical explanations sometimes
leave much to be desired, e.g. Chaps. 12.9 and 12.10 on
integrators and differentiators. There are a number of
errors in simple formulas, e.g. evaluation of the value of
resistors, capacitors and inductors in series or parallel
(Chap. 1), which could cause great confusion.
In summary, this book could be valuable to the serious
hobbyist or to engineers and technicians who perhaps do
not work full time in the field but who occasionally need
to design an electronic circuit or be reminded of how a
device functions. For students it could be a useful supple-
ment to other textbooks, but contains rather too many
errors and is insufficiently rigorous in some of its theoreti-
cal treatments to be solely relied on for most courses.
MARK KUNES
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