IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Summer 2017 - 6

A SSOC IATE EDITOR'S VIE W

Marcel Pelgrom

Back to Basics

The first thing that struck me was the
extreme neatness inside the school
building. With it being in Switzerland, I
should not be surprised. Yet the Ecole
Hoteliere was so clean that it almost
could compete with a semiconductor fab. The world's best hospitality
management school trains future managers for positions in top hotels and
restaurants. Its students undergo a rigorous education program. They familiarize themselves with haute cuisine
as well as haute finance. But what
surprised me most was their daily
drive to improve their basic skills:
from their personal attire to cutting
vegetables julienne style. Their motto
is simple: you can only become a real
leader if you excel in the basics.
That simple adage is certainly valid
for microelectronics; yet it is too often
forgotten. Many young engineers stare
at the pundits receiving prizes and
titles, and they question how to reach
that level. Do top engineers have some
special DNA to analyze complex problems? While the youngsters are pondering how to improve their skills,
the answer is often in their first-year
lectures. The main difference in quality between average and excellent
engineers is a deeper level of understanding the basic principles.
For every engineering activity,
other principles are relevant. A printed circuit board designer should be
familiar with the interaction among
the board material, the wiring, the
components, and the mounting techDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSSC.2017.2712912
Date of publication: 25 August 2017

SU M M E R 2 0 17

nology. His excellence depends on
time constant. Any source that fills a
his experience with various technolocontainer by means of a flow that is progies and correctly interpreting inportional to the level difference results
formation such as that found in data
in an exponentially declining behavior
sheets. That includes knowledge of the
of the flow. That is true for RC and
component's behavior within the speciRL circuits, for he at ing obje c t s,
fication range but more
in financial planning,
so what happens if the
and in metrological
Their motto is
part is pushed outside
phenomena. Even your
simple: you can
its operating region durtoilet tank behaves at
only become a
ing switching sequences,
some moment as a firstreal leader if
power issues, and other
order network.
you excel in the
unforeseen events.
A time constant
basics.
In any sort of chip
is a time delay below
design, the principles of
the cut-off frequency.
mathematics and physThe delay equals the
ics are indispensable. Mathematical
time constant, and above the cuttransformations allow different views
off frequency, the delay is a quaron the sequence of events. The Fourier
ter of the signal frequency period.
frequency transform is the basis of sigSo a 1-μs time constant delays a
nal filtering, sampling theory, image
2-mHz or a 10-kHz signal by 1 μs. A
compression, and many more. Time
complex circuit often reveals its besequences are interpreted as counts
havior by simply checking the time
per unit time. To transform from time
constants of the nodes that the sigto frequency, the assumption is used
nal will pass. Automated financial
that the signal window can be repeatspeculation techniques feed the flow
ed indefinitely.
of commodity prices (copper, corn,
That's trivial. Now suppose there is
oil) into two separate first-order sysonly 1 μs of signal available and no optems. The decision to buy/sell detion to stretch into infinity. How accupends on the sign of the difference
rate can the frequency content then be
between the two first-order systems.
determined? This simple engineering
The financial know-how is in the
question reveals a basic transformation
choice of the time constants for firstconstraint: a limited observation periorder systems.
od results in limited frequency accuraMastering this seemingly simple
cy. Heisenberg's uncertainty theorem is
undergrad material to a deeper level is
the quantum mechanical consequence.
key for reaching some level of excelMany physical and engineering effects
lence. Electrical engineers should imare directly related to underlying mathprove their basic skills just as junior
ematical theories.
hotel managers do: pay attention to
Another vital principle involves a
them every day!
first-order system characterized by a

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