ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CIRCUITS

CODE	65997
ACADEMIC YEAR	2026/2027
CREDITS	4 cfu anno 2 INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA 11880 (L-8 R) - GENOVA 4 cfu anno 3 INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA 8719 (L-8) - GENOVA
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR	ING-INF/01
LANGUAGE	Italian (English on demand)
TEACHING LOCATION	GENOVA
SEMESTER	2° Semester
MODULES	Questo insegnamento è un modulo di: ELECTRONICS, CIRCUITS AND ELECTROMAGNETISM
TEACHING MATERIALS	AULAWEB

OVERVIEW

This subject is the meeting point between circuit theory applied to electronic components, microcontrollers and their high-level language programming tools. The design and simulation of circuits, the programming of microcontrollers especially oriented to signal management, interfacing for the construction of programmable electronic systems used in engineering, for example for IoT and mechatronic applications, are examined.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This teaching unit provides students with the methods and basic tools for understanding, analyzing, and designing analog and digital electronic circuits and systems. The course covers fundamental concepts on: electronic devices (diodes and transistors), electronic circuits in static and dynamic conditions, operation and use of operational amplifiers, AD/DA converters, and interfacing electronic circuits with programmable systems.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the teaching unit, the student should be able to:

read simple electronic schematics;
calculate voltages and currents in basic resistive circuits;
use Ohm’s law, KCL, KVL, and voltage dividers;
explain the behavior of an RC circuit;
describe the qualitative operation of diodes, BJTs, and MOSFETs;
use the transistor model as a switch;
explain the operation of NMOS and PMOS transistors;
describe a CMOS inverter at the transistor level;
explain how logic gates are implemented using CMOS technology;
connect abstract logic gates with real electrical circuits;
understand delay, power consumption, logic levels, and noise margins;
describe, at least qualitatively, a sensor–ADC–microcontroller chain.

PREREQUISITES

About the first part on components and circuits, basic skills in circuit theory are required, for the second part on microcontrollers, basic knowledge of computer architecture and programming are required.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures (32 hours), including PC-based exercises.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Lecture	Topic	Core content
1	Introduction	Voltage, current, power, ground, digital signal as voltage
2	Resistance and Ohm’s law	Resistors, power, series/parallel connections
3	Kirchhoff’s laws	Nodes, branches, loops, KCL, KVL
4	Voltage dividers and digital inputs	Voltage dividers, pull-up, pull-down, 3.3/5 V logic levels
5	Reactive components	Capacitors, inductors, energy, transients
6	RC circuits and real signal edges	Time constant, charging/discharging, delays, filters
7	Semiconductors	Silicon, doping, PN junction
8	Diodes and LEDs	Diodes, LEDs, protections, flyback
9	BJTs and MOSFETs as switches	Transistors, driving circuits, low-side switch, H-bridge
10	NMOS and PMOS	Switch model, threshold, pull-up/pull-down
11	CMOS inverter	CMOS, inverter, VDD/GND paths
12	CMOS NAND and NOR	Series/parallel NMOS/PMOS networks, ON/OFF tables
13	AND/OR and physical cost	NAND/NOR, functional completeness, transistor count, delay
14	Real logic gates	Fan-out, delays, capacitance, power consumption, noise
15	Sensors and signal conditioning	Resistive/capacitive sensor, buffer, filter, ADC input
16	ADC and microcontroller	Sampling, quantization, aliasing, complete toolchain

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LUCA LAZZARONI

Ricevimento: By appointment. To make an appointment you can contact the lecturer through Microsoft Teams (preferred) or by email.

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/8719/p/studenti-orario

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a written test covering the topics addressed in class.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The test consists of closed-ended questions, such as multiple-choice questions, and open-ended questions of varying difficulty, aimed at assessing achievement of the course objectives.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with specific learning disabilities (DSA) will be allowed to adopt specific methods and supports which will be established on a case-by-case basis in agreement with the Delegate of engineering courses in the Commission for the inclusion of students with disabilities.