BitWeenie | Electrical Engineering Made Easy

The Decibel

Posted by Shannon Hilbert in Digital Signal Processing on 3-4-13

The decibel (dB) is one of the most widely used measurement units in electrical engineering, but is a common source of misunderstanding for unfamiliar engineers. Fundamentally, the dB is a ratio, but the concept the decibel is also used to describe absolute quantities, of which power is the most common example. This article will cover: Definition of the Decibel When to Use 10log10 or 20log10 Why Engineers Use the Decibel Common Decibel Units Used in Electrical Engineering dB dBm dBW dBc dBa dBi Definition of the Decibel The decibel is a unit of measure that quantifies the ratio of two...

PCB Layers

Posted by Nikola T. in PCB Design on 2-11-13

Printed circuit boards have many different types of layers. To the uninitiated these layer types can be quite confusing, but once you have a basic understanding, you’ll see that it is all quite simple. Common PCB Layer Types Mechanical Layer Keep Out Layer Routing Layers Ground Planes & Power Planes Split Planes Overlay / Silkscreen Layers Solder Mask Layers Solder Paste Layers The figure below depicts a three dimensional view of a 4-layer PCB that has two routing layers (top and bottom) and two internal planes (GND and PWR). Don’t worry if that sentence...

Verilog vs. VHDL

Posted by Shannon Hilbert in Verilog / VHDL on 2-4-13

If you want to be an FPGA programmer, which of the two dominant FPGA programming languages do you learn? This question is asked so often by engineers new to the field of digital design, you’d think there would be a definitive answer. In this article I’m going to cover the main differences, pros, and cons about each language, but first I’m going to tell you that you’re asking the wrong question. The Right Question The wrong question is, “which language should I learn?”. The better question is, “which language should I learn first?”. Surprisingly, it really...

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