Microelectronic Circuits - Tapa dura

This text is designed for an undergraduate Electronics course and takes a top down approach to the subject. The author first introduces students to the general characteristics of integrated circuits (ICs), to prepare them for the use of circuit design and analysis techniques. Then, Muhammad Rashid moves on to a more detailed study of devices and circuits and how they operate within ICs (a more advanced set of topics). This macro before micro approach has definite advantages for the instructor, in that the more difficult details of the discrete devices do not have to be covered in the first semester. Rather, they (and the more rigorous math that they require) are addressed in the second semester. The student exposed to a top-down approach can readily go back and fill in (device-level) detail as his class or job situation requires. He also has a better systems perspective.