Electronic parts

From Syncleus Wiki

Electronic parts are the legos of electronics which are used to build everything else. Components can be grouped in many ways. A few include:

Passive or active

• Passive Components can't provide power gain - they always output less than their signal inputs.
  • Resistor
  • Capacitor
  • Inductor
  • Diode
• Active Components can output more power than their signal inputs
  • Transistor
  • Vaccuum Tube
  • Operational Amplifiers
  • Most components that require a power supply

Whether their behavior is linear or nonlinear

• Linear behavior
  • Resistors, capacitors, inductors
  • Bipolar transistors with Small signals
• Nonlinear behavior
  • Diodes
  • Bipolar transistors with Large signals

By the number of basic components found in a part (i.e. level of integration). Small/Medium/Large/etc scale integration refers to the number of transistors or other active elements found in a chip.

• Not integrated (discrete parts) - diodes, resistors, capacitors, inductors, individual transistors
• Small-scale integration (up to dozens of transistors)
  • early logic chips (e.g. 74xx)
  • LDO voltage regulators
  • Some OpAmps
• Medium-scale integration (hundreds of transistors)
  • Larger 74xx chips (8-bit counters for example)
  • Extremely fast logic chips
• Large-scale integration (thousands of transistors)
  • Smaller microprocessors/microcontrollers
  • Small FPGAs
• VLSI, XLSI, etc: Larger microcontrollers, Modern CPUs and ASICs

By the functions they perform in circuits. This classification extends beyond just electronics into the often electro-mechanical means they use to interact with the world.

• Input
  • Contact sensors
    • Switches
    • Microphones (pressure)
    • Flow meters (velocity)
    • Thermistors (temperature)
  • Field sensors
    • Antennas (EM field, low frequencies)
    • Light sensors (EM field, optical frequencies)
    • Hall sensors (Magnetic field)
• Processing
  • Microcontrollers
  • Analog signal processing
• Output
  • Antennas
  • Optical
    • LEDs, lamps, flashbulbs, etc.
    • IR
    • Displays
  • Actuators - motors, servos, etc.
  • Acoustic - speakers