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Author: John Mulindi

  • How Cellular Communication Systems Works

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    John Mulindi
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    In cellular communication systems, there is a two-way wireless transmission between the cellular phone handset and the base station tower. The cell phone converts the audio signals into electrical form using a microphone. This information is imposed on a high frequency carrier signal by the process of modulation. The modulated carrier is radiated into free…

  • Soft-Core Processor on an ASIC vs. FPGA

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    John Mulindi
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    A soft-core processor can be executed via different semiconductor devices, such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). An ASIC is customized for a specific application, whereas the FPGA’s programmable logic blocks and interconnects allow a single FPGA to be used and reused in several different applications. On…

  • Electrical vs. Electronic Instruments

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    John Mulindi
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    Despite the fact that both electrical and electronic instruments measure electrical quantities like voltage and current, they differ from each other in terms of the built-in features; for example, purely electrical instruments don’t possess any in-built amplifying device to increase the amplitude of the quantity being measured whereas electronic instruments typically incorporate an amplifier. DC…

  • The Principle of Piezoelectric Sensing

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    John Mulindi
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    The piezoelectric transduction is based on the conversion of mechanical vibrations into electrical signals and vice versa. The piezoelectric effect involves the generation of electric charge by a material when subjected to a mechanical deformation. The redistribution of electrical charges in the piezoelectric material causes variations of the electric field inside the material. The reverse…

  • The Performance Limits for PID Controllers

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    John Mulindi
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    PID Controllers can be applied successfully to most control problems in process control, electrical drive systems and servo mechanisms due to the fact that most of these processes have a dynamic behaviour that can be adequately approximated by a second-order process. However, the PID controller is not enough to control processes with additional complexities like…

  • What is Selective Control?

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    John Mulindi
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    In a number of process control problems, we may have more measurements (controlled variables) than manipulated variables. Hence, it is impossible to eliminate errors in all the controlled variables for arbitrary setpoint changes of disturbances by using only simple (single-input/single output) controllers. Thus selectors are used to share the manipulated variables among the controlled variables.…

  • What is a Soft-Core Processor?

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    John Mulindi
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    A soft-core processor is a microprocessor core that can be implemented entirely using digital logic synthesis. It is typically created on a programmable hardware like a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The key feature of a FPGA is that it is reconfigurable with different digital designs allowing functionality to be changed unlimited number of times…

  • 5 Control Techniques – Their Features & Applications

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    John Mulindi
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    We have a number of control theories that have been put forward on how to design control laws to accomplish various purposes. Generally they can be classified as follows: Classical Control This control technique deals with the behaviour of dynamical systems, which typically have inputs and how their behaviour is modified by feedback, employing the…

  • 4 Types of Radiation & How they interact with Matter

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    John Mulindi
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    We have four key types of radiation, namely: alpha, beta, gamma and neutron. The four types differ in mass, energy and how deep they penetrate objects. Alpha Particle The alpha particle (α) is a helium nucleus produced from the radioactive decay of heavy metals and some nuclear reactions. Alpha decay often occurs among nuclei that…

  • How Photoelectric Effect Impacts p-n Junctions

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    John Mulindi
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    When light strikes a semiconductor p-n junction, its energy is absorbed by electrons. Electrons and holes generated by light in the p-n junction are swept by the junction electrical field. Consequently, the current flows through the junction. The figure below illustrates the process of generating current in a photodiode. The figure above is a p-n…