Topic outline

  • General

    This course is web-based

    It is suitable for autonomous student activity.The exam is based on the main course text book and the web material. An exam is arranged as required when at least three participants show binding interest in it.

    Preface

    This web-based course is suitable for all post graduate students in the field of applied electronics. The content mainly deals with the design of portable electronic equipment in general but most case examples are from the mobile communication world. 

    Portability of electronic or electrical devices has been a trigger of continuous jokes - often connected to transportability. A solid definition is hard to find because this is also a matter of taste. Is everything movable by one single person really portable ? However, electronic watches, mobile phones, digital cameras, general household tools, navigation devices and related small gadgets have been around for long but the special practices and methods needed in their design and development process have seldom been collected as one entity. This course tries to give an overview and a cross-technological treatment of the topic. 

    Portable electronics designers must take into account interdisciplinary factors such as thermal problems, vibration, human interaction and even economics. We try to include all these items into this course. 

    Issues covered in the web material and by the main course text book are for example general design factors and reliability issues, electronic packaging, displays and related optical components, power supplies, mechanics and enclosures, mechatronic modules and economics. Four major example groups have been created from mobile communications, digital cameras, watches and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

    The www-material contains material from post graduate seminars, where participating students have highlighted their findings and described the main contents of their project work. Their help in collecting this www course is highly appreciated!