Book recommendation?

[[email protected]]

Hi all,
Can anyone recommend a good book about how to connect different
chips from different manufacturers into a single device? E.g., an
RFID reader from TI, a microprocessor from Intel, and a wireless
transceiver from somebody else. I don't even know what to look for...
I've searched for "Electrical Engineering" on Amazon, but those books
only tell you how to make each individual part, not how to connect
them together. Basically I want to connect the chips without frying
them (or myself) to a crisp, and get them to talk to each other. I
have a degree in computer science, so I'd be comfortable with
something above the "Let's meet Mr. Electron" level.

Thanks,
John

 

[Rich Webb]

Hi all,
Can anyone recommend a good book about how to connect different
chips from different manufacturers into a single device? E.g., an
RFID reader from TI, a microprocessor from Intel, and a wireless
transceiver from somebody else. I don't even know what to look for...
I've searched for "Electrical Engineering" on Amazon, but those books
only tell you how to make each individual part, not how to connect
them together. Basically I want to connect the chips without frying
them (or myself) to a crisp, and get them to talk to each other. I
have a degree in computer science, so I'd be comfortable with
something above the "Let's meet Mr. Electron" level.

It's more or less up to the individual data sheets. Check what protocol
the peripherals use: parallel, async serial, SPI, I2C? What nominal
family does the interface use: 5V TTL, 3.3V CMOS, 1.8V, LVDS? Many times
the data sheets will also have a "typical applications" section that has
example interconnections and layouts.

Manufacturers generally try to ensure that their parts will play nicely
with industry standards. There are also level-converter chips that can
be used to glue incompatible families together, when necessary.

 

[Tim Williams]

That's sort of like wanting a book that tells how to do kidney
transplants. Seriously, there's no short explanation for how to do
complex stuff.

Kidney transplants? Really? I'd think that's fairly textbook stuff
-- I can imagine a lot of things that vary between people, but
functionally you're just hooking up hoses to a new meat-filter.

I'd say it's more like... Dr. Frankenstein. Putting together
disparate stuff and making it work. Although I don't recommend
lightning as a debugging process.

Tim

 

[Nobody]

Can anyone recommend a good book about how to connect different
chips from different manufacturers into a single device? E.g., an
RFID reader from TI, a microprocessor from Intel, and a wireless
transceiver from somebody else. I don't even know what to look for...
I've searched for "Electrical Engineering" on Amazon, but those books
only tell you how to make each individual part, not how to connect
them together. Basically I want to connect the chips without frying
them (or myself) to a crisp, and get them to talk to each other. I
have a degree in computer science, so I'd be comfortable with
something above the "Let's meet Mr. Electron" level.

A book? That's like asking for a book which tells someone who has
never studied computing how to write a replacement for MS-Office. For
making a complex electronic device, you could easily need knowledge
from half of the courses making up an Elec.Eng. degree.

Even the most experienced EE would need to read the data sheets for the
chips in question (and the data sheet for a CPU could be anywhere from a
hundred pages for a simple 8-bit CPU to ten thousand pages for x86).

And you would need a fair amount of knowledge before you can understand
the data sheet. If a chip uses e.g. I2C or SPI for communication, the
datasheet will assume that you are already familiar with that protocol.

It will also assume that you understand basic electronic theory: voltage,
current, resistance, capacitance, slew rate, EMI, thermal issues, etc.

Ultimately, it's all learnable, but a Comp.Sci. background won't
necessarily help as much as you might expect. Exactly how much depends
upon the amount of low-level experience you have. Knowledge of assembler,
digital logic, and communications will help, while knowledge of Java,
SQL, AI and the like won't be of much use.

 

[[email protected]]

All of the above posts are valid.

You'll still have to learn at the component level, but the basic
starter text for a mere technician these days, is " Art of
Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill, and expect to have to read all 1200
or so pages. Get the 2nd edition and don't cringe at the 85$ price.
Even H&H will leave you searching for more data. Then search for books
by a fellow named Boylestad having the title "Electronic Devices and
Circuit Theory". You'll need that for the moderate to heavy math
parts when something goes wrong with the no theory, Ill just guess and
pray idea. Then probably Robert A Pease's "Troubleshooting Analog
Circuits"

For the software you'll have to do Arduino or PIC and GCC.

Then you'll need a good oscilloscope (CRT model for beginners) and
some other test equipment.

Or just hire a skilled technician, there are a lot of us unemployed
right now.It takes typically two years or more and at least half a
grand of equipment to get proficient at the basics.

Steve

 

[[email protected]]

Hi all,
     Can anyone recommend a good book about how to connect different
chips from different manufacturers into a single device?  E.g., an
RFID reader from TI, a microprocessor from Intel, and a wireless
transceiver from somebody else.  I don't even know what to look for...
I've searched for "Electrical Engineering" on Amazon, but those books
only tell you how to make each individual part, not how to connect
them together.  Basically I want to connect the chips without frying
them (or myself) to a crisp, and get them to talk to each other.  I
have a degree in computer science, so I'd be comfortable with
something above the "Let's meet Mr. Electron" level.

Thanks,
    John

I think the only hope for what you want to do is to find boards with
the functions you want that have the same interface standard, then
drive it with a single board computer.

For example, I've bought boards from
http://www.sparkfun.com
Even with a MSEE, I know it's a hell of a lot easier to buy someone's
board than to roll my own. Just making the PCB is a huge amount of
work. I only roll my own for things that aren't available
commercially, or the commercial price is insane.

 

[Bob Larter]

---
Unfortunately, a degree in computer science won't turn you into a
circuit designer which, it seems, you want to be.

What it'll take is long nights with data sheets, a circuit diagram, and
a wire-wrap gun or a soldering iron connecting everything up so you can
test it and prove that you were right.

Heh. Ain't that the truth!

Or SPICE.

Not much of a help with digital circuits, though.

In which case you'll still have to build it to prove that it works in
the real world.
Yep.

And, in any case, you'll still have to connect point A to point B.

Yep again.