Featured Book Archive - 9

Each week, I select a new book that is relevant to engineers, scientists, students, hobbyists or managers. Most of the time they are sold through Amazon (I earn a few pennies on each sale), but when possible, I present books that are available in an e-book format that can be downloaded for free. The latter are much less available. After all, most people like to be paid for their work, as I'm certain that you do, too.

Note: I just began archiving these picks in May of 2009, but they have been going on since about 2003.

Archive Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Microwave Engineering Handbook Vol 2: Microwave Circuits, Antennas and Propagation, by B. Smith and M.H. Carpentier. The Microwave Engineering Handbook provides the only complete reference available on microwave engineering. All entries in the handbook are written by experts in the area, bringing together an unrivalled collection of expertise on microwave technology. It covers all of the major circuit types used in microwave systems and also covers antennas and propagation, an area vital to microwave systems. The emphasis is on fundamental principles and practical hardware, providing a wealth of information for engineers and system designers.
2/8/2013

Project Management for Business Engineering and Technology

Project Management for Business Engineering and Technology, by John Nicholas and Herman Steyn. There is an ever-growing need for better project management within the disciplines of engineering, business and technology and this new edition is a direct response to that need. By emphasizing practical applications, this book targets the ultimate purpose of project management; to unify and integrate the interests, resources and work efforts of many stakeholders to accomplish the overall project goal. The book encompasses the essential background material required, from philosophy to methodology, before presenting concepts and techniques for practical application on topics including: project initiation and proposals scope and task definition scheduling budgeting risk analysis.
1/11/2013

Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, Tony Wagner. Wagner identifies a pattern - a childhood of creative play leads to deep-seated interests, which in adolescence and adulthood blossom into a deeper purpose for career and life goals. Play, passion, and purpose: These are the forces that drive young innovators. Wagner shows how we can apply this knowledge as educators and what parents can do to compensate for poor schooling. He takes readers into the most forward-thinking schools, colleges, and workplaces in the country, where teachers and employers are developing cultures of innovation based on collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation. The result is a timely, provocative, and inspiring manifesto that will change how we look at our schools and workplaces, and provide us with a road map for creating the change makers of tomorrow.
12/11/2012

Transmission Line Transformers, by Jerry Sevick. Recommended by RF Cafe visitor Alexander T., this 4th edition of a classic text on transmission line transformers for high frequencies includes new chapters on transmission line transformer efficiency, power combiners and mixer transformers, and equal-delay transformers. Techniques of Guanella and Ruthroff as well as hundreds of real transformers constructed and measured to establish the practical levels of bandwidth and loss performance.
10/25/2012

Silicon-Based RF Front-Ends for Ultra Wideband Radios, by Aminghasem Safarian and Payam Heydari, comprehensively studies silicon-based distributed architectures in wideband circuits. The book begins with an introduction of several transceiver architectures for UWB. The discussion then focuses on RF front-end of the UWB radio. First, the design and analysis of a performance-optimized CMOS distributed LNA is presented. This is followed by design of novel distributed RF front-ends for UWB IF-receivers (UWB-DRF). The book continues with the introduction of a novel distributed direct conversion RF front-end (DDC-RF).
2/15/2013

Electro Static Discharge: Understand, Simulate, and Fix ESD Problems, by Michel Mardiguian. Recognizing its methodic, step-by-step attack of the ESD problem, the initial release of this book was quoted by specialists as "the most thorough and concise treatment of the broad ESD continuum that is available." The book begins with the basics of ESD for humans and objects, and goes on to cover: Effects of ESD coupled to electronics Principal ESD specifications ESD diagnostics and testing Design for ESD immunity To help with troubleshooting, many ESD case histories are given along with their successful fixes. Electrostatic Discharge is essential reading for all designers who want to avoid component failures, no trouble found incidents, and random errors.
1/18/2013

RF and Microwave Radiation Safety, by Ronald Kitchen. A practical handbook for all involved in electronic design and safety assessment, RF and Microwave Radiation Safety covers the problems of RF safety management, including the use of measuring instruments and methods, radiation hazards and risks resulting from electromagnetic interference, as well as reviewing current safety standards and the implications for RF design. The second edition takes into account a wide range of technical and legislative changes, and has been revised in line with the latest EU and international standards. Issues raised by increasing levels of microwave pollution from mobile phones and other sources are also confronted.
12/28/2012

Handbook of Microwave Component Measurements: with Advanced VNA Techniques, by Joel P. Dunsmore. This book provides state-of-the-art coverage for making measurements on RF and microwave components, both active and passive. A perfect reference for R&D and Test Engineers, with topics ranging from the best practices for basic measurements, to an in-depth analysis of errors, correction methods, and uncertainty analysis, this book provides everything you need to understand microwave measurements. Primary focus is on active and passive measurements using a Vector Network Analyzer.
11/2/2012

RF Microelectronics, by Behzad Razavi. Wireless communication has become almost as ubiquitous as electricity, but RF design continues to challenge engineers and researchers. In the 15 years since the first edition of this classic text, the demand for higher performance has led to an explosive growth of RF design techniques. In RF Microelectronics, 2nd Edition, Behzad Razavi systematically teaches the fundamentals as well as the state-of-the-art developments in the analysis and design of RF circuits and transceivers. Razavi has written the second edition to reflect today’s RF microelectronics, covering key topics in far greater detail. At nearly three times the length of the first edition, the second edition is an indispensable tome for both students and practicing engineers.
2/22/2013

Handbook of RF and Microwave Power Amplifiers, by John L. B. Walker. Whether you are an RF transistor designer, an amplifier designer or a system designer, this is your one-stop guide to RF and microwave transistor power amplifiers. A team of expert authors brings you up to speed on every topic, including: devices (Si LDMOS and VDMOS, GaAs FETs, GaN HEMTs), circuit and amplifier design (discrete, hybrid and monolithic), CAD, thermal design, reliability, and system applications/requirements for RF and microwave transistor amplifiers. Covering state-of-the-art developments and emphasizing practical communications applications, this is the complete professional reference on the subject.
1/25/2013

The Micro-Doppler Effect in Radar, by Victor C. Chen (Graciously provided by Artech House). The Doppler Effect can be thought of as the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. In radar, it is used to measure the velocity of detected objects. This highly practical resource provides thorough working knowledge of the micro-Doppler effect in radar, including its principles, applications and implementation with MATLAB codes. The book presents code for simulating radar backscattering from targets with various motions, generating micro-Doppler signatures, and analyzing the characteristics of targets. This book is the subject to RF Cafe Quiz #42.
1/2/2013

ESD Basics: From Semiconductor Manufacturing to Use, Steven H. Voldman (he was my Semiconductors class professor for two semesters at UVM) The text is unique in covering semiconductor chip manufacturing issues, ESD semiconductor chip design, and system problems confronted today as well as the future of ESD phenomena and nano-technology. Extensive coverage on the fundamentals of electrostatics, triboelectric charging, and how they relate to present day manufacturing environments of micro-electronics to nano-technology, semiconductor manufacturing handling and auditing processing to avoid ESD failures ESD, EOS, EMI, EMC, and latchup, component and system level testing to demonstrate product resilience from human body model (HBM), transmission line pulse (TLP), charged device model (CDM), human metal model (HMM), cable discharge events (CDE), to system level IEC 61000-4-2 tests, and ESD on-chip design and process manufacturing practices.
11/23/2012

Essentials of RF and Microwave Grounding, by Eric Holzman. Grounding is a widespread and serious problem in microwave and RF engineering and, up until now, there hasn't been a practical, authoritative resource dedicated to the topic. This first-of-its-kind volume offers professionals a comprehensive understanding of the proper grounding techniques to use when working on varied microwave circuit and antenna design projects. Practitioners learn what problems can occur when grounding design is inadequate, and how to avoid them. The book covers a wide range of critical topics, from the fundamentals of low frequency circuit theory and the differences between DC and RF short circuits...to grounding in active microwave component design and grounding issues related to antennas.
3/1/2013

Modern Antennas, by S. Drabowitch, A. Papiernik, Hugh Griffiths, J. Encinas, and B.L. Smith. A complete and rigorous treatment of design principles for modern antennas, including chapters on signal theory and signal processing antennas, radar and polarimetry. Contains significant new material on antennas for mobile communications to supply a complete picture of antennas for modern radio communications applications. Says a reviewer, "This is an excellent book both technically and because it gives a 'fresh' European perspective on modern antenna engineering written by practicing antenna designers."
2/1/2013

Introduction to RF Design Using EM Simulators, by Hiroaki and Yoshie Kogure, and James Rautio (graciously provided by Artech House). Richly illustrated and written in an easy-to-comprehend style, this highly accessible resource provides novice engineers and engineering students with a solid introduction to the use of electromagnetics (EM) simulation in RF design. Engineers learn how to use EM software to design microwave circuits and to conduct signal integrity analysis of high-speed digital circuits. This authoritative book describes exactly how microwave and high-speed digital circuits operate, offering practitioners clear troubleshooting guidance for their work with these circuits. Professionals and students also benefit from a thorough overview of the wide range of high-frequency circuits and related EM tools (Sonnet) being utilized in the field today. DVD is included! This book is the subject to RF Cafe Quiz #41.
1/2/2013

Microwave and Millimeter Wave Circuits and Systems: Emerging Design, Technologies and Applications, A. Georgiadis, H. Rogier , L. Roselli, P. Arcion. The book provides a wide spectrum of current trends in the design of microwave and millimeter circuits and systems, and identifies the state-of-the art challenges in microwave and millimeter wave circuits systems design such as behavioral modeling of circuit components, software radio and digitally enhanced front-ends, new and promising technologies such as substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) and wearable electronic systems, and emerging applications such as tracking of moving targets using ultra-wideband radar, and new generation satellite navigation systems. Each chapter treats a selected problem and challenge within the field of Microwave and Millimeter wave circuits, and contains case studies and examples where appropriate.
11/30/2012

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BSEE - KB3UON

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a nice lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...

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