Electrical Circuits

    A network, in the context of electronics, is a collection of interconnected components. Network analysis is the process of finding the voltages across, and the currents through, every component in the network. There are a number of different techniques for achieving this. However, for the most part, they assume that the components of the network are all linear. The methods described in this article are only applicable to linear network analysis except where explicitly stated.

DEFINITIONS

Component	A device with two or more terminals into which, or out of which, charge may flow.
Node	A point at which terminals of more than two components are joined. A conductor with a substantially zero resistance is considered to be a node for the purpose of analysis.
Branch	The component(s) joining two nodes.
Mesh	A group of branches within a network joined so as to form a complete loop.
Port	Two terminals where the current into one is identical to the current out of the other.
Circuit	A current from one terminal of a generator, through load component(s) and back into the other terminal. A circuit is, in this sense, a one-port network and is a trivial case to analyze. If there is any connection to any other circuits then a non-trivial network has been formed and at least two ports must exist. Often, "circuit" and "network" are used interchangeably, but many analysts reserve "network" to mean an idealized model consisting of ideal components.
Transfer function	The relationship of the currents and/or voltages between two ports. Most often, an input port and an output port are discussed and the transfer function is described as gain or attenuation.
Component transfer function	For a two-terminal component (i.e. one-port component), the current and voltage are taken as the input and output and the transfer function will have units of impedance or admittance (it is usually a matter of arbitrary convenience whether voltage or current is considered the input). A three (or more) terminal component effectively has two (or more) ports and the transfer function cannot be expressed as a single impedance. The usual approach is to express the transfer function as a matrix of parameters. These parameters can be impedances, but there is a large number of other approaches, see two-port network.

Delta-wye transformation

A network of impedances with more than two terminals cannot be reduced to a single impedance equivalent circuit. An n-terminal network can, at best, be reduced to n impedances (at worst ⁿC₂). For a three terminal network, the three impedances can be expressed as a three node delta (Δ) network or a four node star (Y) network. These two networks are equivalent and the transformations between them are given below. A general network with an arbitrary number of nodes cannot be reduced to the minimum number of impedances using only series and parallel combinations. In general, Y-Δ and Δ-Y transformations must also be used. For some networks the extension of Y-Δ to star-polygon transformations may also be required.

Source transformation

A generator with an internal impedance (i.e. non-ideal generator) can be represented as either an ideal voltage generator or an ideal current generator plus the impedance.

·                     Norton's theorem states that any two-terminal network can be reduced to an ideal current generator and a parallel impedance.

·                     Thévenin's theorem states that any two-terminal network can be reduced to an ideal voltage generator plus a series impedance.

NODAL ANALYSIS

1. Label all nodes in the circuit. Arbitrarily select any node as reference.

2. Define a voltage variable from every remaining node to the reference. These voltage variables must be defined as voltage rises with respect to the reference node.

3. Write a KCL equation for every node except the reference.

4. Solve the resulting system of equations.

MESH ANALYSIS

Mesh — a loop that does not contain an inner loop.

1. Count the number of “window panes” in the circuit. Assign a mesh current to each window pane.

2. Write a KVL equation for every mesh whose current is unknown.

3. Solve the resulting equations

TRANSFER FUNCTION

A transfer function expresses the relationship between an input and an output of a network. For resistive networks, this will always be a simple real number or an expression which boils down to a real number. Resistive networks are represented by a system of simultaneous algebraic equations. However in the general case of linear networks, the network is represented by a system of simultaneous linear differential equations. 

In network analysis, rather than use the differential equations directly, it is usual practice to carry out a Laplace transform on them first and then express the result in terms of the Laplace parameter s, which in general is complex. This is described as working in the s-domain. Working with the equations directly would be described as working in the time (or t) domain because the results would be expressed as time varying quantities. The Laplace transform is the mathematical method of transforming between the s-domain and the t-domain.

This approach is standard in control theory and is useful for determining stability of a system, for instance, in an amplifier with feedback.