CHAPTER 7

Fundamentals of Automotive
Electronics
7.1 Introduction

 The earliest automobiles had little in the way of electrical systems, but as the
automobile has become more complicated and as more accessories have been
added, electrical and electronic systems have replaced mechanical methods of
control on today’s vehicles.
 Today, most major automotive systems are controlled by computers.
7.2 Electrical Circuits Versus Electronic Circuits

 Ultimately, an electrical circuit is a circuit that performs work through a load

device.
 An electronic circuit is used to intelligently control an electrical circuit.

 Therefore, an electrical circuit may or may not be under the control of an

electronic circuit.
Con………….
7.3 Semiconductors

 Semiconductors are the basis of today’s solid-state electronics, or electronic

devices such as computers and amplifiers.
 A semiconductor is an element with four valence electrons. The two most-
used semiconductor materials for solid-state components are silicon and
germanium.
Con………

 In a semiconductor material for example, a silicon crystal the atoms share

valence electrons in what are called covalent bonds. Each atom positions itself
so that it can share the valence electrons of neighboring atoms, giving each
atom, in effect, eight valence electrons.
Con………
Con………

Semiconductors provides two useful characteristics:

1. Impurities can be added to the semiconductor material to increase its
conductivity; this is called doping.
2. It becomes negative temperature coefficient, meaning that its
resistance goes down as its temperature goes up.
Con………

Doping
 All of the valence electrons in a pure semiconductor material are in valence
rings containing eight electrons. With this atomic structure, it has a high
resistance to current flow.
 Adding very small amounts of certain other elements can greatly reduce the
semiconductor’s resistance. Adding trace amounts of an element with either
five or three valence electrons can create a flaw in some of the covalent bonds.
Con………

 Adding atoms with five valence

electrons (referred to as pentavalent
atoms) such as arsenic, antimony, or
phosphorus achieves a crystal structure
as shown in the Figure.
 In the Figure, phosphorus is the doping
element and silicon is the base
semiconductor element.
Con………

 Four of the phosphorus atom’s shared in the valence rings of neighboring

silicon atoms, but the fifth is not included in the covalent bonding with
neighboring atoms; it is held in place only by its attraction to its parent
phosphorus atom with a bond that can be broken easily.
 This doped semiconductor material is classified as an N-type material. Note
that it does not have a negative charge because the material contains the same
number of protons as electrons. It does have electrons that can be easily
attracted to some other positive potential.
Con………

 Adding atoms with three valence

electrons (referred to as trivalent atoms)
such as aluminum, gallium, indium, or
boron achieves an atomic structure as
seen in the Figure.
 In the Figure Boron is used as the
doping material in a silicon crystal.
Con………

 The boron atom’s three valence electrons are shared in the valence ring of
three of the neighboring silicon atoms, but the valence ring of the fourth
neighboring silicon atom is left with a hole (electron deficiency) instead of a
shared electron.
 Remember that a valence ring of seven electrons aggressively seeks an
eighth electron. In fact, the attraction to any nearby free electron is stronger
than the free electron’s attraction to its companion proton in the nucleus of its
parent atom. Thus this material is classified as a P-type.
Con………
PN Junction

Figure (a) shows a P-type crystal and an N-type

crystal separated from each other. Only the free
(a)
electrons in the N-type and the holes (electron
deficiencies) in the P-type are shown. If the P-type
and the N-type are put in physical contact with
each other, the free electrons near the junction in
the N-type cross the junction and fill the first
holes near the junction in the P-type (Figure b).
(b)
Con………
 The junction is the area that joins the P-type and N-type.
This action quickly creates a zone around the junction in
which:
1. There are no more free electrons in that portion of the
N-type.
2. There are no more free holes (electron deficiencies) in
that portion of the P-type.
3. The valence rings near the junction in both the N- and
P-type have eight shared electrons, so they are
reluctant to gain or lose any more.
Con………

 There are no longer any current carriers in the zone around the junction.
This zone is often referred to as the depletion zone.
 The opposing ionic charges on the two sides of the depletion zone create an
electrical potential of about 0.6 V (0.3 V for germanium). This potential,
often referred to as the barrier potential, its polarity prevents current from
flowing across the junction unless it is overcome by a greater potential.
Con………

Diodes
 If two of these semiconductor materials, one N-type and one P-type, are
placed back to back, the simplest semiconductor device, known as a diode, is
formed.
 A diode operates as an electrical one-way check valve with no moving parts;
it will allow current to pass in one direction only.
Con………
 If this polarity is reversed, the diode acts as an
insulator. In this condition the diode is said to be
Reverse biased. If a reverse bias voltage is applied,
with a negative potential applied to the P-side and
a positive potential applied to the N-side, the
positive potential attracts free electrons away from
the junction, and the negative potential attracts
holes away from the junction. This causes the
depletion zone to be even wider and the resistance Reverse bias voltage
applied to a diode.
across the junction to increase even more.
Con………

Diode Symbols
 The most commonly used symbol to
represent a diode is an arrow with a bar at
the point.
 The arrow side of the symbol also
indicates the P-side of the diode, often
referred to as the anode. The bar at the end
of the arrow’s point represents the N-side
and is often called the cathode.
Con………

Application of Diode
 The best-known application of diodes in the automobile is their use to rectify AC
voltage to DC voltage within the alternator.
 The other application of diodes is voltage spike suppression.

 Another automotive application of diodes is to control current flow paths in circuits

Con………

Transistors
 The transistor, probably more than any other single component, has made
possible the world of modern electronics.
 A transistor operates as an electrical switch with no moving parts.

 Transistors most commonly used in automotive applications are called bipolar

transistors because they use two polarities which are electrons and holes
(electron deficiencies).
Con………

 Bipolar transistors contain three doped

semiconductor crystal layers called the
collector, the base, and the emitter.
 The base is always sandwiched between the
emitter and the collector.
 The major difference between a diode and a
transistor is that a transistor has two PN
junctions instead of one.
Con………

 In effect, a transistor is two diodes placed back to back. They can be arranged
to have a P-type emitter and collector with an N-type base (a PNP transistor) or
an N-type emitter and collector with a P-type base (an NPN transistor).
 PNP transistors are used for positive side switching and NPN transistors are
used for negative (ground) side switching.
 Because automotive computers control most automotive load components by
switching the ground side, the NPN is the more common transistor
Forward biased NPN transistor
Con………

Transistor Symbols and Transistor Operation

 In electrical schematics, transistors are represented by symbols. The Figure
shows the symbols that represent the components of a transistor: the collector,
the base, and the emitter.
Con………..
Discrete Electronic Components

A. Resistors
 Resistors are one of the most common
types of discrete components. Their
purpose is to limit the flowing current and
turn its surplus into heat.
Con…………

B. Capacitors

They are passive discrete components,

designed to store energy.
Con…………

C. Inductors
 Inductors, similarly to coils, are
electronic components used for
preventing sudden changes in electric
current or for limiting its value without
power loss (in alternating current
circuits).
Con…………

E. Bipolar junction transistors

 A transistor operates as an electrical
switch with no moving parts.
Con…………

F. Diodes
 A diode operates as an electrical one-way
check valve with no moving parts; it will
allow current to pass in one direction only.
 It is also used for rectification.
7.4 Integrated Circuits

 Thanks to scientific research, manufacturers of electronic systems produce

microscopic transistors, diodes, and resistors.
 As a result, complete circuits are produced containing thousands of
semiconductor devices and connecting conductor paths on a chip as small as
two or three millimeters across.
 These IC chips, operating with current values as low as a few milliamps or
less, can process information, make logic decisions, and issue commands to
larger transistors.
Con…………
 The larger transistors control circuits that operate on larger current values.

 Because the components in an IC are so small, they cannot tolerate high voltages. Care
must be taken to avoid creating high-voltage spikes such as those produced by disconnecting
the battery while the ignition is on.

 Many ICs are mounted in a chip with two rows of legs (one row of legs on each side of the
chip), known as a dual in-line package (DIP). These legs provide terminals that are large
enough to connect to a circuit board.
7.5 Logic Gates
 If two semiconductor elements placed back to back create the simplest semiconductor,
the diode, and if three of these elements placed back to back form a transistor, when more
than three of these elements are placed back to back, combinations of transistors known as
logic gates are formed.
 Logic gates form the decision-making circuits within an IC chip.

 Logic gates are defined as the programming circuitry within a digital computer that
determines what output reaction to make in response to a given combination of input
values. The CPU, therefore, does not actually “think,” but rather makes decisions based
upon a combination of the input values and the information stored in the memory IC
chips. The logic gates are sometimes referred to as the logic circuits.
7.5.1 Logic Gate Basic Construction

 There exist three basic gates out of which all of the more complex gates are
built. These are:
1. AND gate
2. OR gate
3. NOT gate
 Each gate has a symbol, a definition, and a truth table.
Con…………

1. AND gate
 An AND gate is depicted with the symbol
shown in the Figure. It has a flat input side The symbol

with two inputs, A and B, and a curved output

side with one output, C.
 An AND gate is defined as a gate in which
the output, C, will be a binary 1 only when
both inputs, A and B, are a binary 1.
Truth table
Con…………

AND gate

The circuitry represented by an AND gate

Con…………

2. OR gate
 An OR gate is depicted with the symbol shown
The symbol
in the Figure. It has a concave input side with two
inputs, A and B, and an output side that is curved
and comes to a slight point with one output, C.
 An OR gate is defined as a gate in which the
output, C, will be a binary 1 when either input, A
or B, is a binary 1.

Truth table
Con…………
OR gate

The circuitry represented by an OR gate

Con…………

3. NOT gate
 A NOT gate is depicted with the symbol shown
The symbol
in the Figure. It is shown as a triangle with a
circle after it. It has a single input, A, and a single
output, B.
 The triangle represents the input side and the
circle represents the output side. It is actually an
inverter in that it inverts whatever the input value
is to the opposite value. Truth table
Con…………
NOT gate

The circuitry represented by NOT gate

Other Logic Gates
 There are other gates that are built out of the three basic gates already discussed. Some of
these are shown as follows:

 NAND Gate

 A NAND gate is simply an AND gate with the inverter function of a NOT gate placed
immediately after it. The symbol and truth table for a NAND gate are shown in the Figure.
Con…………

 NOR Gate

 A NOR gate is simply an OR gate with the inverter function of a NOT gate

placed immediately after it.

 The symbol and truth table for a NOR gate are shown in the Figure.
Con…………

 Exclusive-OR (X-OR) Gate

 An X-OR gate is a combination of gates that
will produce a high output signal (a binary 1)
when the inputs are different from each other.
The symbol and truth table for an X-OR gate are
shown in Figure.
7.6 Components of Electronic Engine Management

Engine controls were originally implemented using mechanical devices such as

the carburetor, mechanical diesel fuel injector, distributor with centrifugal or
vacuum advance, and thermal bimetal actuators. Although these devices
provided acceptable performance in many applications and were relatively
inexpensive, they could not provide the level of control needed to meet the
emission regulations of today. Many of the control functions performed by
these devices are now done electronically using sensors and actuators.

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Con…………
1. Sensors
 Some sensors interpret inputs from the driver of the vehicle. Examples of these include
the accelerator pedal position, transmission range selector, and brake pedal switch.
 Other sensors provide information about the operating condition of the engine. These
include the coolant temperature sensor, intake air temperature sensor, and barometric
pressure sensor. These signals change at a slow rate, allowing the sampling to occur at a
slower rate than other sensors.
 Some sensors provide information about the current state of the engine and may be used
for feed forward and feedback control. These include the crankshaft position sensor,
which is used for ignition and fuel injection timing as well as for calculating the engine
speed. 47
Con…………
2. Actuators

 Actuators are devices that regulate operation of the engine. Examples of

actuators include the fuel injector, air throttle, EGR valve, VGT turbine
vanes, and ignition system.
 Actuators that have position control normally have a position sensor that is
used with a feedback controller to maintain the desired position.

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Con…………
3. Controller

 One of the factors contributing to widespread use of electronic engine

controls has been emission regulations. Electronic controls make it possible
to more accurately control the air to fuel ratio, spark advance, fuel injection
timing, and EGR flow rate.
 Electronic controls can also improve performance, drivability, fuel economy,
and integration with other vehicle systems.

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Thank You!