The USC Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering USC Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering University of Southern California

EE 459Lx - Embedded Systems Design Laboratory

Reference Library

This is collection of documents from a variety of sources for use by the students in EE 459Lx. Some of the documents may not be relevant to the current semester's project but are left here for reference purposes.

Questions, corrections and comments about the content of this page should be sent to Allan Weber
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Course topics

Atmel Microcontrollers

For information on the Freescale microcontrollers that were used in EE459 up until about 2012, and sample code for them, click here.

Other Atmel microcontroller documents and links

LCD panels

GPS

Simulators for testing projects

Images

Datasheets

The datasheets listed below have been obtained from various places on the Internet. They are all copyrighted by someone but we're not going to worry about that. Datasheets for the newer parts were mostly obtained from the manufacturers or from Jameco and Digi-Key where we order most of our parts. Others were snagged from web sites wherever we could find them.

For older 74LS TTL parts, most came from vendors like T.I., Motorola and Fairchild that used to sell these things. If you are looking for TTL datasheets, try the links below.

On Semiconductor - I think they are mainly a distributer of ICs, not a manufacturer. They may have absorbed Motorola's TTL product line, or at least their tech library, and Fairchild Semiconductor is redirecting to their site also. Either way, they have a large collection of datasheets online and they are good quality.

Texas Instruments - TI has a large collection of datasheets online, both for current chips and for many obsolete ones. Many of their files are scans of pages from their printed databooks and the images come out looking pretty bad. If you can't find a non-scanned copy somewhere else, get it from here. However they do have a PDF of a pocket version of their logic data book.

None of these sites are particulary easy to use if you don't know what part you are looking for. If looking for 74 series TTL chips, do a search for "74LSxxxN" where xxx the rest of the part number. The "74LS" will find it in one of the more common logic family, and the "N" says to find a standard plastic package.

Sensors

Wireless modules

Real-time clocks

Miscellaneous digital ICs

Memory

A/D and D/A converters

Analog and interface ICs

Optoelectronics

Voltage regulators

Transistors, diodes, triacs

Keyboards and buttons

Miscellaneous pin-out diagrams

Relays

Stepper motors and associated components

Video ICs

PALs

Digital Logic ICs

The following sections describe items we no longer use in EE459 projects but may be of interest to someone.

PLDs

Video

Where to find stuff

If you are interested in purchasing electronic components for building projects, here are some links to places we buy parts from.

Jameco Electronics - We used to buy most of our stuff from Jameco before they "improved" their web site. It's now more difficult to find stuff on the web site so you may be better off requesting a printed catalog or looking through the PDF version of the printed catalog. It's usually easier to find parts in that catalog than online. It will also get you on their mailing list for future catalogs.
Digi-Key - This is our other primary supplier. They have a large inventory, the prices are reasonable, and we usually get the order pretty quickly. They send out a printed catalog of over 1000 pages. However the size of the catalog sometimes make it hard to find things.
SparkFun Electronics - This company sells a lot of interesting items for the hobbiest/experimenter. Their inventory changes a lot so you might not be able to buy the same things six months from now.
Parallax, Adafruit, DFRobot - These are similar to SparkFun in that most of the stuff is for the hobbyist.
Modern Device - They seem to have a interesting variety of components including many sensors and related components.
Newark and Mouser Electronics - These two are major suppliers to the electronics industry with very large inventories. Not sure if they have minimum order amounts that may make it hard for the hobbyist but they are worth a look.
Arrow Electronics - Arrow is another large supplier to the electronics industry but also has a 20% discount program for college students and faculty. We have no experience using the program at this time but it's probably worth checking out.
All Electronics - This is basically a surplus store with both new and used components. Their prices on some stuff is very good, provided you can find what you need. You can also visit their store at 14928 Oxnard St., Van Nuys.
B.G. Micro - They sell a wide variety of interesting stuff. Download their PDF catalog.
Apex Electronics, This is a large electronics surplus store in an industrial area of the San Fernando Valley (8909 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley). If they have something you need, you can probably get it at a good price, but it's sometimes hard to find things. It's definitely worth at least one trip there just to see the place, and its storage area outside in the back.