Usuario:Edgardo C/Ingeniería electrónica

Historia

La ingeniería electrónica es una profesión que surgió de las mejoras tecnológicas en la industria del telégrafo a fines del siglo XIX, y de la industria tanto de la radio como del teléfono a principios del siglo XX. La gente sintió curiosidad por la radio debido a la fascinación que creaba, por ser la primera vez que se tenía la capacidad de enviar y recibir información. Mucha gente que entró en la radiodifusión en la década de 1920 eran sólo aficionados antes de la Primera Guerra Mundial.​

La ingeniería electrónica tal cual la conocemos hoy, apareció principalmente por el desarrollo del teléfono, radio y la televisión y la gran cantidad de dispositivos electrónicos desarrollados durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como el radar, el sonar diversos sistemas de comunicación, y sistemas de armamento y municiones. En el período de entreguerras, se hablaba de ingeniería de radio y sólo a finales de la década de 1950 comenzó a aparecer el término ingeniería electrónica.​

Los laboratorios de electrónica (los Laboratorios Bell en los Estados Unidos en ese momento) creados y sostenidos por grandes corporaciones de la industria de la radio, televisión y equipamiento telefónico, comienzan a desarrollar una serie de avances tecnológicos. En 1948 aparece el transistor y en 1960, los circuitos integrados revolucionan la industria de la electrónica.​​. En el Reino Unido, la ingeniería electrónica se separaba de la ingeniería eléctrica, llegando a ser un grado universitario en la década de 1960. Antes de eso, los estudiantes de electrónica y temas relacionados, como la radio y telecomunicaciones debían inscribirse en el departamento de ingeniería electrónica de la universidad, al no poseer estas últimas un departamento de electrónica. La ingeniería eléctrica era el área más relacionada que se podía asociar la ingeniería electrónica, aunque los temas en común sólo se cubren en el primer año de un curso de tres años (exceptuando matemáticas y electromagnetismo).

Inicios de la electrónica

En 1893, Nikola Tesla hizo la primera demostración pública de la comunicación por radio. Frente al Instituto Franklin en Filadelfia y la Asociación Nacional de Luz Eléctrica, describe y demuestra con detalles los principios de la radiocomunicación.​ En 1896, Guglielmo Marconi

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In 1893, Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication. Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the National Electric Light Association, he described and demonstrated in detail the principles of radio communication.[13] In 1896, Guglielmo Marconi went on to develop a practical and widely used radio system.[14][15] In 1904, John Ambrose Fleming, the first professor of electrical Engineering at University College London, invented the first radio tube, the diode. One year later, in 1906, Robert von Lieben and Lee De Forest independently developed the amplifier tube, called the triode.

Electronics is often considered to have begun when Lee De Forest invented the vacuum tube in 1907. Within 10 years, his device was used in radio transmitters and receivers as well as systems for long distance telephone calls. In 1912, Edwin H. Armstrong invented the regenerative feedback amplifier and oscillator; he also invented the superheterodyne radio receiver and could be considered the father of modern radio.[16] Vacuum tubes remained the preferred amplifying device for 40 years, until researchers working for William Shockley at Bell Labs invented the transistor in 1947. In the following years, transistors made small portable radios, or transistor radios, possible as well as allowing more powerful mainframe computers to be built. Transistors were smaller and required lower voltages than vacuum tubes to work.

Before the invention of the integrated circuit in 1959, electronic circuits were constructed from discrete components that could be manipulated by hand. These non-integrated circuits consumed much space and power, were prone to failure and were limited in speed although they are still common in simple applications. By contrast, integrated circuits packed a large number — often millions — of tiny electrical components, mainly transistors, into a small chip around the size of a coin.[17]

Tubes or valves

The vacuum tube detector

The invention of the triode amplifier, generator, and detector made audio communication by radio practical. (Reginald Fessenden's 1906 transmissions used an electro-mechanical alternator.) The first known radio news program was broadcast 31 August 1920 by station 8MK, the unlicensed predecessor of WWJ (AM) in Detroit, Michigan. Regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment commenced in 1922 from the Marconi Research Centre at Writtle near Chelmsford, England.

While some early radios used some type of amplification through electric current or battery, through the mid 1920s the most common type of receiver was the crystal set. In the 1920s, amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized both radio receivers and transmitters.

Television

In 1928 Philo Farnsworth made the first public demonstration of a purely electronic television.[18] During the 1930s several countries began broadcasting, and after World War II it spread to millions of receivers, eventually worldwide. Ever since then, electronics have been fully present in television devices.

Modern televisions and video displays have evolved from bulky electron tube technology to use more compact devices, such as plasma and LCD displays. The trend is for even lower power devices such as the organic light-emitting diode displays, and it is most likely to replace the LCD and plasma technologies.[19]

Radar and radio location

During World War II many efforts were expended in the electronic location of enemy targets and aircraft. These included radio beam guidance of bombers, electronic counter measures, early radar systems etc. During this time very little if any effort was expended on consumer electronics developments.[20]

Computers

A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).[1] Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.[2] Simple computers are small enough to fit into small pocket devices, and can be powered by a small battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a netbook to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

Microprocessors

In 1969, Ted Hoff conceived the commercial microprocessor at Intel and thus ignited the development of the personal computer. Hoff's invention was part of an order by a Japanese company for a desktop programmable electronic calculator, which Hoff wanted to build as cheaply as possible. The first realization of the microprocessor was the Intel 4004, a 4-bit processor, in 1969, but only in 1973 did the Intel 8080, an 8-bit processor, make the building of the first personal computer, the MITS Altair 8800, possible. The first PC was announced to the general public on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics.

Many electronics engineers today specialize in the development of programs for microprocessor based electronic systems, known as embedded systems. Due to the detailed knowledge of the hardware that is required for doing this, it is normally done by electronics engineers and not software engineers. Software engineers typically know and use microprocessors only at a conceptual level. Electronics engineers who exclusively carry out the role of programming embedded systems or microprocessors are referred to as "embedded systems engineers", or "firmware engineers".

Enlaces externos

• Ingeniería electrónica
• en:Electronic engineering