How To Read A Datasheet - Phil's Lab

Basics of navigating datasheets for hardware and firmware design, exploring their structure, which sections are important, and what to pay attention to!
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[LINKS]
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[TIMESTAMPS]
00:00 Intro
01:39 Altium Designer
02:20 Component Pre-Selection
03:40 Overview Page
06:06 Ratings
07:23 Characteristics
08:05 Pin-Out
09:43 Typical Application
11:56 Application Information
13:46 App Notes
14:25 Mechanical & Footprint
15:50 PCB Layout
16:34 Reference Designs
17:10 Firmware
18:58 Additional Sections
20:41 Outro

[@ankurnaidu]

This has to be one of the most important videos you could teach, Please teach in further videos how you learnt about FPGAs and built circuits around them, was it using books, online tutorials or something else?

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you - I do have a few videos on FPGA circuit design (and the course goes into quite a lot of detail). I learned FPGA hardware design mainly through datasheets, app notes, playing with manufacturer tools, and looking through reference designs.

[@ankurnaidu]

Gotcha so your path is not linear? Out of all of these, which is the biggest help or helps you get a headstart in understanding the basics?

[@PhilsLab]

Reference designs (for FPGA/Socs Digilent is awesome) are a great place to start to see the schematics for working design. It'll show you typically how much external circuitry is needed, what power supplies, what ICs work, a bit about the firmware/drivers, etc.. I strongly suggest not to just directly copy those designs, however, but actually learn from them and implement the parts you need in your own design (e.g. by following datasheets, app notes).

[@ankurnaidu]

@@PhilsLab So the app notes n stuff to learn like basics of the IC and other required stuff is generally given in the app notes? since until you used Verilog to demo, I never exactly knew you needed verilog for PCB design testing. So did you come across that you needed it and how did you end up learning it when you were implementing it in your ZYNQ PCB? Because unlike java or python, I am not finding easy examples to tutorials to gain mastery. So do you learn from books or online courses on Udacity, etc?

[@PhilsLab]

Components, Verilog, etc. etc. were covered during my university degree. However, how to use them in practice was by 'having' to use them in my own projects (and finding relevant information via books, datasheets when I needed them).

[@snorring_worms]

Thank you for your great work Phil! I got stoked for pcb design because of a course at the uni. A year ago I was a bloody beginner but since watching your videos my skills have improved dramatically and i already created and produced a fair amount of "good" working pcb´s thanks to you. A couple month more and i will for sure start your Hardware Design Course. Creating and sharing such high quality content for free is a great gift! Keep up the great work.

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you very much! Awesome to hear that your PCB design journey has been going well and glad that the content has been helpful :)

[@user-wy8xu9jg9g]

Hey Phil, Hope you are doing great!! I am an EE undergrad and have been enjoying and following your videos and guides for a long time and really amazed by how you have managed to self teach yourself most of PCB and hardware electronics design without prior company experience and that is a skill i have been trying to learn and acquire for a very long time. I have only recently learned that i need to read manuals and datasheets since that videos don't exist for every board and IC I might want to play around. And this really caught my attention when actually managed to make your own non-volatile (where the bits are taken from memory after powering on) FPGA design since I have been looking at doing this or at least the act of learning to do it. But the problem as you know, most of the information is only known to people who work at large companies with lots of experience, and seeing you accomplish so much and actually make a working non-volatile FPGA board really blew my mind. Therefore all I want to ask you is for some advice as to how did you self-learn all the hardware electronics design? How did you learn to make sense of the manuals and datasheets? I have seen your interviews, you are completely self-taught. And how in particular did you learn the reading of manuals, datasheets and connections to make your own FPGA dev kit? Since i have exclusively searched the entire web for it and have never found anything remotely similar to it and most of the concepts seem far out of any graduate to understand. if you could please any point out any resources that you used to get into understanding core electronics and what resources you used to learn to start FPGA design without prior company experience as i want to understand electronics and not just embedded software. Therefore please let me know if you have resources and techniques that you used to self learn electronics, especially the Xilinx board. Any advice would be gladly appreciated. Or in general, what path to follow when learning something totally new like i would like to learn about RISC-V design and implemenation. Thank you very much!

[@PhilsLab]

Thanks for your kind comment! To keep it short: practice and create real-world hardware with a goal (e.g. a project that you want to see 'come to life', such as a flight controller. Remember to start small and build up complexity as you get more comfortable/experienced), along the way you will see what parts you need to add to the design (all information is usually in datasheets, linked in app notes, or available via manufacturer tools), then get it manufactured and bring up the firmware, to see what works and see what doesn't. With Robert Feranec, Altium Academy, and generally anything that can be Googled (+ forums/reddit), there is enough free information out there to help.

[@user-wy8xu9jg9g]

@@PhilsLab Thank you so much Phil for the detailed response, really helps to hear that. Did you happen to come across some gold mine of information or is there any other point that would greatly help not in PCB design but in generally of electronics development, learning firmware design, etc. So i know Cambridge is a very prestigious school and congratulations for graduating from it. Unfortunately, I dont have the opportunity to get enrolled into a top uni. So do you think I might be missing out for any electronics development or did you happen to learn everything by yourself? do you have any tips for it? Since i know most people also end up learning most in corporate training and you too dont seem have any corporate training to base all your learnings from.

[@PhilsLab]

Cambridge taught me next to nothing about practical engineering. So no, you're not missing out in that regard. Again, practice ist the most important part and challenging yourself. Find a project idea, make it a reality, and you'll learning everything you'll need to along the way for that project using information online.

[@motion1776]

Some tip, stay away from the big Fpgas for the time being and use simpler FPGAs for the Start. My recomendations: Latice ice40 qfn packages Efinix Trion (T8Q144/T20Q100) Intel MAX series There are reference designs for these available and they are cheap so you dont Lose much if you fail.

[@jimtekkit]

​@@PhilsLab I'll add to this and say that ALL fields of engineering suffer from this problem, my major of mechanical is the same. If you're an Average Joe who can do basic steel fabrication or woodwork in the garage then you've likely got more tangible engineering abilities than a graduate fresh out of university.

[@666aron]

Thank you for yet another great video. You managed to squeeze a huge amount of invaluable information into a relatively short video. I would also add that one might want to read the errata and revision history. I struggled with STM32H750 where between the rev. V bunch there was a few rev. Y with major clock and flash changes. Also also, stay away from parts which have a “friendly library” but the registers are not shown in the datasheet (I’m looking at you STM and your ToF ICs).

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you, Aron! Yes, the errata/rev history is definitely something to look at as well.

[@jboy6944]

Hi Phill, you are a blessing. Thanks for the knowledge!

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you for your kind comment!

[@AndrewKiethBoggs]

Thank you for this!! Favorite KZbinr.

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you very much, Andrew!

[@jatigre1]

A master class in human empowerment. Bravo Sir!

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you!

[@JorgeFixorDestroy]

I learn a lot. With your videos. Very thanks for your great effort

[@PhilsLab]

Thanks a lot, I'm glad to hear that!

[@bikothewolf]

Very informative as usual!

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you, glad to hear that!

[@alirezasarrami1955]

goood job, can you make a video about FPGA datasheet and road map of hardware design of that

[@Geri-der-Kletterer]

Very interesting Video. Thanks

[@sorryboss8550]

I’m in highschool and I’m doing independent Arduino and other IoT component research, the biggest problem I’m facing now is schematic design and one reason for that is because I can’t read data sheets, so I end up wasting so much time finding a KZbin video that implements my idea, it also hinders the amount of hardware I can buy because I won’t know how to use them, thanks a ton for this video.

[@NewtoRah]

Some days at work that I just have to spend reading (skimming...) dozens and dozens of datasheets trying to decide what to use for the next project. So many options, so many features, can be a bit maddening! One of the most annoying thing I've run across is when the datasheet buries the i2c address in the middle of a paragraph, or as binary in a timing diagram. Also, good for calling out that recommended layouts and evaluation boards commonly fail to follow best practices (see all the modern boards that still use 3 bypass caps of different values, which hasn't made a difference in decades)

[@PhilsLab]

Yeah, definitely - luckily most datasheets are fairly decent. But there are some where I almost instantly discard the part due to the poor datasheet.. Finding I2C addresses can be 'fun' at times, yeah..

[@encoderencoder1031]

very informative video

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you!

[@user-dq1qw4ym3v]

Great. That's a lot of information. Need a career guideline video as a PCB designer from you. What should be our final goal to achieve as a PCB designer.

[@PhilsLab]

Thanks - that's a great idea! Maybe something like a PCB designer roadmap video as well?

[@user-dq1qw4ym3v]

@@PhilsLab Yes Absolutely. Wish that happens really soon. Thanks for the reply.

[@NiliMoto]

I really appreciate your content across the board. You've helped me and many others get over the entrance-barrier. However from the first video i saw i noticed something odd. I do hope this doesn't come across as rude and you don't take this the wrong way. I really habe trouble staying focused listening to you. Even though what you talking about is massively interesting to me i find myself drifting off again and again. Sometimes your intonation sounds like you're not in a good mood. I realize this might be by choice to be more professional or different from all the OTT KZbinrs and i can hardly ask you to change. I still wanted to write this comment out of curiosity and to give my frustration some space. Your content is exactly what I need. So thank you for making it

[@PhilsLab]

Thanks, glad you found the videos useful! Regarding my voice/tone/intonation, sorry to hear you feel that way. I promise I'm in a good mood haha. I'm afraid that's what I sound like and how I think it fits the material, as the videos (in my eyes) are not meant to be watched in one piece, but skipped to part that one currently needs for their design/project.

[@RanaRao_Chandrachur]

Professor please help!! When I was looking for MJE13005 datasheet I found there are two parameters named as VceO(sus)=400VDc and other is Vce=700VDC, so what does these two means?? Now which one is to consider as max withstand voltage rating when choosing this bjt to switch inductive load like smps ?? Please help

[@matheokoning4456]

Perfect Video!!

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you, Matheo!

[@calmcontent]

Hello Phil!! Great to see such an amazing video. In uni, all the advanced concepts such as Z-transforms, PDE, etc just seem to be all taught in a very abstract manner. Doing a numerical after numerical never worked for me and i never understood the practical application leading to me performed poorly. I am very amazed when you were able to implement Z-transforms or DFT algorithms on hardware. Could you please tell me what i am doing wrong in uni so i can get a better grasp of the concept. And how did you manage to learn and implement it in hardware by yourself. And for a particular problem like signal filtering, how did you know it was that algorithm itself specifically that you had to implement? Since math was so hard for me, i forgot these problems as soon as i finished that subject, so to get as good as you. Did you have to practice textbook problems a lot? Thank you Phil for any advice you can provide!!

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you for your kind comment! I'd suggest picking a project idea (e.g. flight controller for a balancing robot) and implementing it by yourself from scratch (circuit, PCB, firmware). For DSP, I'd suggest checking out www.dspguide.com

[@calmcontent]

@@PhilsLab thank you so much!! Is this where you also learnt your concepts or was it at Cambridge?

[@BeefIngot]

This channel seems pretty amazing for an absolute beginner hobbyist trying to go a step up from premade boards to anything close to a semblance of a real product. I do wonder if Fusion 360/Eagle was considered for its close proxitmity/synergy with cad/how directly kicad tutorials transfer across to Fusion.

[@PhilsLab]

Thank you! I'm afraid I'm not a fan of Eagle (and from what I've heard it's being discontinued fairly soon). Altium Designer has a very nifty MCAD tool that links it with Fusion, Solidworks, etc. rather seamlessly.

[@BeefIngot]

@@PhilsLab Interesting. Just to make sure I understand you correctly the eagle that's integrated into fusion 360 as Fusion360 electronics is being discontinued? That would seem like a massively weird choice to make considering the selling point is all in one 😐. As for Altium, as a not ee student and no longer a student, I am a not rich mere hobbyist where this does the opposite of lay the bills, so I don't think I'm rich enough to discuss pricing with them 😂., especially in the dipping my toes phase. I'm sure I'll figure out how to follow along roughly with a bit more googling in Fusion or just learn in kicad since it seems to have more free material availible on the web to learn anyways. I figure the base knowledge should be transferable anywhere. I totally get not wanting to cover yet another piece of software too, especially since your channel is basically free actual engineer time which for hobbyists is indispensable, like having a free consultant, but pre recorded. (And Probably also as you must be used to some pretty space age company bought software, so using less professional oriented tools must feel like using word as an ide (I hear auto routing works well on pro stuff)).

[@PhilsLab]

The original Eagle is being discontinued - maybe the Fusion-integrated version will exist under a different name? That could be. In any case, KiCad is great (and free)! You could also give CircuitMaker (free) a go, which has a very similar user-interface to Altium Designer. Although I use Altium Designer for work and hobby, I try to make the videos mostly tool-agnostic, so everyone can implement the content in their ECAD tool of choice.

[@mikenetz6955]

Nice.

[@semihyilmaz29]

🤙

[@Cyklonus]

👍👍

[@panikosss1981]

I hope that DIODES has correct footprint dimensions for this package 😆😆.

[@Ferreira019760]

Please Sir, can I have some more?

[@tamaseduard5145]

👍🙏❤

[@BassheadMusicConnoisseur]

Thanks, graphs are always confusing me!

[@PhilsLab]

Thanks for watching!

[@user-mf4di5dz6q]

Sir please make a video tutorial on the Zynq Peta Linux boot process using both QSPI and eMMC as the boot media. I believe your expertise would greatly benefit the community interested in FPGA and embedded systems development.

[@bernardmarx6705]

"low IQ" buck converter. :) Man, thanks for videos, you're sort of genius, do you have advice, what is best way to start with FPGA for audio applications and what are advantages comparing to microcontrollers? Is it harder to learn writing firmware for FPGA?

[@PhilsLab]

Haha that buck description is pretty funny :D Thank you! I'd suggest looking at Nandland and fpga4fun for tutorials, and sticking with simulations to start with, before moving over to hardware. Unless you really need to, I'd suggest to stay away from FPGAs (for audio applications). Modern MCUs are plenty powerful for a lot of audio processing tasks.

[@bernardmarx6705]

@@PhilsLab Thanks a lot, that was a clear answer! Cheers.

[@oktopus1539]

Now study trough Texas Instruments data sheets, I dare you!

[@PhilsLab]

I'm a big fan of their parts and datasheets :)