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Introduction⌗

There is a lack of any list of quality resources to study from for (mainly UG) electronics (ECE et al) students. The subjects are much harder than those of CSE counterparts. This means there are a lot of bad resources masquerading as quality ones and get high views, especially on YT, as they essentially serve as last minute prep for students at 3 AM.

In this post, I’ll try to list quality resources I’ve used or come across during my UG. This is NOT an exhaustive list and only contains a few resources. Diligently studying (which I didn’t do) from the resources will hopefully give you a deeper understanding and put you ahead of average engineering plebs like me.

I will keep updating this to include content I forgot, or found to be helpful.

Sources to avoid⌗

Except standard books, avoid everything like a plague. No, that textbook bearing your university’s name and tailored to syllabus is a scam with sloppy multi-level plagiarism, and is the worst literature to exist on the face of Earth.

Any source which has “GATE” written anywhere, in thumbnail, or in source (like channel) name. They are mostly programming you for an exam instead of teaching you the subject in depth and providing intuition.

YT channels whose content don’t have any depth and go on with a mugging up workflow. Popular examples are Gajendra Purohit, Engineering Funda, etc. Avoid them like plague.

Sources to consult⌗

As a thumb rule, prefer to go for a domain specialist than a single guy who seems to make videos for every subject under the sun. When starting search, try to go for long form content by sources like NPTEL, MIT OCW, college professors, etc. Not all series are good even in them, so you should put effort into finding the good ones according to your taste.

It does not always have to be college lecture series. Popular != bad. There are many good popular channels out there whose contents are remarkable. Example: Ben Eater.

Attend lectures in college if you have good professors. There are always some out there. They are irreplaceable, many times you can just learn the entire thing during lectures itself.

There is no substitute for practicals. Please get involved in as much projects and practical activity as you can, that gives you a working knowledge and insight into things.


General⌗


Mathematics⌗

Khan Academy is a good resource to a major extent. Sometimes content may not be ordered in playlist properly, so try putting some effort to find them. Also, Grant Sanderson worked with KA to make videos on advanced topics like multivariable calculus, before he opened his famous 3B1B channel on YouTube.

Khan Academy is good for the following subjects:

  • Calculus and differential equations
  • Linear Algebra
  • Multivariable Calculus (Vector Calculus)
  • Probability and Statistics (upto a point)
  • Sequences and Series (Start with the AP College Calculus BC playlist) (upto a point)

While it may not cover everything (though a major part is covered), what it covers is done in a very good way. Outside of it, you may search on Brilliant (yes), OCW, NPTEL, etc. I’ll add them towards the end of this section. Or you can just read the books, whichever you have.

Fourier is missing, and Laplace is not really explained well (because Fourier isn’t there). But these things you learn during Signals course again (signals playlist has an excellent explanation), with the reason why they were made in the first place, so maybe it’s okay. Laplace and differential equations are encountered even earlier, during the Control Systems course.

Wikipedia is unironically a good resource, especially for stuff like sequences and series.

(I need to find what I used, I’ll update here as and when I remember or get hold of them.)

Probability and Statistics:

Edit: A friend suggested Steve Brunton for Fourier series and transform, and Dr. Trefor Bazett for differential equations. Do check them out!


C Programming⌗

If you know programming already, get K&R and enjoy the absolute best content out there.

“K&R” refers to the book “The C Programming Language” by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie.

If you are new to programming, start by using online platforms which give you tasks to complete, or learn while doing things. After you are able to write a full program with “hello world” or conditionals yourself, install gcc on your computer and make and break things yourself. It’s a good idea to install a Linux distro (I use Debian Testing, just fire and forget). After you are comfortable, go get K&R.

Do NOT use compilers like Turbo C++. If you do, please close this webpage, you cannot be helped.


Control Systems⌗

Control systems - Prof. C.S.Shankar Ram, IIT Madras

This NPTEL playlist is GOLD. Very calm and lucid explanations. You can get the notes from here.

The professor is the book.

Also, learn MATLAB. At this point you may have some programming and scripting knowledge, time for you to employ it in a new domain. Make heavy use of the references/documentation at the MATLAB website. You can also join the Discord server to ask doubts and questions when you are stuck.

Make sure to install the control and symbolic math toolbox! You might get a license from your college for MATLAB.



Digital logic and VLSI⌗


Digital System Design⌗

Digital Circuits and Systems - Prof. S Srinivasan, IIT Madras

This NPTEL playlist is GOLD. Just see the first video if you doubt me. If you study from this, you are going to impose dominance over others who are just coasting, and your path to studying advanced concepts, microprocessors, and VLSI will be a lot easier. Literally a zero to hero path. Diligently study and make notes!

If you want a book, go with Morris Mano, but the video lecture series will be better for the topics it contains.

Also, an extremely good YouTube channel in the practical domain is Ben Eater. Just check it out!


Microprocessors and Microcontrollers⌗

Bharat Acharya has a good introductory videos. Unfortunately, his full courses are paid (though not too costly if you have money to spare). Sometimes you may find the full playlist online, or Bharat Acharya himself may release some of them.

Anyways, here are some extremely good videos to get you up to speed in the subject (choose the relevant ones, or find on his channel for other architectures). These videos are GOLD, don’t miss them!

After you know the basics of how a microprocessor is described and ISA is read, you’ll be able to broadly understand any processor under the sun!

Practice reading and writing assembly programming. Use simulators like GNUSim8085 or avr_sim instead of bloated IDEs.

Understand how your C programs are translated to assembly. NPTEL has a very good playlist:

C Programming and Assembly Language - Prof. Janakiraman Viraraghavan, IIT Madras

Also, Ben Eater as always is an extremely good practical resource.


Advanced µc / µp, ARM7⌗

Start with introduction by Bharat Acharya. It is an extremely good video and will get you up to speed very quickly.

For full video series, a very good one is Embedded System Design with ARM - Prof. Indranil Sengupta and Prof. Kamalika Datta, IIT Kanpur, covering in sufficient breadth and depth.

Then consult the official documentation by Arm for learning about architecture, programmer’s model, and ISA in general. You should also consult lecture PPTs and articles posted online. I don’t have specific links to the ones I used back in the days, but you can easily find a lot of them with the help of Google.

Here are a few links to helpful manuals and other resources:

Honestly, I didn’t consult any specific book or video lecture series. If you want, there are some books, as well as series on NPTEL which I linked above. Though, you don’t need to see videos or read books to do any kind programming, let alone assembly. ISA can also be understood directly from references (you will be able to do it, I know), but it is understandable to get a curated text. So you can consult any book you like, even the books I told to avoid at the start. It’s just a matter of understanding the reference.

Make sure to learn ISA and assembly instructions and their addressing modes.

Attempt problems on assembly programming, and build up logic on how to use ARM instructions and flags to your advantage and reduce branching. For example, there is an LDRSBGT possible.

Use CPUlator ARMv7 System Simulator which runs completely on browser, instead of bothering around with Keil.

For LPC2148 microcontroller, the following playlist is good to ramp up:

ARM Programming With Embedded C - Vishal Gaikwad

For memory, hazards, cache, virtual memory, etc., the following are some good resources (in no particular order), choose according to your tastes:


VLSI Design⌗

I cannot stress this enough. These resources are GOLD.

The playlist is just too good, and you will gain a great insight on the semiconductor physics - how transistors and MOSFETs concepts were conceived, and how they work in great detail at a microscopic level. I would say this is mandatory to watch!

The book has extremely good and lucid explanations, while packing a significant amount of content. It teaches you CMOS logic, stick diagrams, manufacturing process, electrical analysis of MOSFETs (though for that you see the playlist) and CMOS logic, RTL, physical design, system design, clocking, and what not. Literally a zero to hero path. If you don’t trust me, see the reviews on Amazon!

And the book is enjoyable, unlike the boring one by Sung-Mo Kang.

If you have time, you can see Digital VLSI System Design - Prof. S. Srinivasan and Dr. S. Ramachandran, IIT Madras.

This is the sequel to the awesome digital circuits course by the same professor (initially), so you know it will be good!

Another good resource on YT is playlists by Prof. Adi Teman, BIU.


Embedded Systems and (RT)OS⌗

A good resource to look at is the Linux kernel :D

The following resources (in nor particular order) are good for ramping up, choose whichever suits you the best:

An extremely good book is An Embedded Software Primer - David E. Simon. I stumbled upon its explanation of shared data problem, and scheduling, and I immediately just got it. The book introduces you to embedded systems and RTOS concepts.

For microcontroller like MSP430, I don’t think I should be adding videos at this point :P, you are capable enough, but anyways the following is a good one:

Introduction to Embedded System Design - Prof. Dhananjay V. Gadre (NSUT) and Prof. Badri N Subudhi (IIT Jammu)

Another good book is Embedded Systems Design: A Unified Hardware/Software Introduction - Vahid, Givargis. Though, I have only skimmed through some of it’s introductory chapters. YMMV.


VLSI Testing and Verification⌗

The following books are very good to learn from:

  • VLSI Test Principles and Architectures - L.T. Wang, C.W. Wu, X. Wen (colloquially known as WWW).

  • Writing Testbenches: Functional Verification of HDL Models - Janick Bergeron.

An excellent video series on testing is VLSI Testing - Prof. James Chien-Mo Li, NTU. The prof. has also authored a chapter in WWW!



Circuits⌗


Network Theory⌗

Circuits and Systems (By Prof. Ali Hajimiri, Caltech)

While I haven’t seen this one as I stumbled upon it later, I’ve seen Prof. Hajimiri’s other playlist (New Analog Circuit Design), and I can safely say if you want to have a good insight, this is the playlist you need to see.

Neso Acadaemy’s playlist is also good, particularly for quick learning and ramping up, but it can never rival the depth and insight in Prof. Hajimiri’s lectures.

Engineering Circuit Analysis - Hayt, Kemmerly, Durbin is a good textbook with very good explanation. It is thanks to this book that I could learn this subject and survive the exam!


Analog Circuit Design⌗

New Analog Circuit Design (By Prof. Ali Hajimiri, Caltech)

Extremely good playlist! I came across this later during my VLSI studies, but you don’t have to!

This is my weakest subject :P (no surprises, the course is too big, and the content is very high IQ, and COVID pandemic didn’t help).



Signals and Systems⌗


Continuous time⌗

Signals and Systems 2021 - Prof. Andrew Reader

Can’t recommend the above playlist enough. This is GOLD. If you are new or want to solidify your understanding quickly, just stop everything right now and watch it! It’s only 8 videos long. Make notes!

Signals and Systems - Prof. Alan V. Oppenheim - MIT OCW

Yes, this series is by Alan Oppenheim (the author of the de-facto standard book) himself! The lectures are still relevant despite being recorded more than 35 years ago. You gotta increase the speed. Also, the intro music is addictive, and is still stuck in my mind…

If you want to learn in Hindi, NPTEL has a playlist: Signals and Systems - Prof. Kushal K. Shah, IISER Bhopal.

For book, no surprises here, go with Signals and Systems - Oppenheim, Willsky, Young.


Discrete time / DSP⌗

Digital Signal Processing - Prof. S.C. Dutta Roy, IIT Delhi

This NPTEL video series is GOLD, even though it is old resulting in low video resolution. The prof. knows his stuff and his style of teaching is very lucid. Though you will need to increase the speed to something like 1.5x. Hope you enjoy the difference to discrete-time domain!

Digital Signal Processing - Prof. Alan V. Oppenheim - MIT OCW

This is another old series instructed by Oppenheim himself! You gotta increase the speed here too. For some reason, old Signals professors have the tendency to be slow…

Digital Signal Processing - KK Awasthi (Hindi)

This playlist is in Hindi, and is primarily geared towards filter design and DFT. If you want to quickly learn filter structure and realisation, especially if an exam is coming, I would recommend watching it.

For book, go with Discrete-Time Signal Processing - Oppenheim, Schafer, Buck. Please avoid a different book named “Digital Signal Processing” by Oppenhiem.



EM and Communication⌗


Electromagnetic Theory⌗

Prerequisites: Vector calculus. Very important! Didn’t study this subject properly / much :P, but here are some good resources:

Electromagnetic Fields - Prof. Harishankar Ramachandran, IIT Madras

Transmission Lines and EM Waves - Prof. R.K. Shevgaonkar, IIT Bombay

Both the NPTEL playlists are good! It’s up to your tastes to choose any one. The first one is using a blackboard, while the second one uses digital slides and paper + marker.

Prof. Shevgaonkar has also written a book, Electromagnetic Waves - R. K. Shevgaonkar, which you can get.

A good well-known book is Elements of Electromagnetics - Matthew N.O. Sadiku, which is what I was suggested too.


Analog and Digital Communication⌗

Communications Engineering I - Prof. Ali Muqaibel, KFUPM

If you want to quickly learn the subject, this is the playlist you need to see. The prof. explains everything satisfactorily without excessive content. That means the content is good! Though, it does not cover everything you’ll have in your course.


Antenna and Propagation⌗

This is a hard and high IQ subject, but also very interesting. It relates to a major part of our everyday macro world - you’ll start seeing antennas everywhere for the rest of your life once you start learning this subject!

Warning: You must know electromagnetism (like Maxwell’s equations etc), and have a good grasp of vector calculus! Otherwise in your quest to avoid it via integral relations, you’re gonna mess everything up and fail! Yes, that’s very specific :P

Here are some videos I’d suggest watching:

But mainly, you’re going to learn using book. The subject is just like that, not much video resources outside basics, just literature. The basics of antenna hasn’t (or rather, will not) changed, the subject is mathematics-heavy so you need to read books, there are ton of derivations. Note that you are not going to study the whole book, but a part of it, so size doesn’t matter.

I would suggest Antennas for All Applications - John D. Kraus, Ronald J. Marhefka. There is another book by Constantine A. Balanis considered the de-facto standard text on antenna, but my first impression of it when comparing with Krauss’ text was that it seemed more boring and thicker. YMMV.

There is a “Special Indian Edition” (SIE) of Krauss’ text by McGrawHill (which I read), please try to avoid it. But if book with the above mentioned title is not available, go with the SIE. It’s a sloppy attempt by a random Indian professor (Ahmad S Khan) who wanted to dish out a book with his name, and as a result distorts the text. He added a chapter in between to address a part of university syllabus in India (the change of tone is very apparent), and as a result messes up the latter chapter numbers, and thus he then concatenated chapters.


Fibre Optic Communication⌗

Fiber Optic Communication Technology - Prof. Deepa Venkitesh, IIT Madras

This is a very good series covering the subject in sufficient depth, and gives reasoning behind some things which you normally may ignore. I had binge watched it for multiple days before exams! :P

For book, you may go for Optical Fiber Communications - Gerd Keiser. While I haven’t read it, my friends were positive about it.


Wireless Communication⌗

For book I’ll recommend Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice - Theodore Rappaport. This textbook has very good explanations, and is considered the standard. I’d suggesting reading the book, especially the cellular concept chapter. Many times people just recycle/copy the content from this book. Someone on Wikipedia just straight-up copied 3-4 pages from this book directly!

For videos, I’ll post links to a couple of sources, choose whatever suits you the best.



Networking and Protocols⌗


Computer Networks⌗

Following are some excellent resources:

You really don’t want to read too much books for this subject. Getting Tanenbaum would be an academic suicide.

A good book which is not thick is Computer Networks - Mayank Dave. It contains lucid and to-the-point explanations and illustrations.


Internet of Things⌗

Ngl, this will seem to be the most useless subject when studying (it isn’t). This subject is essentially 50% bullshitting, 30% learning protocols and models, and 20% thinking about some “smart” thing using Arduino et al (which is 50% bullshit).

This is an easy subject, especially those who are adept with tech and programming like you, so there are no specific resources for this. You should just Google the topic you are studying (say, publish-subscribe model, MQTT, etc.) and see the relevant articles, lecture slides (use stuff like filetype:pdf), or YouTube videos. Searching generically for “IoT” will get you 100% bullshit.

Some YT playlists in Hindi are by Asha Khilrani, which goes into details enough for your exams. Another one is by 5 minutes engineering.

If you are thinking to get a book for this, you can do better. Don’t make the mistake! :P



AI⌗


Artificial Intelligence⌗

Artificial Intelligence - Prof. Patrick H. Winston - MIT OCW

The content in this course is GOLD! The prof. builds the intuition for how things work in an excellent way from the first principles. I would say just watch it!

An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence - Prof. Mausam, IIT Delhi

This is another good course. It also starts with history for those who like dedicated videos on it.


Machine Learning⌗

Introduction to Machine Learning - Prof. Sudeshna Sarkar, IIT Kharagpur

This is a good theoretical course on ML, which (according to one of the comments) follows content from the Machine Learning book by Tom Mitchell. Though due to its heavy theoretical nature and the difficulty, sometimes you might get bored. :P

You can download the presentations used in the course from here.

A fun and GOLD tier resource is the Machine Learning playlist by StatQuest. Josh Starmer explains in a very cool, fun and easy way! Of course, it does not contain the theoretical rigour of the NPTEL playlist, but as an engineering student, you must be familiar about tradeoffs by now. :P

Visually Explained is another good channel, and contains short and intuitive videos for concept building.



Conclusion⌗

That’s it for now! Hope you find these useful! :)

I’ll update this post when I find some other good resources I had come across (i.e. to add missing stuff), to update links, or to clarify something if it isn’t clear.

If you encounter any problems or know of link rot or content being moved or redirected, please comment and let me and everyone else know!