The following are topics which were observed to be frequently appearing

on weekly and mastery exams during the ECE board Review.

Notes:
Topics written in RED FONT indicates that questions under this
topic were asked during the October 2015 ECE Board Exam.
Topics marked with a single asterisk (*) indicates that one or
two problems regarding this topic appeared during the October
2015 ECE Board Exam.

October

Topics marked with a double asterisk (**) indicates that three

or four problems regarding this topic appeared during the
2015 ECE Board Exam.
Topics marked with a triple asterisk (***) indicates that more
than four problems regarding this topic appeared during the
October 2015 ECE Board Exam.

Mathematics
I. Algebra
- System of Numbers (real, imaginary, rational, irrational, integer)
- Significant figures
- Properties of exponents, logarithms, natural logarithms *
- Difference between LCD, LCM and GCF
- Remainder theorem
- Quadratic Equation
- Binomial Theorem, Binomial Expansion
- Real / imaginary Roots of a Polynomial *
- Combination / Factorial formula
- Age Problem
- Worded Problems
- Work Problem *

- Mixture Problem *
- Clock Problem
- Digit Problem
- Motion Problem *
- Coin Problem
- Variation Problem
- Diophantine Equations
- Series
- Arithmetic Progression
- Geometric Progression
- Infinite Progression
- Harmonic Progression
- Fibonacci Sequence *
- Lucas Sequence (difference between Fibonacci and Lucas
Sequence) *
- Simplification of Algebraic Equations ***
Note: Equations and functions in the questionnaire are written in
single line format (ex:

(x+2)3 x +2+ 4
x+4

would be written as
(((x+2)^(3x+2)+4)/

(x+4)) )
- Domain and Range of a Function
- Matrices
- Determinant of a matrix
- Types and properties of matrices (square, diagonal, null,
symmetric, skew-symmetric) **
- Rank/Nullity of a matrix
- Matrix operations

- Co-factor, inverse, minor of a matrix

II. Trigonometry
- Triangles
- Right, oblique, acute, isosceles, equilateral (properties)
- Pythagorean Theorem
- area/radius of inscribes, circumscribes, escribed
triangles/circles
- Important Points in a triangle (circumcenter, incenter,
orthocenter, centroid) *
- Spherical Triangle
- Law of Sines and Cosine
- Ptolemy's Theorem
- Simplification of Trigonometric Equations ***
- note: Equations and functions are written in single line format
- Worded Problems

III. Plane Geometry

- Angles
- Compliment, Supplement , Explement of an angle
- adjacent, vertical, coterminal angles
- Polygons
- area formula for polygons
- diagonals of a polygon
- perimeter of a polygon
- inscribed, circumscribed quadrilateral
- Circles
- sector, chord, diameter, area

- Worded problems
IV. Solid Mensuration
- Polyhedrons
- volume
- surface area
- radius of inscribed, circumscribed sphere
- Prisms
- Pyramids and Frustums
- Prismatoids
- Sphere
- area of zone
- volume of spherical segment
- volume of spherical sector
- Spherical pyramid
- Pappus' Theorem *
- volume of generated solid by rotating a 2D shape about an
axis
- worded problems

V. Analytic Geometry
- Rectangular Coordinate System *
- Polar Coordinate System *
- types of polar equations (cardioids, lemniscates, etc.)
- converting one coordinate system to another
- Cylindrical Coordinate System *
- Distance between two points
- distance between two parallel lines

- distance between a point and a line

- angle between two lines
- area of a polygon by coordinates
- equations of lines
- general equation
- point-slope form
- slope-intercept form
- two-point form *
- intercept form
- Conic Sections
- general equation of a conic section
- eccentricity of a conic section
- classification of a conic section (ellipse, parabola,
hyperbola, circle) *
- Parts of conic section (major/minor axis, latus rectum,
directrix, vertes, focus, etc.)
- Circles
- General equation of a Circle / Family of Circles *
- Center of a circle given standard equation
- Worded Problems

VI. Differential Calculus

- limits
- continuity of a function *
- derivative, double, triple derivative of a function ***
- application of differentiating a function (ex: distance, velocity, acceleration,
jerk)

- slope at any point of a curve

- maxima/minima values
- application/worded problems
- point of inflection
- curvature, radius of curvature of a function
- time rate problems

VII. Integral Calculus

- Definite and Indefinite Integrals ***
- Integral of different functions (basic, exponential, logarithmic,
trigonometric, inverse, etc.) ***
- Area under the curve
- Centroid
- Length of Arc
- Surface area (first proposition of Pappus)
- Volume
- second proposition of Pappus *
- disk, washer, cylindrical methods
- Multiple integral *
- Applicaiton of Integral Calculus
- Work Problem
- spring Problem
- Mixture Problems
- Population Problems
- Newton's rate of cooling/heating
- Moment of Inertia *

VIII. Differential Equations

- types of differential equations
- Ordinary Differential equations *
- Partial Differential equations *
- Order and degree of differential equation
- General/particular solution of Differential equations **
- Solution to first order differential equations **
- variable separable
- homogeneous
- exact (test for exactness)
- linear
- Bernoulli 's equation
- Classification of Higher order DE according to form *

Equation,

- tricom, 2 and 3 dimensional laplacian equation, 2 and 3

dimensional heat and wave equations, Cauchy-Reiman
Bessel Equation, Legendre, etc.

- Classification of Higher order DE if parabolic, elliptic or hyperbolic

**
- Applicaiton of first order differential equation
- population growth problems
- radioactive decay
- economics
- cooling and heating problems
- flow and mixture problem
- kinematics
- Hooke's law and springs
- Orthogonal trajectory

IX. Advance Math

- Complex Numbers ***
- nth root of a complex number
- power raising
and

- Forms of complex numbers (rectangular, trigonometric, polar

exponential forms)
- mathematical operation of complex numbers
- logarithm of complex number
- hyperbolic function
- properties of complex numbers
- Laplace/ inverse Laplace transform **
- Fourier Series *
- Fourier transform
- Z-transform *
- linearity
- shift left/right by n
- multiplication by time
- convolution

X. Probability and Statistics

- simple probability *
- Combination and permutation
- Binomial Distribution
- Poisson Distribution
- Odd for, Odd against
- conditional probability *

- The normal Curve *

- mean deviation, variance, standard deviation
- card problems *
- dice problems
- seat problems
- balls in a jar problem
- coin toss problems

XI. Discrete Mathematics and Numerical Methods

- Set theory
- subsets
- cardinality of a set
- set identities ( absorption law, distributive law, idempotency
law, associative law, etc.) *
- Boolean Algebra **
- Numerical Methods
square

- Type of errors due to approximation (estimators, mean

error) *
- finding roots in non-linear equations
- bisection method
- open method
- Newton-Raphson Method

- Regula Falsi Method

- Taylor Series *
- Finding the nth term of a series given a function for finding the A n+1
term **

General Engineering and Applied Sciences

I. Chemistry
- 5 states of Matter (Properties)
- Phase Changes (ionization, condensation, sublimation, etc.)
- Classification of matter (mixture, pure substance, homogeneous, etc.)
- Methods of Separation of Mixtures (Filtration, evaporation, etc.)
- parts of an atom
- Atomic Models
- Quantum Numbers
- Periodic Table (Semiconductor elements, Doping Elements)
- Chemical Equations (molecular/empirical formulas)
- Chemical Bonding
- Methods of Expressing concentration of solutions (Molality,
Formality, etc.)
II. Physics
- Measurements (SI to English and vice versa) *
- Vector and Scalar Quantities
- Application of Vectors (Force, Momentum, Velocity, etc.)***
- Vector Operations
- Work, Energy and Power **
- Total Mechanical Energy **
- translational and rotational kinetic energy
- potential energy
- Mass energy
- Simple Machines (ideal/actual mechanical advantage)

- Simple Harmonic Motion (Springs)*

- Hooke's Law (Springs) *
- Elastic Potential Energy (Springs) *
- Newton's Law of Motions (Solving)***
- Universal Gravitation
- Waves *
- velocity/frequency of waves on a stretched string
- Laws of vibrating String
- Sound waves
- sound intensity level
- sound power level
- sound pressure level
- mach number
- Speed of sound at different temperatures
- Doppler's Effect
- Light (Different theories of Light)
- Energy in a photon
- law of reflection and refraction (Snell's Law)
- Polarization, Luminous Flux and Illumination (Solving)
- Mirrors and Lenses (solving)
- Theory of Relativity

III. Engineering Mechanics

- Kinematics and Kinetics **
- Vectors (dot and cross product) *
- Force Systems *

- Equilibrium **
- Friction **
- Belt Friction
- Cables
- Parabolic cable
- Catenary Cable
- Newton's Law of Motion ***
- uniformly accelerated motion
- free-falling bodies
- projectile motion
- rotary motion
- uniformly accelerated rotary motion
- impulse and momentum *
- law of conservation of momentum
- Collisions
- coefficient of restitution
- Banking of curves
- Rotation of rigid Bodies *
- moment of inertia *

IV. Strength of Materials

- Stresses
- simple stress
- shearing stress
- double shear
- punching shear

- bearing shear *
- Thin walled cylinder/sphere
- tangential stress
- longitudinal stress
- Strain
- Poisson's Ration
- Hooke's law
- Elasticity
- Deformation and Elongation
- Thermal Stress
- stress-strain diagram
- torsion
- Shearing stress and deformation for spring

V. Thermodynamics
- The temperature scale
- Thermodynamic Equilibrium
- Pressure
- Pascal's Principle
- Latent and sensible Heat *
- specific heat
- 4 laws of Thermodynamics
- Thermodynamic Processes (involving Calculus)
- Isobaric Process
- Isometric Process
- Isothermal Process

- Adiabatic Process
- Carnot Cycle
- Ideal Gas Laws
- Boyle's, Charles', Gay-Lussac's law
- Efficiency and Coefficient of Performance of an engine

VI. Engineering Economics

- Supply and Demand
- Market
- Interest ***
- simple interest
- compound interest
- continuous compounding
- nominal, effective rate of interest
- Discount
- Inflation
- Annuity ***
- Ordinary Annuity
- Deferred Annuity
- Annuity Due
- Perpetuity
- Uniform Arithmetic and Geometric Gradient
- Capitalized Cost
- Depreciation
- straight line method
- sinking fund method

- declining balance method

- double declining balance method
- sum of year's digit method
- Break even
- Bond

VII. ECE Laws and Ethics

- R.A. 3846 - Radio Control Law of the Philippines *
- R.A. 7925 - Public Telecommunication Policy Act of the Philippines *
- R.A. 8981 - PRC Modernization Act of 2000 *
- R.A. 9292 - Electronics Engineering Laws of 2004 ***
- Title of the 8 articles
- Title of the 43 sections
- fines
- dates
- National Building Code *

Electronics Engineering

I. Electricity and Magnetism

- Unit Breakdown (Voltage and Current) **
- temperature effect on resistance
- Electro Magnets
- Theories of Magnetism
- Coulomb's Laws *
- Magnetic and Electric Field **
- force between to current carrying conductor **
- Right hand and Fleming's left hand rule
- Reluctance *
- Permittivity and Permeability *
- Magnetic Circuits *
- Hysteresis
- Ohm's Law ***

II. Electrical Elements

- Wires and Cables (wire size, AWG) *
- Resistors
- Color bands of a resistor
- Types of resistors
- total resistance, series/parallel
- Batteries (Voltage ratings and names)
- Capacitors
- Capacitance formula *

- reading capacitor values

- relative permittivity of common dielectric materials
- total capacitance of series/parallel composite capacitors
- capacitor coding
- energy stored in a capacitor *
- Inductors
- Inductance given physical dimensions
- energy stored in an inductor
- Faraday's, Lenz's Law *
- total inductance series/parallel inductors with mutual
inductance *

III. DC Electrical Circuit

- Ohm's Law ***
- Direct Current **
- Electrical Power **
- KVL and KCL **
- Superposition theorem
- Thevenin's Theorem *
- Norton's Theorem
- Source Transformation
- Millman's Theorem *
- Maximum power Transfer
- Wye to Delta, Delta to Wye transformation

IV. AC Electrical Circuit

- AC Waveforms(Sine, square, triangular, etc.) ***

period, frequency, wavelength

- peak and peak-to-peak value

- average and rms values (using calculus)
- Form and peak factor
- RC, RL, RLC circuits ***
- series and parallel
- impedance
- power in AC circuits
- power triangle (real, reactive, apparent, power factor)

V. Resonant Circuit
- Resonance ***
- series/parallel resonance frequency
- Q factor, bandwidth
- resonance graph
- theoretical and practical analysis of resonant circuit

VI. Electrical Transients

- instantaneous voltage across a capacitor and inductor (calculus)
- Charging and Discharging, RL, RC, and RLC circuits
- Time constants

VIII. Semiconductor Physics

- Atomic Theory (Semiconductors)
- Semiconductor elements *
- N and P type materials (Physical, electrical properties) *
- Intrinsic Carrier Concentration and density *
- Electron and Hole Mobility *

IX. Semiconductor Diodes

- The PN Junction
- Froward and Reverse bias conditions
- Shockley's Equation
- Forward Current Equation
- Effect of Temperature on reverse saturation current
- Effect of Temperature of threshold voltage
- Diode models (ideal, simplified, Piecewise/practical )
- DC and AC resistance of a diode
- junction capacitance
- Zener Diode , zener regulator **
- Varicap
- Photodiode *
- LED

X. Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

- Basic construction and symbol
- NPN and PNP BJT
- Basic Operation

- proper biasing
- Regions of Operation
- DC and AC analysis
- beta, alpha and gamma of a BJT (relationships)
- h-parameters, re-parameters
- 3 transistor configuration (CB, CE, CC)
- Typical values of h-parameters
- Common types of biasing (solving) **
- fixed bias
- emitter-stabilized
- voltage-divider
- voltage feedback
- stability factor

XI. Field effect transistor (FET)

-Basic construction and schematic symbol **
- JFET
- Enhancement type FET
- Depletion type FET
- MOSFET
- JFET current equation
- JFET transconductance equation
- transfer and characteristic curves *
- E-MOSFET equations
- VMOSFET

XII. Diode Circuits

- Rectifiers
- Full-wave and Half-wave
- Bridge and center-tap
- rms and average load voltage and current *
- Maximum peak-inverse voltage (PIV) ratings
- Clipper circuits *
- Clamper circuits
- Diode limiter circuits
- voltage doubler, tripler, quadrupler

XIII. Power Supply

- Block diagram *
- Basic construction
- Transformer formulas (turns ratio, hysterysis & eddy current loss) *
- Transformer efficiency
- ripple factor, ripple voltage
- voltage regulation
- filter equations and circuits *
- Voltage regulators
- series/shunt regulator circuits
- LM-317 IC
- stability factor

XIV. Amplifiers
- Basic Amplifier Gains
- Class A, B, BC, C amplifiers (efficiency calculation) *
- Feedback amplifiers *
- voltage-series feedback
- voltage-shunt feedback
- current-series feedback
- current-shunt feedback
- frequency response

XV. Oscillators and multivibrator circuits

- Positive feedback system
- open and closed loop gain
- Barkhausen Criterion *
- tank circuit
- Hartley Oscillator
- Colpitts Oscillator
- Clapp Oscillator
- Crystal Oscillator
- RC Phase-shift Oscillator *
- Pierce Oscillator
- Wein Bridge Oscillaotr
- monostable, bistable and astable multivibrators

XVI. DC and AC Motors

- Parts of a motor
- Series, shunt and compound motors

- induction motor
- synchronous motor
- split-phase motor
- poly-phase motor

XVII. Industrial Electronics

- The Thyristor Family **
- SCR, SCS, GTO, LASCR, LASCS
-UJT, PUT, TRIAC, DIAC, SUS, SBS
- Industrial Welding Systems
- Servo system

XVIII. Instrumentation
- Ammeter, voltmeter, ohmmeter *
- Types of errors (parallax, loading, insertion errors, etc.) *
- Types of ammeters (PMMC, Electrostatic, Moving iron, etc.)
- meter sensitivity (solving) *

XIX. Microelectronics
- IC classifications
- Moore's Law
- Manufacturing processes
- IC packaging
- Levels of integration
- Popular ICs
- IC families

XX. Operation Amplifiers

- Block diagram of an Op-Amp *
- common-mode rejection ratio CMRR *
- input bias currents *
- input and output offset voltage *
- MPP, Slew-rate, unity gain frequency
- Op-Amp configurations ***
- inverting amplifier
- non-inverting amplifier
- voltage follower/buffer
- summing amplifier
- subtractor amplifier
- differentiator and integrator
XXI. Logic Circuits
- Boolean Algebra ***
- Truth table *
- K-map
- Logic Gates, Universal gates **
- Combinational Logic Circuit
- half and full adders
- binary parallel adder
- Code converter
- encoder/decoder
- multiplexer/demultiplexer
- comparator

- Flip-flops **
- RS, D, JK, T flip-flops
- registers, counters
- Logic families *

XXII. Computer Systems

- Memories
- ALU
- Number systems (bin, hex, oct, dec) **

XXIII. Power Electronics

- Chopper Circuits (DC to DC)
- schematic diagram
- output waveforms
- average and rms load voltage and current
- power factor
- Phase Controlled Rectifier (AC to DC)
- schematic diagram
- output waveforms
- average and rms load voltage and current
- power factor
- Cycloconverters (AC to AC)
- schematic diagram
- output waveforms
- average and rms load voltage and current
- power factor

- inverter (DC to AC)

- schematic diagram
- output waveforms
- average and rms load voltage and current
- power factor

Electronic Systems and Technologies

I. Electronic Communications
- Elements of communication systems (Rx, Tx, Channel)
- The electromagnetic spectrum
- Frequency assignments
- location of most common communication systems in the spectrum
- Bandwidth
II. Amplitude modulation
- Basic concept and principles
- General Equation of AM
- Modulation index / percent modulation
- AM waveform and parts
- Sidebands
- AM power distribution
- Single-sideband communications
- Peak envelope power
- Common AM modulator and demodulator Circuits
- Balanced Modulator
- SSB Circuits

- Mixer and Converters (Heterodyning Process)

III. Frequency modulation
- Basic concept and principles
- FM equation
- Frequency deviation ( FM standards)
- Percent Modulation
- Sidebands and bandwidth of FM (Bessel, Carson)
- Pre-emphasis and De-emphasis circuits
- capture effect
- Frequency modulator circuits
- VVC, VCOs
-reactance modulator
- Frequency demodulator circuits
- Foster-seeley discriminator
- ratio detector
- pulse averaging discriminator
- quadrature detector
- differential peak detector
- phase-locked loop (PLL)
- lock range and capture range
IV. Phase Modulation
- Basic concept and principles
- PM equation
- Frequency deviation
- Percent Modulation

V. Radio Transmitters

- Basic transmitter block diagram

- Class C Amplifiers (Efficiency)
- Frequency Multipliers
VI. Speech Processing
- splatter
- dynamic compression
- automatic gain control (AGC)
- automatic level control (ALC)
VII. Communication receivers
- Characteristics of a good receiver (selectivity, sensitivity, etc.)
- resonant frequency, bandwidth, Q factor, shape factor
- Basic receiver block diagram
- super heterodyne receiver
- intermediate frequency, image frequency, signal frequency (solving)
VIII. Noise
- signal-to-noise ratio ***
- types of noise (industrial, pink, internal, etc.)
- rms noise voltage
- noise figure *
- noise temperature
- signal noise and distortion

IX. Multiplexing
- FDM and TDM
- pulse code modulation (steps) **
X. Transmission Lines

- Characteristic impedance (formulas) **

- Transmission lines **
- balanced and unbalanced
- coax
- twin lead
- baluns
- Standing waves **
- reflection coefficient *
- open/shorted transmission lines **
XI. Antenna Fundamentals
- electric and magnetic field *
- polarization *
- Basic antennas (gain, operating frequency, physical dimensions,
input
impedance, aperture, etc.) ***
- elementary doublet
- half-wave dipole
- Ground plane antenna
- parasitic array (yagi)
- driven array
- collinear
- endfire
- broadside
XII. Radio wave propagation
- layers of the atmosphere (used in comms, D E F1 F2) **
- ground wave, sky wave, space wave propagation **
- range of antenna given height *
- Maximum usable frequency **

- Critical frequency **
- skip zone, skip distance *
XII. Microwave
- Line of sight *
- K-factor *
- gain and beamwidth of parabolic antenna **
- FSL, EIRP, RSL, Fade margin, C/N ratio ***
- microwave bands and frequencies
- waveguide (length, modes)
- microwave diodes
- Klystron
- Magnetron
- Traveling wave tube
- horn and helical antennas
XIII. Data Communications
- Baudot code, ASCII, EBCDIC, gray codes *
- synchronous and asynchronous transmission *
- information capacity ***
- ideal noiseless channel
- Shannon-hartley theorem
- signal to noise ration, multi level encoding
- QPSK, QAM, M-PSK **
- protocols, error detection and correction (LRC, VRC, CRC) **
- network topologies *
- spread spectrum

XIV. Fiber-optic communication

- light spectrum
- light sources and detectors
- fiber color coding
- reflection, refraction
- parts of a fiber
XV. Cellular radio systems
- cellular generations
- MTSO
- Cells
- terminologies *
XVI. Other communication applications
- radar
- television *
- fax