ECE Full Form

In terms of courses and studies, it refers to Electronics and Communication Engineering. It is also called Electronics Engineering. In this discipline students learn about the design of various electronic circuits and their systems, integrated circuits, working of active electrical components such as transistors, semiconductors, etc.

Difference Between Electronics and Electrical Engineering

One thing that many students or people face is that they do not understand the difference between electronic and electrical engineering. There is a laser-thin line between them. Electronic engineering includes the discipline of electronics engineering as a specialisation. Whereas, electrical engineering is a broad field that includes academic subjects such as analogue and digital circuits and components, embedded systems, active power electronics (fans, coolers, geysers, etc.), telecommunication systems, other consumer electronics, etc. If we say in simple words, it is a field of everything related to electricity. And electronic engineering is a specialisation field in telecommunication principles and their systems, signal processing, computer engineering robotics, etc. However, electronics and communication engineering are also sub-specialization fields, which we’ll see later..

How did electronics and communication engineering start?

In the late 19th century, when the technology improved it brought systems and devices such as radios, telephones, telegraphs, television, sending and receiving of signals. Which attracted many technicians and young people. But before world war I many who were in development and usage of these devices were amateurs. So, people saw that there is a need to bring excellence in this field as the technology grew mainly from telephone and radios during world war I and communication system and sonars from World War II during the late 90s. And due to this, a subject emerged known as radio engineering. And from the late 1950s, this subject was being converted to electronic and communications engineering as more and more concepts and topics were getting added into it..

Subfields of Electronics and Communication Engineering

As said earlier, this field is another broad field in itself. It is being taught to students in their Bachelor of Technology. And for their masters, they can specialise in any of the subfields of this if they want to. Some of the popular subfields of it are:.

•  Signal Processing: This is one of the major fields chosen by many young people. This course or this field deals with sending, receiving, and manipulation of signals to and fro from any electrical device. Where signals can either be analogue or digital. According to Shiksha.com, IIT Roorkee has excellence in providing a course in signal processing
• Computer Engineering: Another great preferred field is computer engineering. It deals with the design of computers and their hardware, specific computers related to any industry, motherboards, and other components.  This field also includes developing and designing mobile phones and their hardware, the design of microcontrollers and their applications, and other computer system physical devices
• Telecommunication Engineering: This field deals with the communication connectivity of people and industries. Such as transfer of data through cables, free space using signals/frequencies, or optical fibre. Where the engineer is needed to design or manage the transmission of data from one place to another. For instance, designing transmitters or receivers, transceivers, or special kinds of a device is needed by any company
• Aviation Electronic or telecommunication Engineering: In the aviation field communication and control system of aircraft and its system is another field known as aviation electronics and telecommunication engineering. This field deals with the design of communication medium between aircraft and ground station, aircraft electronic systems such as ILS (instrument Landing System), Alert Systems, Damage sensor systems, etc
• Electromagnetics: This field is an in-depth study of electromagnet-related circuits or systems. This includes the study of electromagnetic waves, waveguides, radio frequencies, transmission lines, etc
• Control Engineering: This field deals with the control of electrical and electronic equipment and their automation. Such as the design of systems that automates car controls, aircraft controls, and other device controls

Conclusion

To sum up, in courses and studies, ECE stands for Electronics and communication engineering. A specialisation field of electronics engineering, offered by institutes. This field deals with designing and modifying electronic components such as computer hardware, signal processing systems, radio frequency related systems, aircraft electronic systems, automation of devices, etc. This field also has its subfield for specialisation such as specialisation in signal processing, control engineering, aviation electronic and telecommunication, etc.