Simply speaking, devices that require energy (power) power are called active devices, and devices that do not require power (power) are passive devices. Active devices are generally used for signal amplification, transformation, etc., and passive devices are used for signal transmission, or "signal amplification" through directivity. Capacitance, resistance, and inductance are passive devices, and ICs, modules, etc. are active devices.

When analyzing the functions and technical parameters of electronic circuits, electronic components are generally divided into two categories: passive devices and active devices.

Passive devices mainly include resistors, capacitors, inductors, converters, faders, matching networks, resonators, filters, mixers and switches. Electronic components that can display their characteristics without the need for an external power supply. Passive components are mainly resistive, inductive and capacitive devices. Their common feature is that they can work when there is a signal without adding power in the circuit.

Active device, an electronic component that requires power to perform its specific function. It mainly includes electron tubes, transistors, integrated circuits, etc. Generally used for signal amplification, conversion and so on. If there is a power supply inside the electronic component when it is working, the device is called an active device. This is an electronic device that requires a source of energy to perform its specific function. In terms of physical structure, circuit function and engineering parameters, active devices can be divided into two categories: discrete devices and integrated circuits.