Tag: ic

Ken Shirriff has written an article on reverse engineering the 76477 “Space Invaders” sound effect chip: Remember the old video game Space Invaders? Some of its sound effects were provided by a chip called the 76477 Complex Sound Generation chip. While the sound effects1 produced...

Ken Shirriff writes: The 74181 ALU (arithmetic/logic unit) chip powered many of the minicomputers of the 1970s: it provided fast 4-bit arithmetic and logic functions, and could be combined to handle larger words, making it a key part of many CPUs. Inside the vintage 74181 ALU chip -...

Susan Nordyk @ edn.com writes: Toshiba has added a 512-Gbit (64-Gbyte), 64-layer flash memory device that employs 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) technology to its BiCS Flash product line. This technology will allow the development of 1-terabyte memory chips for use in...

by Julien Happich @ edn-europe.com: Part of the Swatch group, EM Microelectronic announced what the company believes to be the world's smallest Bluetooth chip. Offered in a 4x4mm QFN-28 package, in a WLCSP-21 or as a bare-die, the EM9304 is optimized for Bluetooth v4.2 low energy...

Clemens Valens @ elektormagazine.com discuss about a new IC substrate. He writes: A new, ultra-thin ceramic substrate with an ESD strength of up to 25 kV – more than three times higher than the standard 8 kV of state-of-the-art Zener diodes – also features a high thermal...

  ICStripBoard is a innovative cheap tool to enable rapid prototyping of surface mount integrated circuits (IC’s) and allow their usage in prototype electronics projects. Inline surface mount IC’s come in a Variety of packages which are different sizes and these Printed...

Thomas Scherer @ elektormagazine.com writes: When it comes to protecting sensitive circuitry from potentially damaging over-voltage spikes and supply surges we usually resort to networks of coils, capacitors, resistors and suppression diodes to iron out the transients. The LTC4380...

A detailed die photos and reverse engineering of the 74181 ALU chip by Ken Shirriff: What’s inside a TTL chip? To find out, I opened up a 74181 ALU chip, took high-resolution die photos, and reverse-engineered the chip.1 Inside I found several types of gates, implemented with...