The classic wooden breadboard is obsolete, but its name continues to refer to a vital engineering tool that has changed to meet today’s component and design realities. As leaded components such as discrete transistors and low-pin-count ICs in DIP packages came into use in the late 1960s and 1970s, breadboarding technology evolved as well. Among […]
Analog IC Tips
Breadboards evolve to meet 21st-century design needs, Part 1: The “Ancient” Past
The classic wooden breadboard is obsolete, but its name continues to refer to a vital engineering tool that has changed to meet today’s component and design realities. Breadboards have a special place and multiple meanings in the engineering lexicon. So, what is a breadboard? It can be a crude try-out version of a subcircuit to […]
Stamped-spring pin sockets handle BGA289 chip packages
A new socket addresses high-performance requirements for testing BGA289-packaged ICs.The contactor on the SBT-BGA-6577 socket is a stamped-spring pin with a 31-gm actuation force per ball and cycle life of 125,000 insertions. The self-inductance of the contactor is 0.88 nH, insertion loss is less than 1 dB at 15.7 GHz, and capacitance is 0.097 pF. […]
Oven-controlled Xtal oscillators sync to 1 pps input, output
IQD has presented the IQCM-200, a disciplined OCXO, incorporating sync to a 1 PPS (pulse per second) input as well as a 1 PPS output. Its exceptional holdover stability and accuracy make this particular product a superlative Disciplined OCXO. The IQCM-200 is part of a series of disciplined OCXOs available from IQD. This particular model […]
How does a precision rectifier work?
A precision rectifier, sometimes called a super diode, is an op amp circuit designed to behave like an ideal diode and is used in high-precision signal processing applications. It’s not a synchronous rectifier. The op-amp-based precision rectifier should not be confused with power MOSFET-based synchronous rectification. Because there is no diode voltage drop between the […]
What’s the difference between equalizers?
Equalizers are used to alter the performance of signal chains. In some cases, that means linearizing signal chain performance. In other cases, equalizers are used to introduce nonlinearities. As a result, equalizer designs vary widely from simple passive circuits to complex multi-stage designs and active circuits. This FAQ reviews equalizer basics, looks at equalizers for […]
Elastomer sockets handle high-bandwidth 0.508-mm pitch 132QFP packages
A new high-performance QFP socket for 0.508-mm pitch 132-pin QFP packages called the SG-QFE-7025 socket is designed for a 19.39×19.39×4.22-mm package size with 24.79×24.79-mm lead tip-to-tip and operates at bandwidths up to 30 GHz with less than 1 dB of insertion loss. The contact resistance is typically 20 mΩ per I/O. The socket connects all […]
What do you do with a bucket brigade device?
A bucket brigade device (BBD) is a discrete-time analog delay line using capacitors that has been replaced in most digital signal processing applications. But it continues to be used in some specialty applications such as guitar and audio sound effects and some types of sensors. It consists of a series of capacitance sections where a […]
What’s a logarithmic resistor ladder good for?
A logarithmic resistor ladder consists of a resistor string and switches designed to attenuate a signal. The state of the switches can be considered to represent a digital code proportional to the logarithm of the attenuation ratio. Logarithmic attenuation is useful when a large dynamic range is needed. Audio volume control and fading/balancing audio signals […]
Where do you use A, B, AB, D, G, DG and H circuits?
This selection of power amplifier classes is used to strengthen AC signals. The letter symbols differentiate between amplifier types and indicate the expected performance and characteristics. Basic amplifier classes such as A, B, AB, and C relate to the time that the amplifier is operating, or conducting, expressed as a fraction of the period of […]
