Along the lines of "Who watches the watchmen?" one of the toughest jobs for analog electronics has always been driving the pins on automatic test equipment (ATE). In this case, we're talking about speed coupled with high drive for test during burn-in (TDBI) applications.
Intersil's ISL55100A quad pin electronics driver/window comparator drives up to 18 V and runs up to 65 MHz (see the figure). The IC has twice the drive capability of competitive devices, thanks to its 7Ω guaranteed maximum output resistance. The actual ac current drive specification is 1 A (typical).
The low output resistance also yields fast rise and fall times and accurate pulse waveform generation (up to 65 MHz; 50 MHz is guaranteed minimum). Levels for each tri-state-able driver can be set independently. Driver inputs can be single-ended or differential.
Each of the four window comparators can be set to independent high and low thresholds. The inputs can be driven above and below ground to enable the device to interface with a wide variety of logic families. The comparators have flexible-logic high-and low-level power supplies, which allows optimization of the interface to the controller.
The ISL55100A comes in a 72-lead quad flat no-lead package. It costs $17.00 in 1000-unit quantities.
Intersil
www.intersil.com