Reader Polls/Flashback

Flashback > 10 Years Ago

MARCH 5, 1992
A gallium-arsenide-based transistor structure possessing a maximum cutoff or transition frequency (f_t) of more than 118 GHz is close to fruition. The research, done by the laboratories of GEC-Marconi Materials Technology Ltd., Caswell, England, is part of a quest for higher-frequency analog and faster digital logic devices for use in radio communications, fiber-optic transmission systems, and radar signal processing....

More important than the 118-GHz f_t figure is that the HBTs \[heterojunction bipolar transistors\] are useful for both analog and digital circuits. Consequently, mixed-signal microwave ICs will be able to operate directly on millimeter-wavelength radio signals, while simultaneously processing data at around 45-GHz clock speeds. (Technology Advances, p. 33)

Flashback > 25 Years Ago

MARCH 1, 1977
Is a DMM with 4-1/2 digits inherently more accurate than one with 3-1/2 digits? Contrary to popular opinion, the answer is "Yes"—at least for meters with sensing accuracies in the order of 0.1% of the reading, or better.

Practically speaking, inaccuracy in a DMM reading is the total ambiguity of the displayed value. A series of terms compose it: the basic front-end sensing accuracy of the meter (through the converter), temperature coefficient, drift with time, short-term stability, and resolution. Usually, the nominal accuracy quoted for a meter is its sensing accuracy. (Technology, p. 72)

Flashback > 40 Years Ago

MARCH 1, 1962
Produced by vacuum deposition of NiFe alloy onto a heated glass substrate, these ferromagnetic thin-film plates make up high-density memory planes. The substrates used in the BIP-1001 have a density of about 150 bits/in.² This represents about a ten-fold increase compared to previously available units.

Manufactured by Burroughs Corp., Electronic Components Div., Plainfield, N.J., the planes are reported to offer a cost per bit reduction of 50% over present planes.

Each substrate has a storage capacity of 32 words, 24 bits. A complete memory plane uses four substrates and has a 128-word, 24-bit total, or a yield of 3,072 bits.... The high-density memory planes are available immediately for $1500. (Product Features, p. 94)

READER POLLS Movie Poll Results: Not surprisingly, it's brains over brawn for EEs. We prefer the challenge of sci-fi flicks to the gross extreme of horror stories and the sweetness of romances. And just like regular folks, we enjoy a good laugh, as our strong score for comedies shows. Visit our Web site (www.elecdesign.com) to take other polls.