World Abstracts continued from page 43
and elemental composition measurements reveal that SiN's are highly nonstoichiometric with 1.93× 10~Z/cma bonded H. This high degree of nonstoichiometry is reflected in the values of the uv absorption edge and mechanical stress when they are compared to those of the higher temperature CVD nitride. In the frequency range of ll)~-IlY; Hz, dielectric dispersion and absorption are observed. The d.c. conductivity and CV measurements on MNS structures support a bulk controlled conduction mechanism. Ion beams promise practical systems for submlcrometer wafer lithography R. L. SEL1GER and P. A. SULLIVAN Electronics. 142 (March 1980). Focused and masked techniques could compete with scanning E-beam and X-ray methods respectively. Electrothermal effects in integrated circuits D. J. HAMILTON and W. J. KERWIN Microelectronics Journal 1I(2), 5 (1980). Thermal coupling among integrated circuit components is generally regarded as Imving a detrimental effect on circuit performance, particularly in power operational amplifiers, reference voltage circuits and voltage regulators. The design of such circuits must take into account these "electrothermal interactions', as they are termed. However, for certain other circuit applications, it is possible to use these interactions to advantage. In this paper, thermal analysis methods for integrated circuits are described briefly, with emphasis on a computer simulation of electrothermal interactions. The exploitation of electrothermal interactions is discussed for temperature stabilisation of the integrated chip, for generation of long duration pulses, and for synthesis of low frequency (less than 100Hz) filters. In the last case a state variable method is used, enabling the synthesis, with electrothermal integrators, of low pass, high pass, band pass, and band elimination filters. Experimental results are given, and limitations and applications are briefly discussed. Soft errors in VLSh present and future T. C. MAY
I E E E Trans. Components, tlybrids Mfg Technology. CHMT-2 (4), 377 (December 1979). The sensitivity of very large scale integrated circuits to alpha-particleinduced soft errors is considered. It is shown that alpha flux levels in packages are unlikely to be reduced below 0.1301-0.01 ~]cmZ-h and that device design and technology changes will offer the most signficant opportunities for soft error improvement. The use of error detection and correction (EDAC) will become more widespread in the next decade. Accelerated testing methods and additional sources of soft errors in VLSI are discussed.
6. Applications Microelectronics- the revolution in consumer equipment J. C. van VESSEM
Fifth Solid State Circuits Conference- ESSCIRC 79, lEE Pubbz. 178, 20. Today microelectronics are causing a revolution in all established fields of electronic equipment, as well as in new areas. In fact we can call microelectronics the continuation of the industrial revolution that started over a century ago. Several phases have occurred: first, steam engines were replaced by electrical generators; then electric distribution systems came into being; and finally, small, low power solid state products enabled us to proceed rapidly with various forms of data handling, data communication, and small signal processing. Of course consumer equipment is also being changed by microelectronics. The only questions are: where, how and when. In order to answer them it is useful first to analyse what has already happened with microelectronics and why, and from there to try to predict what we still can expect. The MOM 400 single-chip microcomputer A. B. GUYOT, M. ttENRY and M. E. VERGNIAULT Fifth Solid State Ciradts Conference- ESSCIRC 79, lEE PubbL 178, 150. This paper describes the design and realisation of a single chip microcomputer. The circuit is intended, on one hand, for piloting rather simple real time processes (oven, central heating, etc) and on the other hand for communicating with man via a display and a keyboard. 44
Large-scale integration latches onto the phone system H. J. HINDIN Electronics. ! 13 (5 June 1980). A $2 billion chip market will shortly open up as manufacturers of telecommunications gear and semiconductors resolve their differences. An integrated circuit VHF radio receiver I. A. W. VANCE Radio Electron. Eng. 50(4), 158 (April 1980). A radio receiver system for frequency-modulated signals is described which uses a direct conversion (zero intermediate frequency) technique. The characteristics of the system are developed especially in areas of difference from conventional methods. The realisation is shown of the complete receiver in two integrated circuits which form part of a synthesised 30 to 88 Mttz equipment. The conclusion is drawn that the combination of direct conversion and large-scale integration is a very powerful means for future development of radio receiver techniques. Minicomputer fills mainframe's shows C. J. ALSING, K. D. HOLBERGER, C. J. HOLLAND, E. J. RASALA and S. J. WALLACH Electronics. 130 (22 May 1980). Fully compatible with its 16-bit family, this 32-bit minicomputer has mainframe features; multiple-bus hardware with separate instruction and data caches, and a 4.3-gigabyte virtual memory. 16-bit microprocessor enters virtual memory domain Y. LAVI, A. KAMINKER, A. MENACHEM and S. BAL Electronics. 123 (24 April 1980). Central processing unit supports 24-bit addresses; memory management unit offers instruction-aborting facility vital to virtual memory systems. Intelligent memories and the silicon chip I. A L E K S A N D E R Electron. Power. 324 (April 1980). Falling chip costs do not only mean more of the same when it comes to storing information in computers. Here is is argued that the silicon chip can bring computer memories a step closer to those of humans. Two-chip radio link pilots toys and models M. GILES, K. LACANETTE, D. MONTICELLI and R. PAGE Electronics. 145 (5 June 1980). Transmitter and receiver lCs for multichannel remote control give low-cost digital and proportional system a 100-metre range. Multiple-drain MOS packs in very fast logic gates K. DREYFACK Electronics. 73 (5 June 1980). Comparable to integrated injection logic, MD-MOS technology lends itself to computer-aided design. Custom ECL chips boost performance in smaller mainframes A. DURNIAK Electronics. 39 (24 April 1980). Special emitter-coupled logic is implemented in LSI; that, plus innovative packaging, shrinks CPU to a single board. Technical and practical considerations of incorporating microprocessors in OEM products - a management view S. SAMBELL Microelectron. Reliab. 19, 523 (1980). The 'Microelectronics Revolution" means cheap computing for everybody - or does it? This paper discusses the technical and practical considerations to be taken into account when management starts thinking about incorporating microprocessors in OEM products; and highlights these considerations with a real-life situation. Decoding scheme smooths 18-bit converter's nonlinearity S. WILENSKY Electronics. 128 (5 June 1980). Reducing the maximum binary weight carried by switches helps twochip 18-bit digital-to-analog converter achieve 16-bit linearity.