FLIP CHIP
Flip-Chip was a DEC registered trademark, named after the "flipchip" component mounting technique which quite rapidly faded from fame. The name was retained although the majority of Flip-Chips never really were flipchip-mounted as it became apparent that the flipchip mounting technique was highly unreliable. Flip-chips were used in the DEC PDP-7 (Referred to in documentation as the "FLIP CHIP"), PDP-8, PDP-9 and PDP-10, beginning on August 24, 1964.
Contents
Naming
There appeared to be some confusion inside DEC at the time, as various manuals refer to it as "FLIP CHIP", "Flip Chip", "FLIP-CHIP", "Flip-Chip" and "Flip Chip", with trademark and registered trademark symbols.
Flip-Chip families
The various families were colour-coded, and the first letter denoted a colour, which was also visible on the handle.
A series
The A stands for Amber. The A series were used for analog functions - ADCs, DACs, amplifiers etc.
Part Number | Description |
A123 | Positive logic multiplexer |
A131 | unknown |
A200 | Op. amp. |
A206 | Op. amp. |
A207 | Op. amp. |
A214 | unknown |
A215 | unknown |
A404 | sampler??? |
A613 | 12 bit DAC converter |
A615 | unknown |
A618 | 10 bit DAC converter |
A619 | 10 bit DAC converter |
A620 | 10 bit DAC converter |
A621 | 10 bit DAC converter |
A702 | reference supply??? |
A704 | reference supply??? |
A811 | 10 bit ADC converter |
A990 | amplifier |
A992 | amplifier |
B series
The B stands for Blue. The B series were used as core logic in the higher-end CPUs.
G series
The G stands for Green. The G series were used for "anything with non-standard voltages", I think.
M series
The M stands for ...? I'll have to find that out. Don't know what defines this, but I think it's "TTL-level logic".
R series
The R stands for Red. Slower logic than the B series, but cheaper. Used extensively in the I/O circuitry of computers.