31 Dec
2006
31 Dec
'06
12:13 p.m.
Guy Sotomayor wrote:
ECL is fast because it doesn't put the transistors
into saturation or
cutoff (ie it's operating in the "linear region"). This means that no
time is required to move "large" amounts of charge (electrons) into or
out of the base of the transistor which is necessary to "saturate" the
transistor. This is why it is so power hungry...it's operating in the
"linear" region so current is always flowing through it and it's acting
as a resistor (ie causing a voltage drop across the part).
But where can you get them cheap? $10 a chip is not cheap.
Note at one time I read about ECL PALS. That sounds nice if you
could still get that.