23 Sep
2010
23 Sep
'10
10:23 a.m.
On 9/23/10 12:26 AM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
While looking around for a little about the 8-pin DIP
package, I
checked into the 555, as it was introduced about the same time as
the 8-pin DIP appeared. This site (albeit a 2nd-source, not direct
ref) says the 555 in 8-pin DIP was introduced in 1971 (page 2):
http://semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/Camenzind/Cam
enzind_Index.htm
But what I was surprised about was the statement about the 555 still
selling a billion units in 2003. I thought it had faded from
popularity since the '70/'80's as I can't recall seeing one in a new
product in many years. Apparently I'm not looking hard enough. Where
are all these 555's going?
8 pin DIPs were around in the 60s for linear products. Motorola
referred to them as their "Case 626" and used them for a lot of
consumer products such as the MC1350 IF amplifier. There was even a
4-pin DIP (Case 629) for the MFC4000 series of transistor arrays.
The NE555 for analog-minded folks is a hugely useful IC. Every
couple of months it seems that there's a circuit in EDN or Electronic
Design using one.
I've lately seen one used as a switching boost regulator. I've often
wondered if the NE555 (and 556) isn't the single most popular IC in
history.
--Chuck