21 Dec
2018
21 Dec
'18
5:47 a.m.
On Dec 21, 2018, at 8:19 AM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
...
The DEC brochure for it (P5141) is a little puzzling; it says (p. 2) that
"INTEGRATED CIRCUITS are basic elements of the low cost, newly designed
silicon FLIP CHIP modules used throughout PDP-7", but AFAIK, the first FLIP
CHIPs (R-series, B-series, etc) were all transistors; the later M-series were
the first ones to have ICs. Maybe this is some old meaning of "integrated
circuits"?
Noel
It's odd wording for sure, and doesn't feel like a common use of the term from
before the arrival of monolithic integrated circuits. But there is some precedent;
through the 1970s if not somewhat later there were "hybrid integrated circuits",
often found in high performance A/D and D/A converters. Those are essentially compact
circuit modules, but typically with unusual substrates like ceramic ones instead of PC
boards, and surface mount components when PCBs used all through-hole components. So
"integrated circuit" wasn't limited to the "monolithic" kind back
then.
I sometimes refer to "hollow state integrated circuits" to describe the complete
multi-stage amplifier in a single package built by Loewe of Germany in the 1930s; look for
"Loewe 3NF".
paul