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IC (Integrated circuit)

IC (Integrated circuit)

 


Definition

An integrated circuit (IC), often also referred to as a solid-state circuit, a chip or a microchip, refers to an electronic circuit manufactured using semiconductor technology.

Three_IC_circuit_chips.jpg

 

In electronics, there are many circuits that occur again and again. To avoid having to rebuild these complex circuits each time, they are integrated on a small semiconductor board. The semiconductor board contains many electronic components such as transistors, capacitors and resistors, which together form the circuit and are encapsulated in a housing for better protection.

ICs are considered independent electronic components, and allow to create low-cost, space-saving and reliable electronic systems.

 

From the density of the transistors (integration density) and size of the chip, the degree of integration of an IC results.

Name Transistor count Size

Application

Small Scale Integration (SSI) < 10 < 3 mm²

digital gates (logic elements)

Medium Scale Integration (MSI) < 500 < 8 mm²

analog-digital combined circuits

Large Scale Integration (LSI) < 20.000 < 20 mm²

analog-digital combined circuits, memories, microprocessors

Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) < 1.000.000 < 30 mm²

memories, microprocessors

Ultralarge Scale Integration (ULSI) > 1.000.000 > 30 mm²

 


References

  1. Wikipedia: Integrated circuit

 

Version history
Last update:
‎29.03.2022 13:06
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