Milestones:16-bit Monolithic DAC, 1981 and Category:Engineering fundamentals: Difference between pages

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Background

Woodcut showing use of an abacus

Engineering requires many building blocks and tools. To produce real world results, one must practically apply mathematics and sciences to tangible problems and scenarios. Included in this category are the various technical topics which cut across engineering disciplines, encompassing many branches of mathematics and scientific disciplines.

Featured Articles

Featured articles are peer-reviewed articles on the history of major developments in technology. Available in the scientific tools and discovery category are:

Scanning Probe Microscopy

Subcategories

Acoustics - The science of waves, subcategories include acoustic propagation, biomedical acoustics and nonlinear acoustics
Design methodology - Topics that pertain to design and creation, including critical thinking methods, sustainability and articulation.
Distillation - The process of purification of liquids
Fields, waves & electromagnetics - The relationship between magnetic and electrical fields that provides the foundational theory of electrical engineering
Instrumentation - Topics relating to devices used for measurement, such as oscilloscopes and probes
Kinetics & catalysis - Various topics of energy related to applications in physics and chemistry
Lasers, lighting & electrooptics - Topics relating to electric lighting, lasers and photonics
Mathematics - Mathematics such as calculus, algebra, and numerical analysis are all essential components of engineering
Measurement - Related to instrumentation, measurements of various quantities has many real world applications
Mixing - The combination of multiple materials to form a homogeneous solution
Particle technology & fluidization - Sciences dealing with particulates and fluids
Process development - Disciplines related to the optimization of various engineering and scientific processes
Reaction engineering - Chemistry related topics dealing with the engineering of various reactions
Reliability - The ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time
Scientific disciplines - Various non-engineering scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy
Separations - Topics in chemistry related to the separation of materials into distinct substances
Systems engineering and theory - An interdisciplinary method to engineering which has practical uses in complex projects which span multiple fields
Thermodynamics - a physical science that studies that effects on material bodies of transfer of heat and work
Transport and fluid mechanics - Topics concerning the mass and energy exchange between systems

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-== Citation ==
+== Background ==
-[[Image:DAC Milestone ceremony.JPG|thumb|right|Honorees at DAC Milestone ceremony, 6 December 2010. Photo copyright: Linda Prazak]]
+[[Image:Rechentisch.png|thumb|right|340px|Woodcut showing use of an abacus]]
-[[File:2008-20 DAC milestone plaque mounted 2.JPG|200px|thumb|left|DAC Milestone plaque mounted outside the door]]
+Engineering requires many building blocks and tools. To produce real world results, one must practically apply mathematics and sciences to tangible problems and scenarios. Included in this category are the various technical topics which cut across engineering disciplines, encompassing many branches of mathematics and scientific disciplines.
-''In early 1982, Burr-Brown Research Corporation, later part of Texas Instruments, Inc., demonstrated a 16-bit monolithic digital-to-analog converter. Coupled with earlier compact disc development by Philips and Sony, it enabled affordable high-quality compact disc players, helped transform music distribution and playback from analog phonograph records to digital compact discs, and ushered in digital media playback.''
+== Featured Articles ==
-The plaques may be viewed at:
+Featured articles are peer-reviewed articles on the history of major developments in technology. Available in the scientific tools and discovery category are:
-#Texas Instruments' North Dallas campus, Dallas, TX U.S.A. outside the Semiconductor Building that has other TI landmarks installed. The outside location is chosen so that anyone at the building can easily see the milestone and its significance.
+*[[Scanning Probe Microscopy]]
-#Texas Instruments Building, 5411 East Williams, Blvd., Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.& where the product design and manufacturing actually happened.
-== Historic significance of the 16-bit Monolithic DAC  ==
+== Subcategories  ==
-The PCM53/DAC700 was the world's first monolithic 16-bit DAC. Designed by Jimmy Naylor and TI / Burr-Brown data converter design team,<ref name="refnum1">"A complete high-speed voltage output 16-bit monolithic DAC", Naylor, J.R.;Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of Volume 18, Issue 6, Dec 1983 Page(s):729 – 735.</ref><ref name="refnum2">"A 16b monolithic DAC with voltage output", Naylor, J.; Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers. 1983 IEEE International, Volume XXVI, Feb 1983 Page(s):186 - 187.</ref><ref name="refnum3">United States Patent 4,423,409, Naylor , et al. December 27, 1983. Digital-to-analog converter having single-ended input interface circuit. Inventors: Naylor; Jimmy R. (Tucson, AZ), Lillis; William J. (Tucson, AZ), Wang; Anthony D. (Tucson, AZ). Assignee: Burr-Brown Research Corporation (Tucson, AZ). Appl. No.: 06/250,868. Filed: April 3, 1981.</ref><ref name="refnum4">United States Patent 4,381,497. Lillis , et al. April 26, 1983
+*'''[[:Category:Acoustics|Acoustics]]''' - The science of waves, subcategories include acoustic propagation, biomedical acoustics and nonlinear acoustics
-Digital-to-analog converter having open-loop voltage reference for regulating bit switch currents. Inventors: Lillis; William J. (Tucson, AZ), Naylor; Jimmy R. (Tucson, AZ), Wang; Anthony D. (Tucson, AZ), White; Robert L. (Tucson, AZ). Assignee: Burr-Brown Research Corporation (Tucson, AZ). Appl. No.: 06/250,858. Filed: April 3, 1981. PCM53 datasheet</ref> this product played a key role in transforming the music industry from analog audio tapes and vinyl long play discs (LPs) into digital audio compact discs. This 16-bit DAC was designed in to almost all major manufacturers of CD players when the compact disc player was emerging as a superior digital audio apparatus and led TI / Burr-Brown to dominate the digital audio data converter market with more than 80% share for several years. The TI/ Burr Brown DAC was mentioned in the movie “The Italian Job”. This unique monolithic chip and its fundamental achievement together with the technical advances in audio and speech processing, digital signal processing, which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s,<ref name="refnum5">Gene Frantz and Larry Zhang, TI IEEE Electrical Engineering and Computing Milestone nomination: Speak &amp; Spell – the first implementation of a Digital Signal Processing IC for speech generation, 1978.</ref> resulted in digital audio<ref name="refnum6">IEEE milestone to N.V. Philips for "COMPACT DISC AUDIO PLAYER, 1979".</ref> overtaking analog audio and spawning a new digital audio industry that is still expanding today with the introduction of a new generation iPods and other MP3 players.
+*'''[[:Category:Design methodology|Design methodology]]''' - Topics that pertain to design and creation, including critical thinking methods, sustainability and articulation.
+*'''[[:Category:Distillation|Distillation]]''' - The process of purification of liquids
-For the first time, a complete 16-bit monolithic DAC had been integrated into a single chip with all the components necessary for a high performance digital to analog converter. Up until this point all 16-bit DACs were multi-chip hybrids that are not functionally complete because external components must be added and they were very costly to build. When Sony and Philips were designing the digital audio players, there were three fundamental problems that needed to be solved:
+*'''[[:Category:Fields, waves & electromagnetics|Fields, waves & electromagnetics]]''' - The relationship between magnetic and electrical fields that provides the foundational theory of electrical engineering
+*'''[[:Category:Instrumentation|Instrumentation]]''' - Topics relating to devices used for measurement, such as oscilloscopes and probes
-#A medium that could store the amount of information needed for high fidelity audio. They started with digital tape, but settled on the compact disc (CD) format.
+*'''[[:Category:Kinetics & catalysis|Kinetics & catalysis]]''' - Various topics of energy related to applications in physics and chemistry
-#Lowering the cost of the read mechanism (laser) to read the CD.
+*'''[[:Category:Lasers, lighting & electrooptics|Lasers, lighting & electrooptics]]''' - Topics relating to electric lighting, lasers and photonics
-#A low cost, high performance DAC to play back the music!
+*'''[[:Category:Mathematics|Mathematics]]''' - Mathematics such as calculus, algebra, and numerical analysis are all essential components of engineering
+*'''[[:Category:Measurement|Measurement]]''' - Related to instrumentation, measurements of various quantities has many real world applications
-TI / Burr-Brown’s design team were already working on a monolithic DAC for industrial markets, but the TI / Burr-Brown team stepped up the pace and were first to the emerging audio market. The differential linearity laser trim algorithm made the DAC "sound better” with lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) that was better than if you trimmed for absolute linearity. This was the best performance audio DAC of its time with much improved reliability over the older hybrid design which required multiple chips and over 100 wirebonds. With the help of TI/Burr-Brown Japan’s super sales and applications team the 16-bit monolithic converter DAC was designed in to almost all major manufacturers of CD players and dominated the digital to analog audio converter market with more than 80% share for several years.
+*'''[[:Category:Mixing|Mixing]]''' - The combination of multiple materials to form a homogeneous solution
+*'''[[:Category:Particle technology & fluidization|Particle technology & fluidization]]''' - Sciences dealing with particulates and fluids
-To reduce a multichip hybrid converter design to a single chip, several obstacles had to be overcome in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s: Power consumption changes on a single chip will cause thermal gradients that affect temperature sensitive components introducing offset, gain, and/or linearity errors. Since thermal gradients on the chip surface take a few hundred microseconds to stabilize after a power change, the settling time of the DAC output could be adversely affected. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as a thermal settling “tail.” Minimizing the die size precluded the use of large capacitor values that is common in a hybrid design, for the compensation of amplifiers or for suppressing switching transient. To realize the new single chip monolithic DAC, and holding the die size to less than 20,000 square mils to minimize the cost per die, required an innovative process technology. Rather than using a conventional 40 V bipolar process used for many analog circuits, a thinner epi process yielding 20 V BVCEO transistors was chosen. This saved considerable die area as typical transistor geometries are approximately 50 percent smaller.
+*'''[[:Category:Process development|Process development]]''' - Disciplines related to the optimization of various engineering and scientific processes
+*'''[[:Category:Reaction engineering|Reaction engineering]]''' - Chemistry related topics dealing with the engineering of various reactions
-== References ==
+*'''[[:Category:Reliability|Reliability]]''' - The ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time
+*'''[[:Category:Scientific disciplines|Scientific disciplines]]''' - Various non-engineering scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy
-<references />
+*'''[[:Category:Separations|Separations]]''' - Topics in chemistry related to the separation of materials into distinct substances
+*'''[[:Category:Systems engineering and theory|Systems engineering and theory]]''' - An interdisciplinary method to engineering which has practical uses in complex projects which span multiple fields
-== Letter from the site owner giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property.  ==
+*'''[[:Category:Thermodynamics|Thermodynamics]]''' - a physical science that studies that effects on material bodies of transfer of heat and work
+*'''[[:Category:Transport and fluid mechanics|Transport and fluid mechanics]]''' - Topics concerning the mass and energy exchange between systems
-[[Media:RichTempleton_Letter_for_16Bit_DAC_milestone.pdf|Milestone Support Letter]]
-== Proposal and Nomination ==
-[[Milestone-Proposal:16-bit Monolithic DAC]] - Proposal, submitted 2008
-[[Milestone-Nomination:16-bit Monolithic DAC, 1981]] - Nomination, submitted June 8th, 2009
-== Map ==
-{{#display_map:32.21713, -110.87787~ ~ ~ ~ ~Texas Instruments, Tucson, AZ|height=250|zoom=10|static=yes|center=32.21713, -110.87787}}
-[[Category:Consumer electronics|Dac]] [[Category:Signals|Dac]] [[Category:Signal processing|Dac]] [[Category:Digital signal processing|Dac]]
-[[Category:Digital_signal_processing|{{PAGENAME}}]]