One of My High Technology Contributions to Microchip Design

Discussion in 'Cadence' started by Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004.

  1. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    One of My High Technology Contributions to Microchip Design...

    http://www.glade.com/wisp.asp

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #1
  2. Jim Thompson

    John Larkin Guest



    So, what's your estimate of the total number of JT-designed ICs that
    have ever been produced? I mean actual individual chips, not designs.

    John
     
    John Larkin, Jul 16, 2004
    #2
  3. I read in sci.electronics.design that Jim Thompson
    4ax.com>) about 'One of My High Technology Contributions to Microchip
    Design', on Fri, 16 Jul 2004:
    Have you got versions for elderly electronic engineers that emit 'sawing
    Ebonite', 'hot Paxolin' and 'selenium dioxide'? (;-)
     
    John Woodgate, Jul 16, 2004
    #3
  4. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    I wouldn't know where to begin.

    Probably the 1488/1489 RS-232 chip set would have had the highest
    volume.

    Although my alternator regulator chips would be up in the millions
    also.

    The PLL stuff would be high volume but not astronomic.

    Then I have probably 100 custom chips, designed for
    application-specific use, probably each in the 10K/year category.

    But this latest one for SC Johnson will probably be an all-time
    high... only way the volume could be any better would be if it fit
    into a TP dispenser ;-)

    BTW: This design runs off a single cell, boosts its own VDD, and has
    also a HV output to drive a piezo actuator that drives the pump. Also
    counts the time between "squirts" ;-)

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #4
  5. Jim Thompson

    Roy McCammon Guest

    must be one of those obscure definitions of "contribution"
    with which I am not familiar.
     
    Roy McCammon, Jul 16, 2004
    #5
  6. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    I laid myself off in 1970, so anything after that is someone else's
    work.... although there's really nothing new, just process
    improvements on designs by Ron Treadway and myself.

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #6
  7. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    ROTFLMAO! That's a constant problem with circuit designers... when to
    let it loose and call it completed... I'm always in a quandary with
    "perfection" ;-)

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #7
  8. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    I don't think SC Johnson would find those odors acceptable ;-)

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #8
  9. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    'Twas tongue-in-cheek. It's my chip in the product. But it's this
    sort of thing that makes more money than PLLs, for instance.

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #9
  10. Jim Thompson

    Julie Guest

    Nice.

    Just out of curiosity (I'm not after $$ figures), but how is a chip project
    like that handled?

    Did you design that chip specifically for SC Johnson, under contract?

    On what are your payments based? Was it a fixed-amount one-time payment,
    per-piece license fee? Who owns the rights to the design?

    Finally, who handles your licensing/contract agreements?

    Thanks for any info --
     
    Julie, Jul 16, 2004
    #10
  11. Jim Thompson

    Martin Guest


    That's pretty cute. My wife wants to know if you could add a sensor to it
    that would increase the squirt frequency when I need a shower.
     
    Martin, Jul 16, 2004
    #11
  12. Jim Thompson

    Joerg Guest

    Hi John,
    How about "drilling bakelite"? Or "overloaded carbon resistor", "eau de
    electrolytics" and "parfume de tubes with dust on them"?

    Regards, Joerg

    http://www.analogconsultants.com
     
    Joerg, Jul 16, 2004
    #12
  13. Jim Thompson

    Joerg Guest

    Hi Jim,
    If you count the "C" siblings that came after your original I probably
    added another boat load of consumed chips here ;-)

    Regards, Joerg

    http://www.analogconsultants.com
     
    Joerg, Jul 16, 2004
    #13
  14. Jim Thompson

    Mark Valery Guest

    ...Jim Thompson
    I don't know what ROTFLMAO stands for, but an old engineer once
    said to me "Shoot the engineer, deliver the product".

    Mark
     
    Mark Valery, Jul 16, 2004
    #14
  15. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    ROTFLMAO => Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off ;-)

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 16, 2004
    #15
  16. Jim Thompson

    John Fields Guest

     
    John Fields, Jul 16, 2004
    #16
  17. Jim Thompson

    Ian Stirling Guest

    Can you give any more info about the pump, sounds like it might be handy
    for micropumping applications, at a fraction of the price of a proper one.

    Can the timer be defeated so it runs whenever it gets power?

    Just shows that though it's a simple circuit, that even I could
    design in a couple of hours, and probably use no more than 7 components
    that there'll be a place for custom silicon for a while yet.
     
    Ian Stirling, Jul 17, 2004
    #17
  18. Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson Guest

    Not so easy there. There's a 60 day refill life, but there's a 6
    month battery-life spec ;-)

    It's a custom ASIC, not publicly available; and the piezo-mechanical
    pump was developed by Fitch, an SC Johnson subsidiary.

    ...Jim Thompson
    --
    | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
    | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
    | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
    | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
    | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
    | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

    I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
     
    Jim Thompson, Jul 17, 2004
    #18
  19. But not due to lack of ruggedness. Every Radio Snack carries (or
    carried) these, and they just gathered dust on the shelf, indicating to
    me that there were not many of them going bad. Must've been built like
    the proverbial brick sh#thouse. ;-)
    Each one being connected to an automobile, so you can get a good idea of
    the quantity by looking at the number of vehicles sold.
    Unfortunately huge volume would mean very low cost, and not a lotta $$$.
    Who makes them? Or who makes the circuit board? Or who makes.... :-?
     
    Watson A.Name \Watt Sun - the Dark Remover\, Jul 17, 2004
    #19
  20. I thought that's why god made EEPROMs - so you could make major changes
    with a chip change. You can just charge the customer a couple thou to
    fly a tech out and 'upgrade ' the box, and recal it.
     
    Watson A.Name \Watt Sun - the Dark Remover\, Jul 17, 2004
    #20
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