Integrated
circuit (IC), sometimes called a chip or microchip, is a semiconductor wafer
on which thousands or millions of tiny resistors, capacitors, and transistor are
fabricated. In other explanation set of electronic circuits on one small plate,
normally silicon.
There
are two main advantages of ICs over discrete circuits: cost and performance.
Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit
by photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time.
Furthermore, much less material is used to construct a packaged IC die than to
construct a discrete circuit. Performance is high because the components switch
quickly and consume little power (compared to their discrete counterparts) as a
result of the small size and close proximity of the components.
Integrated
circuits are used in virtually all electronic equipment today and have
revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other
digital home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern
societies, made possible by the low cost of producing integrated circuits.
Basic IC Types :
Analog and Digital Circuits
Microprocessor
Memory Circuits
Digital Signal Processing
Application specific ICs
Radio Frequency IC
Microwave Monolithic IC
IC can
function as an amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, computer memory, or
microprocessor. A particular IC is categorized as either linear (analog) or
digital, depending on its intended application.
Linear ICs have continuously variable output
(theoretically capable of attaining an infinite number of states) that depends
on the input signal level. As the term implies, the output signal level is a
linear function of the input signal level. Ideally, when the instantaneous
output is graphed against the instantaneous input, the plot appears as a
straight line. Linear ICs are used as audio-frequency (AF) and radio-frequency (RF) amplifiers. The operational amplifier (op
amp) is a common device in these applications.
Digital ICs operate at only a few defined levels
or states, rather than over a continuous range of signal amplitudes. These
devices are used in computers, computer networks, modems, and frequency
counters. The fundamental building blocks of digital ICs are logic gates, which work with binary data, that
is, signals that have only two different states, called low (logic 0) and high
(logic 1).
All ICs use the same basic principles
of voltage (V), current (I), and resistance (R). In particular, equations based
on Ohm’s law, V = IR, determine many circuit design choices. Design engineers
must also be familiar with the properties of various electronic components
needed for different applications.
This is a video explain about an Integrated Circuit :