Design gurus
Walt Jung | Engineer
WaltJung@waltjung.org
ED Online 19760
the ideas
for design
issue
A “timeless” IFD example is
Walt’s “Positive Reference-
Voltage IC is Flipped Negative
by Adding a Single Component,”
Electronic Design, Feb. 15, 1978,
p. 98. It is feasible with many
modern parts, with similar utility.
Says Walt, “As worthwhile now as
30 years ago!”
38
though many facets of design execution have changed significantly over
time, numerous core ideas for design remain timeless.
A
fter Electronic Design
asked me to contribute
something to this special
issue, all kinds of pos-
sibilities ran through my
mind. After all, it had been
40 years since my first ED
article, which was itself an
Idea for Design (IFD), “Gated Amplifier Uses FET in
Feedback Loop,” in the Jan. 4, 1968 issue.
So, what’s an IFD? The snappy answer is that it’s
one of Electronic Design’s most popular editorial fea-
tures. But more germane is the fact that the IFD distills
the “what, why, and how” of an EE design challenge,
summarizing an example solution into a one- or
two-page writeup, often
ready to be applied just
as described. Typically,
they aren’t heavily theo-
retical, though they are
often long on practical-
ity. So, what to do and
what to say became big
questions.
Hitting the books
I began with a “stimu-
lation by observation,” a
review of my huge col-
lection of various IFD
tear sheets accumulated
over the years (not all
of which have been
adequately catalogued, I
hate to admit). In addi-
tion to this IFD rat’s nest,
the review also included
more formal sources.
I had three of the four
published 400 Ideas for
Design books (References
1-4). Then, I also found
A look back at 40 years
of ideas for design
the very first of this series online, via AbeBooks
(www.abebooks.com), and snapped up a copy. The
series began in 1961, and these four hardbound
books span four- to five-year periods from 1961 to
1979. Later on, there were smaller “Best of Issue”
IFD magazine supplements (References 5-7). All of
these are recommended reading, should you be able
to find them.
Should it matter how a design was done in the
1970s or 1980s, versus an approach today? Yes!
First, there is the adage of being ignorant of history’s
mistakes, thus condemning one to repeat them. But
what is so useful about a historical review of designs
lies in extracting the optimization and evolution
towards maturity.
Keep in mind that many of these published IFDs
are also what I call the “timeless” variety (see the
figure). The timelessness comes from the inclusion
of a basic principle that will generally continue to be
useful, even if the specific parts shown in its execu-
tion might become obsolete.
For example, take families of op-amp precision
rectifiers, of which there are many IFD examples
over the years. Each time a newer, faster op amp
appears, another variant shows up. Computer pro-
grams can also fall into the timeless category of IFD.
The mathematical routines will remain valid even if
executed within another host program. So, these IFD
principles can continue to be valuable, even though
exact design details may change.
The IFD evolution
A strong impression that I came way with after
reviewing a couple of decades worth of IFDs is
how much (and how many) things have changed, in
terms of how designs are physically executed. This
wouldn’t always show up within an IFD, but it does
offer perspective on where we are and perhaps about
where we’re going. Today, we have evolved into
different ways of doing many engineering tasks and
using different parts to build our electronic assem-
blies. A lot of this is good, but some of it is not.
For example, there’s greater use of computers and
advanced prototypes. We have much more powerful
computers to aid us in executing our designs faster
and with greater efficiency. But some engineers seem
to feel that a successful Spice run alone validates
a circuit design. In the long run, a well-executed
breadboard/prototype is the only real proof of circuit
design validity. The higher the frequency of opera-
tion, the truer this becomes.
Fortunately, many IC vendors now routinely offer
evaluation boards that use high-frequency techniques
like ground planes, controlled transmission lines, and
low inductance bypassing, as well as surface-mount
(SMD) components and other factors. This really
does help control the undesired parasitics and speeds
the design cycle. Of course, another part of the design
process aided immensely by the more powerful com-
puter is the printed-circuit-board (PCB) design.
Additionally, there are more IC components, with
much broader capability. To take op amps as one
familiar point of reference, we’ve come from Bob
Widlar’s 1965 709 to a vast array of parts with
hundreds of megahertz of bandwidth and outputs of
a hundred milliamps today. Switched-mode video
amps make a gated amplifier no more complicated
than wiring up a logic control pin—or, from a gen-
eral functionality point, a wide array of parts that run
rail-rail (input and/or output) and feature low (or very
low) current consumption.
Yet considering all IC types, a radical revolution
in packaging has happened since the old TO-99 can
originals. For the most part, this broader availability
of packages is also good. In some cases, though, it
does impact performance.
For instance, low-power op amps are noisier and
have less bandwidth—a design fact of life. Another
con during the design cycle is that it complicates
breadboarding, since tiny SMD parts are extremely
difficult to handle manually. Yet this in itself is a
two-edged sword, as it tends to force the prototype
into a PCB layout, which is that much closer to the
end item—and thus more real-to-life.
10.02.08 ELEctronic Design
 Design Gurus
Design cycles are faster now, too. Today’s designs, created by definition within
the Internet era, can take advantage of tools simply not available in the past. A
Google search can bring up dozens of relevant patent documents or design papers
in a few moments, all for free. Everything published in a given IEEE discipline is
just about as easily accessible, at a reasonable cost. Magazines such as Electronic
Design are increasingly providing editorial content online, although sometimes
the breadth of coverage is less than desirable.
Of course, circuit junkies such as myself would like to have all IFDs as well as
feature articles online in their complete original form (as a PDF) and supported
by useful indexing. The first two examples just cited could be used as models
for this type of researching. If you doubt this, just check it out. But alas, another
two-edged sword arises when one tries to find useful design examples via a more
general Google search, using other than such higher-level archives.
A very high percentage of what comes up online is limited in quality, and
some of it is outright garbage. A caveat emptor is definitely due here, given
the dubious relevancy of too many Web postings. In this regard, it should be
obvious that the original article on the topic is to be sought, not a watered-down
adaptation posted on a circuits smorgasbord Web site. This research often takes
real work, but there isn’t really any substitute for it. A couple of mouse clicks
just won’t be enough.
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40
The Internet also touches the design cycle in other positive ways. Who orders
parts or even reads datasheets from a paper catalog anymore? Fast, efficient Web
sites such as those set up by Digi-Key and Mouser make the prototyper’s job
much easier, and PDFs of datasheets have reduced the number of trees necessary
to get through a design task. All of this is to the good.
And, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Another point noted in my review of older
IFDs was that many popular parts still remain so, even after 40 years! Those older
IFD books feature familiar transistor parts like the 2N2222, 2N2907, 2N3904, and
2N3906. I still use these today, as do many of you out there.
Likewise, early op amps like the LM301A, 741, and CA3130 can still be found.
Then there’s the number-one linear IC in lieu of all those op amps, the 555, still
around and as popular as ever. And similarly, 4000 series CMOS parts are still
being used. Whether or not any of these would be the best choice in a new design
today is another matter, though.
However, the popularity of such ancient parts even today might boil down to
meeting the minimum required specs at the lowest cost. When that’s the case,
40-year-old parts like 2222s and 3904s still get used. They hit a performance
sweetspot on bang-for-the-buck (or pennies, actually). Another plus is that, unlike
the originals, today’s variants come in multiple-unit packages, tiny small-outline
ICs (SOICs), and so on, making them a greater bonus on utility.
This “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theme reminds me of an apt story. The
late Tom Sweiger, an engineer friend wiser than me back in those 1960s design
days, told me that he didn’t need to use the (then new) IC transistors, like the
CA3046. He said his own favorite 2N3904 “works fine and does the job!” That
was true back in the late 1960s, as it still is today.
A dream archive
While I do have a lot of IFDs accumulated in paper and PDF form, I wish I
had more. I also wish I had them well-catalogued as to author, function, date,
and other criteria. On the one hand, that sounds like a pipe dream. On the other
hand, take a look at what Google has done with books and patents, and think
again. Certainly, it is possible.
References
1. Edward E. Grazda, Editor, 400 Ideas for Design, 1961-1964, Hayden Book Company, 1964.
2. Frank Egan, Editor, 400 Ideas for Design, Vol. 2, 1965-1970, Hayden Book Company, 1971.
3. Morris Grossman, Editor, 400 Ideas for Design, Vol. 3, 1971-1974, Hayden Book Company,
1976.
4. Morris Grossman, Editor, 400 Ideas for Design, Vol. 4, 1975-1979, Hayden Book Company,
1980.
5. Steve Scrupski, Editor, Best Ideas for Design, Electronic Design special issue, Oct. 24, 1996.
6. Steve Scrupski, Editor, Best Ideas for Design, Electronic Design special issue, Oct. 23, 1997.
7. John Novellino, Editor, Best Ideas for Design, Electronic Design special issue, Oct. 22, 1998.
An Electronic Design author since 1968, Walt Jung most recently penned “Walt’s Tools and
Tips,” a practical, analog-oriented column that ran in 1997 and 1998. He also was named
to ED’s Engineering Hall of Fame in 2002. In addition to numerous applications articles for
various publications, he has published many books. The most popular of these is The IC Op Amp
Cookbook, in print since 1974. He retired from Analog Devices Inc. in 2002 after editing the ADI
book, Op Amp Applications (Handbook). He is a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society and an
IEEE member as well.
10.02.08 ELEctronic Design