Solid-state Logic Research Articles

Semiconductor-free, monolithically 3D-printed logic gates and resettable fuses

ABSTRACT Additive manufacturing has the potential to enable the inexpensive, single-step fabrication of fully functional electromechanical devices. However, while the 3D printing of mechanical parts and passive electrical components is well developed, the fabrication of fully 3D-printed active electronics, which are the cornerstone of intelligent devices, remains a challenge. Existing examples of 3D-printed active electronics show potential but lack integrability and accessibility. This work reports the first active electronics fully 3D-printed via material extrusion, i.e. one of the most accessible and versatile additive manufacturing processes. The technology is proof-of-concept demonstrated through the implementation of the first fully 3D-printed, semiconductor-free, solid-state logic gates, and the first fully 3D-printed resettable fuses. The devices take advantage of a positive temperature coefficient phenomenon found to affect narrow traces of 3D-printed copper-reinforced, polylactic acid. Although the reported devices don’t perform competitively against semiconductor-enabled integrated circuits, the customisability and accessibility intrinsic to material extrusion additive manufacturing make this technology promisingly disruptive. This work serves as a steppingstone for the semiconductor-free democratisation of electronic device fabrication and is of immediate relevance for the manufacture of custom, intelligent devices far from traditional manufacturing centres.

Research on MEMS Solid-State Fuse Logic Control Chip Based on Electrical Explosion Effect

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) solid-state logic control chip with three layers-diversion layer, control layer, and substrate layer-is designed to satisfy fuse miniaturization and integration requirements. A mathematical model is established according to the heat conduction equation, and the limit conditions of different structures are presented. The finite element multi-physical field simulation method is used to simulate the size and the action voltage of the diversion layer of the control chip. Based on the surface silicon process, fuse processing, and testing with the MEMS solid-state fuse-logic control chip, a diversion layer constant current, maximum current resistance test, and a control layer of different bridge area sizes, the bridge area size is 200 × 30 μm, and the minimum electrical explosion voltage is 23.6 V. The theoretical calculation results at 20 V and 100 μF demonstrate that the capacitor energy is insufficient to support the complete vaporization of the bridge area, but can be partially vaporized, consistent with the experimental results.

아날로그 아웃보드 프로세서의 특성 연구

The purpose of this paper is to find out the characteristics of analog outboard processors through objective comparison analysis between FUISON products, which are analog outboard processors of Solid State Logic, and five plug-ins made by emulating FUISON products. The results of the study showed that hardware had more energy than plug-ins, and that this difference was more evident in the ultra-low and ultra-high-pitched bands. Although these results are limited in delivering acoustic differences in writing by the outboard processor, the results of the measurement are expected to help follow-up studies of various acoustic analysis studies based on this study, and this study is expected to provide good indicators for those in the music production industry.

Photoswitching between black and colourless spectra exhibits resettable spatiotemporal logic

All-photonic, solid-state logic gates are constructed by exploting the spatiotemporal responses of a photochromicc-BTA/BTAsystem to create logic operations.

Not just a desk job

This paper presents the development of Solid State Logic, a leading manufacturer of professional audio equipment such as recoding and mixing consoles.

Exception EMS hits the high note with Solid State Logic

Exception EMS hits the high note with Solid State Logic

How Users Help High‐Tech Businesses

This article explores the advantages and pitfalls of specialist equipment markets. It argues that very close customer‐manufacturer relations are an important advantage of such markets, and these can become a source of competitive advantage that should be pursued and exploited by the small, ambitious, high‐tech business. The argument is illustrated with reference to three companies, Quantel, Solid State Logic and Oxford Instruments.

Industry news

Menvier Hybrids have strengthened their manufacturing capabilities by the appointment of Mike Kervell CEng FIEE as manufacturing manager, responsible for controlling production of the company's thick‐film hybrid circuits and surface‐mount assemblies. An engineer with extensive experience in the electrical and electronics industries, his previous posts were with Storno, Rathdown Industries and Solid State Logic. For the past year he has been a consultant with Associated Business Management, specialising in planning, implementation, auditing and assessment of BS5750.

PSYCHOBASIC: A BASIC dialect for the control of psychological experiments with the Commodore-64 and DELA interfacing

A modified version of BASIC for the control of psychological experiments is presented. PSYCHOBASIC runs on Commodore-64 computers with DELA interfacing, and it is based on Commodore BASIC. New commands control digital and analog input and output, centisecond timers, and counters. A control panel, which is displayed on the screen at all times, gives the status of many PSYCHOBASIC components. The interpreted nature of PSYCHOBASIC, as well as the control panel, makes the system easy to learn and use. The PSYCHOBASIC system is less expensive than equivalent systems for IBM·PC computers. A sample PSYCHOBASIC pro­ gram is given. The use of computers for the control of psycholog­ ical experiments has a history covering nearly three de­ cades (Leslie, 1981). Recently two systems SKED and MEDSTATE, both of which are based on the state-space notation system, have become dominant. The state-space approach is a clear method for describing experimental conditions, but it entails a number ofdifficulties. We were motivated to develop our own system by two drawbacks in the extant systems. First, they were too expensive; SKED and MEDSTATE are based on the IBM-PC com­ puter system with special interfacing (a minimum invest­ ment of over $2900 for 16 I/O lines with software). Sec­ ond, the two-stage compilation system of the state-space systems causes undesirable delays between the typing of a command and seeing its effect. We have found that many students and even colleagues still prefer to work with the solid-state logic units because they provide immediate feedback about their logical state. We therefore had three objectives: The system should (1) require a minimum of new learning of programming techniques; (2) be inexpensive enough to make it unneces­ sary to multitask several experiments on one computer, yet reliable enough to take the strain of dusty animal rooms; and (3) as far as was possible, provide immedi­ ate feedback of its state. Our solution is based on the Commodore-64 (C-64) computer with DELA interfacing and the BASIC pro­ gramming language. The C-64 is the cheapest computer that offers sufficient reliability for experimental purposes,

Data over voice transmission arrangement

A system for interpolating digital data signals to a frequency band above analog speech signals in a common transmission channel is disclosed. The system utilizes short time frequency analysis techniques to determine the cutoff frequency of the speech signal. Data signals temporarily held in storage within the system are thereafter modulated into an unused frequency band of the transmission channel above that needed for speech signals. The combined speech and data signals in the system are sent to a receiver which relays the respective speech and data signals to their appropriate locations. This system is compatible with digital signal processing techniques using Fast Fourier Transform Technology in conjunction with solid state logic elements.

A note on controlling the optical density on analog film records in strong motion accelerographs

A device and its solid state logic are described which improve the uniformity of the optical density of recorded analog traces on film. An example is presented for the Light Control Module LM-8, designed to work in the SMA-1 strong motion accelerograph. Tests have been performed to determine the overall performance of LM-8. The results are very favorable and show that LM-8 improves significantly the overall quality of strong motion acceleration traces recorded on film.

The Commercial Application of Expert Systems Technology

The relentless growth of the computer industry over more than 30 years has been driven on by a series of major innovations. High-level languages; solid-state logic; compatible machine ranges; disk storage; time-sharing; data communications; virtual machine architectures; the use of LSI and solid-state memory; text processing; personal computers; sucessful packaged software; each advance in its turn has opened up new markets and set off a new spurt of expansion. A vital conclusion of this study is that expert systems promise to be another such major innovation.

A simple device detecting onset time of taste stimulation

A simple piece of equipment is described for recording the accurate onset time of chemical stimulation applied to the tongue surface. The equipment consists of an infrared light emitting diode, a phototransistor for monitoring the stimulus onset, and solid state logic circuits for generating electric pulses at the moment of stimulus onset.

Recent Developments on Gas Turbine Control Systems

The paper briefly outlines some of the activities undertaken on gas turbine logic and control systems. The frequent requirement for gas turbines to operate in polluted hostile environments has encouraged the development of ancillary equipment which will reliably withstand onerous site conditions. The design requirements, philosophy, component selection and progress made on fuel control and solid state logic systems, specifically introduced to meet arduous service requirements are reviewed. A computer control system designed for more temperate environments is also examined, enabling a comparison of the theoretical reliabilities of the respective systems to be assessed when installed on gas compressor applications.

Plant Control Utilizing a Standard Solid State Interposing Logic System

A general description of a Solid State Logic System is presented, along with an explanation of its advantages over conventional control systems for the control of power plant equipment.

Electrical Noise Tests for Evaluating Control Cable and Control Circuits for a Solid State Logic System

This paper presents the results of tests conducted at the Trojan nuclear power plant near Rainier, Oregon, to assess the electrical noise filtering capabilities of the input buffer circuits to be used in a solid state plant logic system and to assess the general levels of electrical noise induced in different types of cables laid in a system of 480-V low power cables in a typical fashion. The tests confirmed that the input buffers had adequate filtering capability when used in typical power plant applications. The test data are discussed pointing out its limitations and the importance of proper cable selection and routing.

New Concept in Motor and Motor Circuit Protection

Common motor circuit protection has consisted of thermal overload to sense motor overcurrent and a short circuit protective device which acts after a catastrophic condition has occurred. While this combination has provided adequate protection for the most common motor and motor circuit problems, it has not provided good protection against many of the problem conditions that can occur in the motor circuit. Common motor and motor circuit problems, the circuit variances that occur and the use of common devices under these conditions are discussed. It is shown how a solid-state logic approach can sense these circuit variances and result in an economical package providing improved protection, coordinated and easily applied, which can help eliminate or minimize loss due to many of these common problems.

Magnetic field control by time-shared minicomputer with milligauss precision

Swept magnetic fields can be stabilized about a center field to a precision of ∼0.3 ppm. The stabilization apparatus consists of a time-shared minicomputer, a voltage-tunable, locking NMR fluxmeter, a frequency counter, and various interfaces. The software and operation of the computer are described as well as the hardware interfaces, which are mainly solid-state logic devices incorporating mostly integrated circuits.

The Application of Solid-State Logic to the Control of Synchronous Motors with Collector Rings and Brushes for Separate Excitation

Synchronous motors must be designed to have torque-speed characteristics which will match the load they are to accelerate. Motor designers have several parameters at their disposal for shaping the torque-speed curve of the motor, perhaps even more than the induction-motor designer. Maximum utilization of this available motor torque may, however, depend upon the effectiveness of the control apparatus associated with the motor for starting, synchronizing, and desynchronizing. Lack of effective control can result in the motor failing to pull in the load, or it can result in large power swings which can disturb the electrical system, damage the driven load, or damage the motor.

Applying Programmable Controllers in the Glass Industry

In the glass industry there is need for automatic control systems in the conveying and handling of glass products away from the production lines. Glass products must be routed down various take-off conveyors to packing areas, to warehouses, or to shipping docks as part of a customer’s shipment. In that repetitive, sequential operations are performed, programmable control is an ideal control system to be used in these applications. Ideal because programmable control incorporates the simplicity of conventional relays, the reliability of solid-state logic and the flexibility of a draftsman’s pencil.