IC chip (Integrated Circuit Integrated Circuit) is an integrated circuit formed by a large number of microelectronic components (transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc.) on a plastic base to make a chip. Almost all chips seen today can be called IC chips. An integrated circuit is a miniature electronic device or component. Using a certain process, the transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors and inductors required in a circuit and other components and wiring are interconnected together, made on a small or several small semiconductor wafers or dielectric substrates, and then packaged in a tube shell to become a miniature structure with the required circuit function; All of these components have been structurally integrated into a single unit, making electronic components a big step forward in miniaturization, low power consumption and high reliability. It is denoted by the letter “IC” in the circuit. The inventors of integrated circuits are Jack Kilby (silicon-based integrated circuits) and Robert Neus (germanium-based integrated circuits). Most applications in the semiconductor industry today are silicon-based integrated circuits.
1. Classification of IC chip
(1) Classified by the number of electronic components such as transistors included:
SSI (small integrated circuit), number of transistors 10~100;
MSI (medium integrated circuit), number of transistors 100~1000;
LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), number of transistors 1000~100000;
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit) with more than 100,000 transistors.
(2) According to the different classification of integrated circuits according to their functions and structures:
analog integrated circuits;
Digital integrated circuits
(3) Classification according to the production process:
Semiconductor integrated circuits
Membrane integrated circuits, membrane integrated circuits are classified into thick film integrated circuits and thin film integrated circuits.
(4) Classification according to conductive type:
Bipolar integrated circuits: The production process of bipolar integrated circuits is complex and the power consumption is large, representing that the integrated circuits have TTL, ECL, HTL, LST-TL, STTL and other types;
Unipolar integrated circuit: The production process of unipolar integrated circuit is simple, the power consumption is also low, and it is easy to make large-scale integrated circuits, representing that integrated circuits have CMOS, NMOS, PMOS and other types.
(5) Classification by use:
Integrated circuits for televisions;
integrated circuits for audio;
integrated circuits for DVD players;
integrated circuits for video recorders;
Integrated circuits for computers (microcomputers);
integrated circuits for electronic organs;
integrated circuits for communications;
integrated circuits for cameras;
Remote control integrated circuits;
Language integrated circuits;
Integrated circuits for alarms and various application-specific integrated circuits.
2. The development process of IC chips
1965-1978: With computers and military industry as the goal, with the development of logic circuits as the main product, the basic foundation of integrated circuit industry and supporting conditions for related equipment, instruments and materials were initially established. 1978-1990: Mainly introduced second-hand equipment from the United States, improved the level of integrated circuit equipment, and while “controlling scattering and chaos”, took consumer machines as the supporting focus, and better solved the localization of color TV integrated circuits. 1990-2000: Focusing on the 908 Project and the 909 Project, taking CAD as the breakthrough, grasping the construction of scientific and technological breakthroughs and the northern scientific research and development base, serving the information industry, the integrated circuit industry has achieved new development. In 2009, the global semiconductor market size was 226.31 billion US dollars, and the market fell by 9.0% year-on-year. From the perspective of the five-year development cycle, the compound growth rate of the global semiconductor market in the four years from 2005 to 2009 was -0.1%, and the development of the global market has been in a downturn for many years. China’s integrated circuit market also declined for the first time in 2009, but from the perspective of future development, the Chinese market will enter a new round of growth from 2010, and the growth rate will remain above 10% in the next three years. The direct reasons for the decline are twofold: on the one hand, the demand for upstream integrated circuit products from downstream products declines; On the other hand, the price of integrated circuit products has declined, the price of integrated circuit products has been in a downward trend, and in 2009 due to the impact of the international financial crisis, the price decline was more obvious, and the average price of chips in 2009 fell by more than 10% compared with 2008.
In recent years, with the advancement of science and technology, the rise of China’s RF chips, the rapid development of electronic technology and the wide application of large-scale integrated circuits, more and more wireless technologies are rapidly applied to various products; Its application areas have also been continuously expanded. At present, wireless communication applications have been involved in various fields, bringing convenience to life and accelerating the rapid development of wireless communication technology; Radio frequency (RF) transceiver IC chip include dedicated narrowband RF transceiver chips and software-defined wideband high-performance RF transceiver chips that can realize functions such as spectrum shifting, signal conditioning, selectable band filtering, and digital-to-analog conversion of RF signals.