Appendix J:

Prefixes

Typical problem: You need to replace an integrated circuit, or at least find some data on it. It says

Prefixes
ACF, AY, GIC, GP, SPR AD, CAV, HAS, HDM ADC, DM, DS, LF LFT, LH, LM, NH AH

Manufacturer
General Instrument (GI) Analog Devices National

and lives in a 16-pin DIP. What is it? The 7410 has a familiar sound, so you order a few. A week later they arrive, in 14-pin DIPS! Banging your head on the nearest wall (since you should have known this all along), you realize you're back where you were a week ago, but with a handful of spare 3-input for consolation. What's needed is a master list of IC prefixes, from which you can quickly identify the manufacturer. This appendix is our attempt to bring some order out of chaos. We make no pretense of accuracy or completeness, especially since the list is proliferating daily. (That mystery chip is a National Semiconductor 8095 hex three-state TTL buffer, by the way, manufactured in week of 1974.) the

Semiconductor (NSC)
Optical Electronics Inc. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Panasonic Brooktree Sony Intel TRW Supertex Comlinear Precision Monolithics Cypress Siliconix Dallas Semiconductor

PREFIXES

AM AN Bt BX, CX C, I, CA, CD, CDP CA, TDC, MPY, THC, TMC CM, HV CLC CMP, DAC, MAT, OP, PM, REF, SSS CY DG, SI D, DS ET, MK, SFC, TDF, TS, EP, EPM, PL

The various semiconductor manufacturers use distinctive (usually) prefixes in front of the IC number, even if it is an IC type made by many different companies. The DM in the preceding example indicates a digital monolithic IC made by National Semiconductor (also indicated by the NS logo). Here is a list of most of the prefixes now in use:

Unx FSS, ZLD GA GAL GEL HA, HI

Ferranti Gazelle Lattice GE Harris

PREFIXES
1070
Appendix J

HA, HD, HG, HL, HM, HN HADC, HDAC HEP, MC, MCC, MCM, MEC, MM, MWM ICH, ICL, ICM, IM IDT IMS INA, ISO, OPA, PWR IR ITT, MIC L L, LD L, LA, LC LS LT, LTC, LTZ M MA MAX MB MCS MIL ML, TAB ML, M T MM MN MP MSM N, NE, PLS, S, SE, SP NC PA PAL R R, Ray, RC, RM
SL,

Hitachi Honeywell Motorola

RD, RM, RT, RU SFC SG SN, TL, TLC, TMS SS TA, TC, TD TMM, TMP OM, PCD, SAA, SAB, SCB, SCN, TAA, TBA, TCA, TDA, TEA, U TML TP TPQ, UCN, UCS, UDN, UDS, UHP, ULN, ULS TSC ESMF Silicon General Texas Instruments (TI) Silicon Systems Toshiba AEG, SGS, Siemens, Signetics, Telefunken Telmos Teledyne Philbrick Sprague Teledyne Semiconductor NEC Amtel VTC VLSI Technology Inc. Xicor Xilinx Exar Zilog Hewlett-Packard (HP)

Integrated Device Technology Siemens Inmos Burr-Brown Sharp ITT Samsung SGS Siliconix, Siltronics Sanyo LSI Computer Systems Linear Technology Corp. Mitsubishi Analog Systems, Marconi Maxim MOS Technology Microsystems International

v
VA, VC

Mitel Teledyne-Amelco, Monolithic Memories Micro Networks Micro Power Systems Oki Signetics Gigabit Logic Nitron Apex

Suffixes

Suffix letters indicate package type and temperature range. There are three standard temperature ranges: "Military" (-55C to "Industrial" (-25C and "Commercial" to to Commercial is adequate for anything intended for use in normal indoor environments. As luck would have it, each manufacturer has its own set of suffixes, subject to frequent modification. Be sure to look up the correct suffix you order, or ask the distributor for assistance.

IC PREFIXES

Appendix J DATE CODES

1071

Most and transistors, and many other electronic components, are stamped with a simple four-digit code giving date of manufacture: the first two digits are the year, the last two are the week of the year. In the 0 example given earlier, 741 means the second week of March 1974. They're sometimes useful, for example to estimate the age of components that have a finite useful life (electrolytic capacitors, for instance); unfortunately the components with the

shortest life (batteries) are often purposely coded so you can't figure out the date. with an abnorIf you get a batch of mally high failure rate (most manufacturers test only a sample of each batch; typically 0.01% to O.lO/o of the you buy will not meet specifications), avoid replacements with the same date code. Date codes can also help you estimate the date of manufacture of commercial electronic don't become stale, equipment. Since there's no reason to avoid an IC with an old date code.