West Florida Components

iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service conducted a study of the cost of materials for the HTC Incredible. The total was $163.35 for the parts and electronic components used to build the smartphone.

Nearly 20% of the cost of the handset is from the processor which cost $31.40. Right behind the processor was the display and touch screen which is manufactured by Samsung. The display, which is an advanced Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED), cost $31.20. In third place was the memory at $29.80 or 18.2%. It is interesting to note that cost of the 8MP Auto Focus camera in the handset was only $15.70.

The cost to manufacture the phone is a reported $10 bringing the grand total to about $175. That is amazing considering everything the Incredible can do. Think of the Incredible as a handheld computer plus camera for less than $175!

iSuppli did make note of the similarities between the HTC Incredible and the Nexus One. According to iSuppli Director, Andrew Rassweiler, “The Droid Incredible could have been dubbed the ‘Nexus Two’ given its similarity to HTC’s Nexus One introduced early this year.”

The LM324 series consists of four independent,
high-gain, internally frequency-compensated operational amplifiers
designed specifically to operate from a single power supply over a
wide range of voltages.

LM324AD

In the linear mode, the input common-mode voltage range includes
ground and the output voltage can also swing to ground, even
though operated from only a single power supply voltage.
The unity gain crossover frequency and the input bias current are
temperature-compensated.

The LM324 is available in 3 packages: DIP 14, SO14 and TSSOP14.

Op Amps – Then and Now

Op amp is the commonly used name for operational amplifiers, which are widely used electronic components. Op amps are often seen on many surface equipment designs and logging tools.

The name ‘operational amplifier’ comes from the use of such high gain amps in performing mathematical operations for analog computer operations and is said to have been coined in 1947. A lot of study was done in the field and the initial operational amplifiers, based on vacuum tubes, were a result of the research done in Bell labs. By 1960’s, vacuum tube op amps had given way to solid state devices and hybrid operational amplifiers were entering the scene.

The first IC operational amplifier was developed in 1963 by Bob Widlar and was called Fairchild µA702. It was not a success because of a number of bugs. But Widlar’s next design, which was the µA709, was hailed as milestone in design. A number of designs followed including the very popular µA741. A number of precision op amps like OP7, OP27 and OP37 are commonly used in logging electronics.

In the initial days, these electronic components were based on NPN bipolar process and because of the slow PNP transistors of the time; the speed of the amps was limited. The LM118/218/318 model tried to solve the problem but did not meet with much success. The only fast IC op amps were the ones owned by Harris, the HA2500 as well as the HA2600, and were quite popular despite their high cost.

FET input operational amplifiers though highly advantageous in downhole tool applications, did not enter the scene due to engineering problems. However with the introduction of the ion implantation process in 1974, their manufacture became possible and the LF155/156/157 series was introduced by National Semiconductor, and OP15, OP16, and OP17 by PMI. The TL06x, TL07x, and TL08x models introduced by Texas Instruments (TI) in 1978 went on to become industry standards.

The CA3130 employing a P-channel MOS input with a CMOS output, set the stage for CA3140 having a MOSFET input and a bipolar output which caught the eye of many logging tool companies. This model has many advantages including good bandwidth and military temperature range, and continues to be used and manufactured even now.