reg + reference

WireWrap was used in a *lot* of places where reliability was the primary importance. Mainframe backplanes were all wire-wrapped at one time.

I worked for a company that made defense equipment. A lot of modifications made by the wiremen were wire-wrapped. The key is getting the technique right, and specifically avoiding strain or movement of the wires. They were all laid out very neatly and securely, and the results highly reliable.

Mark.

DEC loved wire-wrap, but as logic got faster the impedance and crosstalk issues became untenable. PCBs were cheaper anyhow.

John

Ironically, ECL came out before TTL.

They routed those with twisted pair. Automated twisted pair wire wrapping machines -- awesome tech!

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

IBM used it too. PCBs were cheaper for cards but the backplanes were still wirewrapped. As the backplanes went printed, WW was still used for overflows. Since vias were only permissible on .125" centers there were a *lot* of overflows - even in eight layers.

Yes, IBM used all ECL until the mid '80s, then one generation of TTL[*] and back to ECL until CMOS knocked it out permanently. While ECL was faster, TTL has a nasty dI/dt issue. I did MECL 10K designs on wirewrap, too. Worked fine.

[*] More precisely Schottky TTL, which is in reality DTL

That was later. Wirewrap was gone by then.

Larkin

temperature?

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channel,

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with=20

Many device lines have lived decades under similar death threat. If you cannot come up with better than that, i have no need to worry.

pitched it=20

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PABXes

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primary

Also density issues and thermal management were driving issues;=20 both still are today 30 years later (today).

When I was a grad student, Grinnell donated one of their big rack-mounted frame buffer/video format converter gizmos to us. Huge big wire-wrapped backplane, even in an allegedly production box. I thought that was weird in 1985.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

I think the 3090 was the last ECL beast, and they went right to CMOS. I was sort of in the middle of that, circa 1990.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

It's not my function to prove to you that you may be facing a problem. A simple warning should be enough to get your attention. Ignore the issue if you think I haven't provided adequate research.

There have in fact been recent articles in the electronic press about the Freescale and NXP situations. Both went private, under crushing debt loads, and both are fighting to survive.

John

There were two generations, the "H2" and "H5", of ES9000s after 3090s that were also ECL. IBM didn't go CMOS until the 'z' series. The TTL generation was the 308x (before the 3090), and that may have been just the midrange models.

John Larkin

temperature?

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That is slightly more helpful.

The "technical" term is "leveraged buyout".

Now, what does "leverage" remind me of?

;-)

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)

Leverage the leverage that was already leveraged? :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Obama nationalized them too?

Nah. That trick was already known to the California legislators. And now we have the consequences, plum salaries and irrevocable fat pensions for a select few and not enough teachers for the kids :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Legislators aren't the only ones with fat pensions (though it is cute how the prison guards got the huge pensions under Grayout Davis - the flip side of CA legislator's pensions being paid from the prison pension).

Government inherently grows exponentially. Once it gets to be 10 or

20% of GDP, it and its employees and parasites become major political powers in themselves, and compete with ordinary citizens and companies for wealth, with the advantage that government makes the rules. The only reasonable response of non-parasite business is to go away, which it sure does.

The only fix would be constitutional amendments that limit tax rates and the size of government and the amount government can spend in excess of revenues. It's probably too late for that.

John