source, cathode, emitter...

Don, You're a pompous jerk and possible Larkin emulator... AND ignorant. Bye! ...Jim Thompson

[On the Road, in New York]

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Saw it on a Marine license plate just a few days ago. ...Jim Thompson

[On the Road, in New York]

-- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Subject: Spelling Lesson

The last four letters in American.........I Can The last four letters in Republican.......I Can The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats

End of lesson. Test to follow in November, 2012

Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent extermination month.

--
Bumper sticker:

  +-------------+ 
  | NOBAMA 2012 |
  +-------------+

--
At least Larkin doesn't violate Skitt's law to the extent that this
clown does.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6408927/Internet-rules-and-laws-the-top-10-from-Godwin-to-Poe.html

All he's done is give away borrowed money and take vacations. Now he's running for re-election?

--
Subject: Spelling Lesson

The last four letters in American.........I Can
The last four letters in Republican.......I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats

End of lesson.  Test to follow in November, 2012

Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent extermination month.

--- If we were truly _educated_ , then we'd know the difference between a noun and an adjective.

Moreover, using the name given to the electrode immediately brings to mind the type of device being referred to and a hint about its support structure.

For example, if I state: "The plate voltage is 300 volts, DC.", then it's rather obvious that what's being referred to is an electron tube (also called a 'valve') and that the circuit may contain grid leak and cathode bypass components which will not be found in transistor circuits where the collector voltage is 20 volts, DC, or field-effect transistors where the drain voltage could also be 20 volts, DC.

Thus, rather than creating confusion, having nomenclature which is unique to a device serves to eliminate confusion, much like you you'd have a pretty good idea of the type of conveyance they were on if you asked someone, by telephone, where they were and they told you they were at a hatch on the port side, 20 feet from the bow.

-- JF

Whaddabout PNP and P-channel?

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

They are not identical. They - tubes, bjts, and MOSFETS - have different operating and physical characteristics. Use of some generic term for the part of the device you are discussing does not convey anything about those characteristics, promotes confusion, and requires more words for precision than does the correct use of the proper terms.

Ed

When

If we were truly education we'd be very strange critters indeed.

If we were truly educated, on the other hand, then we'd be happy that the names for the device terminals are at least somewhat based on the actual physics and/or construction of the device (even if "anode" and "cathode" are somewhat obsolete terms, and "base" was only a sensible name when transistors were point-contact devices).

Emitters really do emit carriers, and collectors really do collect them. "Base" is a bad term, because it's a peculiarity of the construction of point-contact transistors, and those are history. So the BJT gets two out of three.

"Cathode" is a specific name for a device terminal out of which current flows, so that's OK. A bit obscure, today, but OK. "Grid" is a pretty good term -- there aren't many vacuum tube grids that aren't at least vaguely grid-shaped (although many are lots of wires running in one direction, not actually a grid). "Anode", according to Wikipedia, means "terminal into which current flows", which is neither better or worse than "Cathode". If I were going to jump onto your band wagon at all, I'd advocate "emitter" and "collector" for vacuum tubes.

I think the FET guys got it right with "source" and "drain". Fet sources don't necessarily "emit" carriers -- they just source them into a conductive channel. Ditto (in compliment) drains. "Gate" is probably the best generic term, if you want to revamp terminology.

So here's what it boils down to: Yes, in a perfect world we could revamp device terminology, confuse the hell out of generations of students with the mismatch between old and new textbooks (and industrial practice), and probably experience a net reduction in clarity as a consequence. We could also reverse the sense of "positive" and "negative" when we're talking about voltage, for even _more_ confusion (and quite possibly fires and death).

But all in all, it's probably better to just live with the terminology that we have, and be happy.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

Yup.

Then in those few instances when you're talking in general, invent some set of terms (use "control electrode" for gate/grid/base, though), and use those for your discussion.

Then, when you're back to talking about specific devices, use the terms that are accepted for that specific device.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

In our course of electronics that was called "a 3-pole active element", and the connections were "input electrode", "output electrode" and "control electrode".

Vladimir Vassilevsky DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

Did the names get switched around for CB and CC amplifiers?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

No. They considered "common input electrode", "common output electrode" and "common control electrode" amplifier configurations. That literally meant that the corresponding terminal is common for the input and the output ports. The biasing and the power were omitted.

Interestingly, this device agnostic approach produces valid results in the non-linear cases such as input overdrive, class C operation, AM modulators, differential phase distortion, etc.

VLV

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Poxy hell, a terminology credits markets and exchange with more taxes?

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Generally accepted common terms? none Commonly used common terms? none Technically correct common terms? anode, cathode Most often cross-applied common terms? valve terminology: anode, cathode, grid. If I need to cross-use terms, I tend to fall back on valve terms. However these are far from helpful if discussing a pnp device. You can of course make up your own terms, so that everyone is equally confused.

NT