An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC Circuit, an IC Chip, or a Microchip) is a set of Electronic Circuits on one small flat piece (or chip) of semiconductor material that is normally silicon. The integration of large numbers of tiny MOS transistors into a small chip results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic components.
ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other digital home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of IC chips. Meanwhile, Semiconductors category includes Integrated Circuits (ICs), Discrete Semiconductor Products (Diodes, Transistors, Thyristors, Rectifiers, FET, MOSFET, RF, BJT), Development Boards-Kits-Programmers, RF-Wireless, Embedded Computers, LED/Optoelectronics, Isolators and Sensors-Transducers. Because, all of them are electronic circuits and electronic components made of semiconductor material.
Types of Integrated Circuits
Digital ICs, Analog IC chips, and mixed integrated circuits are the 3 ICs types based on their intended purpose.
Types of Digital ICs
Generally, Digital chips are used in microprocessor, computers, computer networks, frequency counters and digital signal processors. Therefore, the types of digital ICs are Logic ICs, Interface ICs, Programmable ICs, Power Management ICs and Memory Chips. The good examples of Digital ICs are Microcontrollers and Microprocessor, which consist of million of logic gates and flip flops.
Analog Integrated Circuit ICs Types
Analog integrated chips are ics that function over a continuous spectrum of signals. There are 2 Analog ICs types, such as RF ICs (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits) and Linear ICs (Linear Integrated Circuits). An operational amplifier(op-amp), similar to the differential amplifier, is a type of Analog Integrated Circuits, which is used frequently. Compared with the Digital chips, this kinds of ICs use a very less number of transistors. Therefore , Analog ICs are used for modulation, amplification, demodulation, filtering and more. Meanwhile, the common examples of Analog Integrated Circuits are Sensors, NE555 timers and Operational Amplifier (OP-AMP).
