🚀 go-pugleaf

in article <14491@amdcad.UUCP>, phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) says:
> In article <359@uthub.toronto.edu> koko@uthub.toronto.edu (M. Kokodyniak) writes:
>>Besides, not everyone has access to programming
>>tools needed for programming PAL's.
> 
>>I don't understand why engineers and technical people always have to be
>>so gung-ho about technology and insist that nothing short of the
>>leading edge of technology is good enough for them.  I assume some
>>humility and am quite content riding the falling edge of technology.
> 
>>Besides, I am not that lazy that I would always insist on the rising
>>edge just to save time and effort.  Furthermore, I appreciate that
>>the falling edge can sometimes save me money.
> 
> The main question is, are you making just one or are you designing a
> product? The design rules depend on this. I was speaking to people who
> make from 10 to 10,000 of something. Other volumes call for different
> methods.
> 
> -- 


	PAL's, IFL's, etc.

	PAL logic is great for some areas, and I have used it, however,
please don't be so niave as to leave out one damn important factor:
(see #3 below)

	if an off the shelf ttl or whatever (substitute your favorite
logic family here) is available or maybe will come in 2 packages instead
of one as compared to a PAL, then the "discrete" design is still quite
likely the win. PAL's have several serious problems: 

	1] they are usually not as fast as the same implemtation 
	  in some other logic... say MSI/SSI ttl 
	2] they tend to consume more power than is needed for the same
	  effective circuitry.
	3] they almost always cost more!! For example:
		lets combine a few SSI/MSI ttl packages
		say a '08 and a '02 and an '04 
		total cost in TTL is about $0.50 in small quantity

		for a simple, non-registerd PAL we get $3.00,
	        and price does not
		go down much, even in large quantity of say, 25k
		pieces.


	 Is this worth the savings in board space ? Well... everything
	   must be weighed.  I just seem to find it hard to tolerate
	 individuals that jump the gun and insist on using a PAL for
	 the *most* trivial of logic designs. 


-- 
	Alex P Novickis

	UUCP:   {seismo, sun, ihnp4, 'etc' }!ptsfa!nonvon!apn

{* Only those who attempt the absurd   ...   will achieve the impossible   *}
{* I think... I think it's in my basement... Let me go upstairs and check. *}
{*                                                      -escher            *}