Pro Electron
Encyclopedia
Pro Electron is the European type designation and registration system for active components (such as semiconductor
s, liquid crystal display
s, sensor device
s, electronic tube
s and cathode ray tube
s).
Pro Electron was set up in 1966 in Brussels
, Belgium
. In 1983 it was merged with the European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA) and since then operates as an agency of the EECA.
The goal of Pro Electron is to allow unambiguous identification of electronic parts, even when made by several different manufacturers. To this end, manufacturers register new devices with the agency and receive new type designators for them.
Examples of Pro Electron type designators are:
Pro Electron took the popular European coding system in use from around 1934 for valves (tubes
), the Mullard-Philips tube designation
, and essentially re-allocated several of the rarely-used heater designations (first letter of the part number) for semiconductors, and continued the use of the second letters "A" for signal diode, "C" for low-power bipolar transistor or triode, "D" for high power transistor (or triode), and "Y" for rectifier. Beyond that, the tube and transistor type letter conventions start to diverge, e.g. "L" for high power pentode tubes - often used for audio, yet "L" is used for RF power (transmitting) transistors; "Z" is used for tube rectifiers but semiconductor Zener diodes. Unlike the tube naming convention, if there are two transistors in a single envelope, the type letter was never repeated - so a dual NPN RF transistor might get a type "BFM505" rather than something like "BFF505" for instance.
Pro Electron naming for transistors and Zener diodes has been widely taken up by semiconductor manufactures around the world. Pro Electron naming of integrated circuits, other than some special (e.g. television signal-processing) chips, did not greatly take hold (even in Europe) despite quite sensible structure to the numbering, perhaps due to the popularity of the 7400 series
and its successors with (comparatively) haphazard number allocations, plus a tradition of engineers readily accepting, for example, uA741, LM741, etc as being the same popular 741 operational amplifier but would need a replacement guide to know that a TBA222 is also equivalent (and even then would suspect that close inspections of data sheets may be needed to make sure!).
ECC81
/ \ \\__ last digits give serial number
/ \ \__ first digit(s) indicate base (3=octal, 8 or 18 or 80=Noval (B9A), 9=7-pin(B7G).
/ \___ one letter per valve in the tube:
D=0.5-1.5v A=single-diode (low power)
E=6.3v* B=double-diode (usually shared cathode, but not always)
P=300mA C=triode
U=100mA F=pentode (low power)
L=pentode (high power)
Y=Single-phase rectifier
Z=Full-wave rectifier
* Note: some 6.3 Volt heater types have a split heater allowing series (12.6Volt; the default for Noval pins 4 to 5) or parallel (6.3Volt) operation.
BC549C
/ \ \ \___ variant (A,B,C for transistors implies low, medium or high gain)
/ \ \____ serial number (3 digits or letter and 2 digits)
/ \_____ device type:
A=Germanium A=Signal Diode
B=Silicon C=LF Low Power transistor
C=GaAs D=Power transistor
F=RF transistor (or FET)
P=Photosensitive transistor
T=Triac or Thyristor
Y=Rectifier Diode
Z=Zener diode
FCH171
// \ \__ serial number,gives the count and type of gates for example
// \___ H=gate ("Combinatorial circuit") J=flip-flop K=monostable Q=RAM
R=ROM
etc.
FC=DTL
FD=MOS
FJ=TTL
Unfortunately the serial number does not specify the same type of gate in each family, e.g. while an FJH131 is a Quadruple 2-input NAND gate
(like the 7400), an FCH131 is a Dual 4-input NAND gate.
latest info:
http://www.eeca.eu/data/File/PRO%20ELECTRON_D15%20final%20version%202007_12%20%28ESIA%29%20updated%2016%2007%2010.pdf
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
s, liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
s, sensor device
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
s, electronic tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s and cathode ray tube
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
s).
Pro Electron was set up in 1966 in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. In 1983 it was merged with the European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA) and since then operates as an agency of the EECA.
The goal of Pro Electron is to allow unambiguous identification of electronic parts, even when made by several different manufacturers. To this end, manufacturers register new devices with the agency and receive new type designators for them.
Examples of Pro Electron type designators are:
- AD162 -- germanium power transistor for audio frequency use
- BY133 -- silicon rectifier
- BZY88C5V1 -- 5.1V Zener diodeZener diodeA Zener diode is a special kind of diode which allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as an ideal diode, but will also permit it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage, "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener...
- CQY97 -- light emitting diode
- ECC83 -- 6.3V heater noval dual triode
- A63EAA00XX01 -- Color TV picture tube
- SAA1300 -- Digital integrated circuit
Pro Electron took the popular European coding system in use from around 1934 for valves (tubes
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
), the Mullard-Philips tube designation
Mullard-Philips tube designation
In Europe, the principal method of numbering vacuum tubes was the nomenclature developed and used by Mullard in the UK and applied Europe-wide thanks to their parentage by Philips who had subsidiaries in Germany and France , plus the support of Telefunken, from 1934...
, and essentially re-allocated several of the rarely-used heater designations (first letter of the part number) for semiconductors, and continued the use of the second letters "A" for signal diode, "C" for low-power bipolar transistor or triode, "D" for high power transistor (or triode), and "Y" for rectifier. Beyond that, the tube and transistor type letter conventions start to diverge, e.g. "L" for high power pentode tubes - often used for audio, yet "L" is used for RF power (transmitting) transistors; "Z" is used for tube rectifiers but semiconductor Zener diodes. Unlike the tube naming convention, if there are two transistors in a single envelope, the type letter was never repeated - so a dual NPN RF transistor might get a type "BFM505" rather than something like "BFF505" for instance.
Pro Electron naming for transistors and Zener diodes has been widely taken up by semiconductor manufactures around the world. Pro Electron naming of integrated circuits, other than some special (e.g. television signal-processing) chips, did not greatly take hold (even in Europe) despite quite sensible structure to the numbering, perhaps due to the popularity of the 7400 series
7400 series
The 7400 series of transistor-transistor logic integrated circuits are historically important as the first widespread family of TTL integrated circuit logic. It was used to build the mini and mainframe computers of the 1960s and 1970s...
and its successors with (comparatively) haphazard number allocations, plus a tradition of engineers readily accepting, for example, uA741, LM741, etc as being the same popular 741 operational amplifier but would need a replacement guide to know that a TBA222 is also equivalent (and even then would suspect that close inspections of data sheets may be needed to make sure!).
- Frequently Used First Letters in European Active Devices
- A Germanium (or any semiconductor with junctions in a material with a band gap of 0.6 to 1.0eV)
- B Silicon (or band gap of 1.0 to 1.3eV)
- C Semiconductors like gallium arsenide with a band gap of 1.3eV or more
- D Semiconductors with a band gapBand gapIn solid state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap or bandgap, is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the...
less than 0.6eV (infrequently used; most European devices starting with "D" are 1.4V filament tubes named under the older Mullard-Philips tube designationMullard-Philips tube designationIn Europe, the principal method of numbering vacuum tubes was the nomenclature developed and used by Mullard in the UK and applied Europe-wide thanks to their parentage by Philips who had subsidiaries in Germany and France , plus the support of Telefunken, from 1934...
) - E Tubes with a 6.3V heater
- P Tubes for a 300mA series heater supply
- R Devices without junctions, e.g. photoconductive cells
- S Solitary digital integrated circuits
- T Linear integrated circuits
- U Tubes for a 100mA series heater supply OR mixed digital/analogue integrated circuits
Thermionic Valves (Vacuum tubes)
- See Mullard-Philips tube designationMullard-Philips tube designationIn Europe, the principal method of numbering vacuum tubes was the nomenclature developed and used by Mullard in the UK and applied Europe-wide thanks to their parentage by Philips who had subsidiaries in Germany and France , plus the support of Telefunken, from 1934...
for details. A brief summary of just the more common letters is:
ECC81
/ \ \\__ last digits give serial number
/ \ \__ first digit(s) indicate base (3=octal, 8 or 18 or 80=Noval (B9A), 9=7-pin(B7G).
/ \___ one letter per valve in the tube:
D=0.5-1.5v A=single-diode (low power)
E=6.3v* B=double-diode (usually shared cathode, but not always)
P=300mA C=triode
U=100mA F=pentode (low power)
L=pentode (high power)
Y=Single-phase rectifier
Z=Full-wave rectifier
* Note: some 6.3 Volt heater types have a split heater allowing series (12.6Volt; the default for Noval pins 4 to 5) or parallel (6.3Volt) operation.
Semiconductor Diodes and Transistors
- Short summary of semiconductor diode and transistor designations
BC549C
/ \ \ \___ variant (A,B,C for transistors implies low, medium or high gain)
/ \ \____ serial number (3 digits or letter and 2 digits)
/ \_____ device type:
A=Germanium A=Signal Diode
B=Silicon C=LF Low Power transistor
C=GaAs D=Power transistor
F=RF transistor (or FET)
P=Photosensitive transistor
T=Triac or Thyristor
Y=Rectifier Diode
Z=Zener diode
Integrated Circuits
- Linear ICs begin with the letter "T", e.g. TAA570.
- Logic ICs begin with the letter "F". The FJ family is TTLTTLTTL may refer to:* Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor, a state-owned manufacturer of cigarettes and alcohol in Taiwan* Through-the-lens metering, a feature of cameras capable of measuring light levels in a scene through their lens...
(e.g. the FJH231 is a Quadruple 2-input Open-collector NAND gateNAND gateThe Negated AND, NO AND or NAND gate is the opposite of the digital AND gate, and behaves in a manner that corresponds to the opposite of AND gate, as shown in the truth table on the right. A LOW output results only if both the inputs to the gate are HIGH...
equivalent to the SN7401); the FC family is DTL and the FC family is MOS...
FCH171
// \ \__ serial number,gives the count and type of gates for example
// \___ H=gate ("Combinatorial circuit") J=flip-flop K=monostable Q=RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
R=ROM
Rom
ROM, Rom, or rom is an abbreviation and name that may refer to:-In computers and mathematics:* Read-only memory, a type of storage media which is used in computers and other electronic devices....
etc.
FC=DTL
FD=MOS
FJ=TTL
TTL
TTL may refer to:* Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor, a state-owned manufacturer of cigarettes and alcohol in Taiwan* Through-the-lens metering, a feature of cameras capable of measuring light levels in a scene through their lens...
Unfortunately the serial number does not specify the same type of gate in each family, e.g. while an FJH131 is a Quadruple 2-input NAND gate
NAND gate
The Negated AND, NO AND or NAND gate is the opposite of the digital AND gate, and behaves in a manner that corresponds to the opposite of AND gate, as shown in the truth table on the right. A LOW output results only if both the inputs to the gate are HIGH...
(like the 7400), an FCH131 is a Dual 4-input NAND gate.
External links
latest info:
http://www.eeca.eu/data/File/PRO%20ELECTRON_D15%20final%20version%202007_12%20%28ESIA%29%20updated%2016%2007%2010.pdf