Each month we spotlight one integrated circuit that we think deserves special recognition. Maybe it is unique or has special versatility. Maybe we just think it's neat or serves a really interesting purpose. It could be a chip you use every day but never think about!

We hands-on review all chips that we spotlight so we can confirm they are as great as their datasheets say. Sometimes if the chip is interesting enough it could evolve into a workbench project like the ASA16 did.

Here we keep track of the previous integrated circuit of the month winners.

2021

• February, 2021: 74155 Dual 2-to-4 Line Decoder - An easily ignored general purpose IC that most people would pass over in favor of a 74138, the 74155 is more versitile than you think! With separate dual enable lines it can be used to divide decoded signals between two different systems without extra circuitry. For example, it could be used to break out read and write enable lines for I/O ports. In fact, we're utiliting this chip in a I/O expansion project we're developing to do just that!
• January, 2021: CD4543B CMOS BCD-to-7-Segment Latch/Decoder/Driver - This is a dandy little chip! It can drive LED, LCD and even VF displays, and supports either common-anode OR common-cathode LED displays. A very versitile chip!

2020

---