Should have mentioned:
Thank you Steve, for providing some scientific papers in which the black magic underlying the design of this circuit is revealed.
A while ago in this thread, dsli_jon posted, and I didn't recognize who it was. I was confused when he mentioned we may have previously spoken, and wrongly concluded it was someone else. Thus, my reply was flippant, and made no sense. Jon and I have recently spoken, and the misunderstanding was resolved.
I have been a bit worried that at some point someone could demand I stop reverse engineering their IP, but after an exchange with Jon, I don't think that will be the case.
Ron, that's super helpful. I was wishing I had a better photo of the back, and there it was!
There is previously unknown lore surfacing in this discussion, and Brian, your technical points, as always, are much appreciated. Thanks for posting, everyone.