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docdivakar
Analog will always be a complementary part to digital and this symbiotic ...
notarboca
Analog will always, ALWAYS, exist. The human experience makes it so.
Demise of analog is exaggerated
Venu Menon
6/21/2012 12:44 PM EDT
Analog platforms
It would be wrong to assume that analog ICs do not improve in performance or get smaller with each subsequent generation of manufacturing process. Improvements are achieved through device architecture, integration, packaging and materials optimization of separate process technologies for specific types of products. Texas Instruments has more than 50 such process platforms running in production, manufacturing nearly 45,000 products - each process optimized for a specific family of analog semiconductors or MEMS/sensors.
I have led deep sub-micron CMOS development and more recently, analog technology development. The opportunities in analog development and manufacturing are quite different. Not being limited by a single industry roadmap, there are significant opportunities to differentiate through design, process, packaging and manufacturing.
Creative ideas are welcome!
I have a mental image of speed boats versus an aircraft carrier. Instead of a large development team, the model is one of many small teams, working in parallel on different market opportunities. Two recent examples of differentiated technologies come to mind. We recently developed a fast-write, low-power, non-volatile memory called ferroelectric random access memory to enable ultra-low power mixed signal microcontrollers that consume less than half the power of equivalent flash-based devices.
In another example, TI recently integrated thermocouple elements, MEMS processing along with high precision analog data converters and amplifiers to create a single chip infrared temperature sensor.
Moreover, development is not limited by the lack of availability or the immaturity of process equipment, so time to market at high yields is quite good and the cost of setting up an analog manufacturing line is significantly lower than a CMOS line.
There are others issues as well. Besides obvious technology challenges, analog products and hence analog manufacturing processes last a long time, sometimes over 20 years. This creates years of accumulated process and design IP, PDKs, libraries and Spice models that have to be maintained, updated and continuously improved. Also, managing the diversity of process technologies and products across many factories can be a logistical challenge - or a differentiator for those that do it well.
When it comes to analog, whoever coined the term “more than Moore’s Law” couldn’t have said it better.
--Venu Menon is vice president of analog technology development at Texas Instruments
It would be wrong to assume that analog ICs do not improve in performance or get smaller with each subsequent generation of manufacturing process. Improvements are achieved through device architecture, integration, packaging and materials optimization of separate process technologies for specific types of products. Texas Instruments has more than 50 such process platforms running in production, manufacturing nearly 45,000 products - each process optimized for a specific family of analog semiconductors or MEMS/sensors.
- High-speed amplifiers typically need finely tuned capacitors, resistors and SiGe bipolar processes, often with SOI substrates to reduce noise.
- Data converters are manufactured using analog processes with precision thin-film resistors, high linearity capacitors and low noise, well-matched transistors.
- High-voltage manufacturing processes with thick power metal are essential for building power management ICs. The voltage range of the process is tuned to the application and can vary from a few volts to several hundreds of volts.
- Micro-controllers are manufactured on mixed-signal process technologies, with key differentiators being low power non-volatile memories and ultra-low power transistors.
- MEMS and sensors need custom process flows and use unique equipment for deep silicon etching, back-side wafer patterning, wafer-to-wafer bonding, etc.
I have led deep sub-micron CMOS development and more recently, analog technology development. The opportunities in analog development and manufacturing are quite different. Not being limited by a single industry roadmap, there are significant opportunities to differentiate through design, process, packaging and manufacturing.
Creative ideas are welcome!
I have a mental image of speed boats versus an aircraft carrier. Instead of a large development team, the model is one of many small teams, working in parallel on different market opportunities. Two recent examples of differentiated technologies come to mind. We recently developed a fast-write, low-power, non-volatile memory called ferroelectric random access memory to enable ultra-low power mixed signal microcontrollers that consume less than half the power of equivalent flash-based devices.
In another example, TI recently integrated thermocouple elements, MEMS processing along with high precision analog data converters and amplifiers to create a single chip infrared temperature sensor.
Moreover, development is not limited by the lack of availability or the immaturity of process equipment, so time to market at high yields is quite good and the cost of setting up an analog manufacturing line is significantly lower than a CMOS line.
There are others issues as well. Besides obvious technology challenges, analog products and hence analog manufacturing processes last a long time, sometimes over 20 years. This creates years of accumulated process and design IP, PDKs, libraries and Spice models that have to be maintained, updated and continuously improved. Also, managing the diversity of process technologies and products across many factories can be a logistical challenge - or a differentiator for those that do it well.
When it comes to analog, whoever coined the term “more than Moore’s Law” couldn’t have said it better.
--Venu Menon is vice president of analog technology development at Texas Instruments
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hm
6/21/2012 9:28 PM EDT
What you mentioned may be correct. But, if you look for opportunity to work as common EE, opportunities are much limited as compare to other field of EE.
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elctrnx_lyf
6/22/2012 6:45 AM EDT
In general it takes more time to master the art of analog design so it takes more time also to forget them.
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MClayton
6/23/2012 12:06 AM EDT
Digital IC manufacturing yields are defect-limited due to constant shrinking and high line densities.
Analog IC yields are parameter-limited (or test-limited, or design-limited) and only defect limited if they get very large.
Or so it seems to me over past 50 years.
We started out the IC industry making analog devices mostly, digital came along but it was mostly relay-logic on steroids. The real world is analog, so all digital chips have to interface to analog chips (or analog portions of same digital chip) to be useful to real world.
So analog will not go away...
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prabhakar_deosthali
6/23/2012 7:30 AM EDT
As long as the "POWER" related world is analog ( generation, transformation, distribution) analog will remain in power. That is my prediction. And as long human senses and gestures are analog the final interface for any electronic circuit will remain analog at both input and output end. All the intermediaries can well enjoy the digital world.
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Sanjib.Acharya
6/24/2012 4:01 AM EDT
Electronics can't survive without Analog. But the manufacturers might continue to face challenges in keeping up with the newer process technologies and at the same time , maintaining the required qualities such as robustness/reliability, higher noise margin etc.
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David Ashton
6/24/2012 5:45 AM EDT
As long as you need to get analog real world quantities into digital form, analog electronics will be needed. There has been more than one story in these columns of the perils of trying to get things done without any form of analog signal conditioning. Analog is not a competitor to digital, it's complimentary.
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nicolas.mokhoff
6/25/2012 9:40 AM EDT
The question becomes not whether analog is needed or inferior to digital, the question is can analog a digital engineers get along when they need to work together on system-on-chip designs. The two disciplines can learn much from each other and complement each other in the system architecture design flow.
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studleylee
6/25/2012 3:55 PM EDT
There are so many mediums and ways to paint. No method really 'dies':the end 'dictates' the means. So no, analog cannot die, it's implementation will evolve.
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UCCS1993
6/25/2012 6:15 PM EDT
Didn't Ramtron develop the FRAM memory and TI is a foundry? Seems like you are taking credit as the developer.
"We recently developed a fast-write, low-power, non-volatile memory called ferroelectric random access memory to enable ultra-low power mixed signal microcontrollers that consume less than half the power of equivalent flash-based devices. "
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vmenon
6/27/2012 1:13 PM EDT
Thanks for the question. Texas Instruments developed the FRAM manufacturing technology. TI has introduced several products with embedded FRAM memory. TI also manufactures products on this manufacturing process for a customer through a foundry arrangement.
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DadOf3TeenieBoppers
6/28/2012 9:35 AM EDT
The world is analog. It always has been, it always will be. 1's and 0's need to be converted into volts and amps.
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damngoodengineer
6/28/2012 1:06 PM EDT
Funny, how some of us analog types were just discussing the demise of analog and the absense of anything new we can use for music/audio purposes. Do a search on the CA3280 and then tell me how analog is going strong. What is your answer to those of us that want that CA3280 back? Use a I2C ADC/DAC? naw.
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notarboca
6/29/2012 10:47 AM EDT
Analog will always, ALWAYS, exist. The human experience makes it so.
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docdivakar
7/3/2012 12:27 AM EDT
Analog will always be a complementary part to digital and this symbiotic relation is becoming more important now a days than any time before. With the advances in 3D IC stacked chips, analog will play even greater role.
MP Divakar
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