Tomorrow's analog: just dead or just different?

This panel discusses the following topics. With the ongoing trend towards more and more digitization in applications ranging from multimedia to telecommunications, there is a big debate about whether there will remain a need for analog circuits in scaled technologies. Analog circuits do not seem to take advantage of nanometer CMOS; rather they suffer from it. So if the question is asked “Will analog scale?”, you get conflicting opinions. One camp argues for an almost-all-digital future: analog/RF content should be limited, because it’s difficult, expensive, risky, and can be done with DSP. The opposing camp counters that some critical circuits simply do not want (or need) to scale, and analog is only “risky” when you let digital designers do it. So, what is the future role of analog circuits in scaled CMOS, and can analog EDA tools help in this ? Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7.2 : Design Aids for Integrated Circuits General Terms: Design, Algorithms

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: DAC
• Authors: Shekhar Y. Borkar, Robert W. Brodersen, Jue-Hsien Chern, Eric Naviasky, D. Saias, Charles Sodini
• Keywords: Analog Circuits, Circuits General Terms, Computer Architecture, DAC 2006, Nanometer Cmos