CRC Press | ISBN 978-0-8493-7617-7 | English | PDF | 504 Pages | Size: 10.6 MB | RAR Compressed | No Password

Introduction
Circuit design can be considered an art based on the fundamental concepts we learn in electrical and electronic engineering. With the unprecedentedadvancement of semiconductors, today a designer has many choices of components. Although keeping track of all the new integrated circuits (ICs)appearing on the market is a difficult task, it may be particularly useful if design challenges include miniaturization of the overall product. Passive components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers need to be mixed effectively and optimally with semiconductor components in building a particular circuit. In this exercise of “design and development,” the designer needs to work with the delicate balance between the real or the analog world, where signals can take any value within a given range, and the digital world, where we make use of processors, memories, and other peripheral devices to accurately process information. To summarize the need for the delicate balance required, it may be appropriate to
cite Jim Williams, a well-known linear circuit designer: “Wonderful things are going on in the forgotten land between ONE and ZERO. This is real electronics.” Within the past quarter century, a new domain of semiconductors has appeared that links the analog and digital worlds. That is the world of mixed signal electronics, where analog-to-digital conversion, and vice versa, occurs. In this book, emphasis is placed on the analog world of electronics together with the mixed signal domain of design. In dealing with the challenges we face in the process of design and development, a few essential fundamentals need to be reviewed. This chapter reviews the essentials so that designers can comfortably link theory and practice. The reader can find details related to theory and analysis in standard textbooks used for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.