Just a few years ago, the term “network” referred to a mainframe in a back room connected to a series of dumb terminals. Today, the network is a worldwide array of computers connected to increasingly more intelligent clients ranging from personal computers to personal digital assistants (PDAs) to cell phones. Traditionally, these clients connect to the worldwide array over wire or some other physical medium, such as a cable or copper twisted pair. Wired connections provide reliable, high-speed information pipelines, but they tie clients to a location. Read the rest of this entry »

Analog-circuit designs have fundamentally different architectures from those of processor, FPGA, and PLD designs. Once you implement the circuit topology and parameters, the circuit’s signal-processing function is relatively fixed. Sure, some functional blocks exist, such as filters, in which you can digitally adjust cutoff frequency, roll-off, and other factors by varying the clock (for switched-capacitor designs) or adjusting circuit factors via DACs, but these examples are the exceptions. Most designs are fixed in their functions and nearly fixed in their performance. Read the rest of this entry »