ABSTRACT
Only a decade ago, terms like digitally-assisted analog were coined to acknowledge the increasingly prominent role of DSP in analog design. Unfortunately, this modifier conjures up an image whereby analog still does all the heavy lifting while the DSP remains a mere assistant. As design work is underway in 7nm CMOS, and with the introduction of 3nm on the horizon, the capacity for DSP has increased by two orders-of-magnitude just in the short time since 2008 when the 90nm ADC described herein was designed. Such an enormous increase in signal processing potential demands of analog designers that they consider, and reconsider, the amount of digital content planned for every design at every processing node. Doing so is no longer simply good practice, but essential. As analog circuits get more complicated, it’s easy to lose sight of what is important.
