ABSTRACT
Integrated circuits (ICs) have always exceeded our ability to fully utilize the capacity they make available to us, and the future will be no exception, for technology does not drive innovation. It is innovation and human imagination that drive technology. A device that can help the blind to see is a life-changing application of medical technology. The future of medicine is based upon a firm foundation of existing technologies. Consider these key technologies: Digital imaging, Telecommunications and Automated monitoring. In practical terms, Moore's law has allowed us to reduce the price of ICs. Advances in performance and power dissipation have also affected cost, but over the last decade it has been advances in IC technology that have been primarily responsible for driving cost down. Back in the mid-1990s, Texas Instruments introduced a new technology node for ICs.
