ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the problems of being a design engineer from a still quite general perspective. Analog design is quite an art, because we need creativity to find the right compromises to fulfill many specifications, written and non-written ones. Just entering a design in a schematic editor and simulating it for a kind of virtual verification is possible since 1970s for professionals and for amateurs since 1980s. In a design project, engineers have to deal with many variables and we have to treat them in a systematic way. Exploiting the problem structure is usually the key for design efficiency. Designers hate repeating uninteresting tasks, and usually, it pays out to automate things. In analog, mixed-signal, or RF, there are generally many compromises, requiring much experience and careful well-organized work is required.
