29-11-2017, 09:48 AM
An analog chip is a set of miniature electronic analog circuits formed in a single piece of semiconductor material. The voltage and current at the specified points in the circuits of the analog chips vary continuously over time. On the contrary, digital chips only use and create voltages or currents at discrete levels, without intermediate values. In addition to transistors, analog chips often have a greater number of passive elements (Inductors / Capacitors / Resistors) than digital chips. Inductors tend to be avoided due to their large size, and a transistor and capacitor together can do the work of an inductor. (When using this method in a CFL, you get an electronic ballast).
Analog chips can also contain digital logic elements to replace some analog functions, or to allow the chip to communicate with a microprocessor. For this reason and given that logic is commonly implemented using CMOS technology, these chips use BiCMOS processes from companies such as Freescale, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and others. This is known as mixed signal processing and allows a designer to incorporate more functions into the chip. Some of the benefits include load protection, reduced part count and greater reliability.
Pure analog chips in information processing have been replaced mainly by digital chips. Analog chips are still required for broadband signals because of the sampling rate requirements, high power applications and transducer interfaces. Research and industry in the field continue to grow and prosper. Some examples of long-lived and well-known analog chips are the 741 Operational Amplifier and the 555 timer. The power supply chips are also considered analog chips. Its main objective is to produce a well regulated output voltage supply for other chips in the system. Since all electronic systems require electrical power, power supply integrated circuits PMICs are important elements of those systems.