3 ms·
I think you have the power situation backwards. Analog still has not left power supplies. The dynamics are just too fast for low-power digital. So the solution
by linkdink 4y ago
I think you have the power situation backwards.
Analog still has not left power supplies. The dynamics are just too fast for low-power digital. So the solution for a long time has been mixed analog and digital.
At higher power, there's usually a hierarchical control scheme with an all-digital supervisor at the top. Analog isn't required at that level because the dynamics are slower, and digital has the extra benefit of more control options that analog can't do.
As the dynamics get faster, there's an even greater need for analog. You start needing increasingly expensive op amps. But op amps trade speed for convenience. So the fix is even more analog, but the integrated type. At that point, you might as well throw in more digital features.
Which is why I think we'll just see even more mixed-signal options at the lowest levels. Different ways of leveraging analog speed and low power under an increasingly sophisticated digital manager.
- jleahy 4y agoI don’t think that’s the case at all? If you look at any modern voltage regulator it switches in the megahertz range with variable pulse width and interval. This is all controlled in the digital domain (lower end ones do use analog control loops, but higher end do not). Above the megahertz level switcher everything else is just capacitors providing low impedance at frequencies into the high hundreds of megahertz (and at gigahertz it’s on-die capacitance). ‘too fast for digital’ makes no sense when talking about control loops, digital is faster.
- linkdink 4y agoIs it not? Show me one counter-example. There are many parts of a control loop. An analog comparator is faster and lower power than an ADC + digital comparator, for example.