PalliserBlog

It’s the 4th of July, the day to remember those who fought for freedom: freedom of expression, personal liberty and, of course the right to design circuits. Here’s today’s question, in the mixed signal integrated circuit world, who plays the role of King George?

Continue reading "Bad Company" »

Using IP has become prevalent because the benefits outweigh the risks. Many successful projects have saved time and money by using circuits that were developed elsewhere, either in another part of the same company or at an IP vendor.

Continue reading "The Perfectly Good Reasons to Purchase IP" »

When building a complex SOC, only those in enormous organizations have luxury of designing every bit of the chip. The rest of us rely on purchasing IP. No one thinks twice about using a digital cell library from an outside source, or a padcells for the padring. Using PLLs and Phys are fairly commonplace too. Less common but not unheard of are data converters and power management circuits, regulators and the like. 

Continue reading "The Perils of Purchased IP" »

This is a blog on the trials and tribulations of analog IC design and the integration of analog IP in large digital SOCs. I will post to it somewhat regularly, doubtless more frequently when I’m not on a consulting gig. I look forward to reading your comments.