Archive for category: System-On-A-Chip and ASIC Design Blog

ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) designs are built by manufacturers based on specific customer specifications. Many technologies can be used in order to produce ASICs, which was once thought to consist only of digital circuits.

These are almost entirely designed by logic synthesis programs, such as a physical layout, which is completed by automated place and route programs. However, there are no analog circuits included in this design.

There are many types of ASICs applications, which include sensor ASIC. Here are a few basic examples of ASIC applications:

• Automotive ASICs
  • Digital pulse width modulator
  • Electric odometers
  • LCD display drivers
  • VF display drivers

• Industrial ASICs
  • Custom 8-bit microcontroller
  • Digital trim potentiometer
  • Micropower 555 timer
  • Thermal controller
  • Pulse counter and elapse time meters

• Medical ASICs
  • Advanced hearing instruments
  • Biometric sensors
  • Programmable hearing aids

• Security ASICs
  • Key lock tags
  • Passive infrared motion detector
  • RFID tag
  • Spread spectrum controller

• Sensor ASICs
  • Accelerometer piezo sensor
  • Engine monitoring sensors
  • Magneto-resistive sensor for control

What Are Sensor ASICs For?

Here are some of the custom ASIC applications that involve sensors.

• Sensor Interface and Bar Display Driver

This particular ASIC chipset will convert analog inputs into one of 10 programmable ranges. Then it displays the result on a 10-segment bar display. The input range is technically 0-2.55V and is set by either an external or internal reference voltage. The voltage level for every range contains a resolution of 8 bits and stored in an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory or EEPROM.

Basic features include:

• • Absolute or Ratiometric sensors
  • Data backed up in EEPROM
  • Internal 5-volt regulator
  • 7-decade season, 5-decade trip counters
  • 7-digit LCD driver
  • 20-bit binary Prescaler
  • Record miles or hours
  • Temperature range from -40 degrees Celsius to +85 degrees Celsius

• Engine Monitor and Warning Light Controller

This device will monitor up to 4 engine parameters, such as pressure, temperature, or voltage. If the parameter is out of range, it activates the corresponding warning light. At this point, the inputs on the sensor could be absolute or ratiometric. The inputs are also digitally filtered and might include hysteresis to avoid flickering. This is particularly intended for automotive instrument clusters.

Basic features include:

• • 4-sensor channels
  • Absolute or ratiometric
  • External R and C
  • Internal 10-volt regulator
  • Internal oscillator for clock generation
  • Optional hysteresis
  • Programmable digital filters
  • Temperature ranges from -40 degrees Celsius to +85 degrees Celsius

• Digital Pulse Width Modulator

This type of chipset modulates an input clock for a variable frequency and duty-cycle output signal. There are three 8-bit registers accessible via a 3-wire interface. They will be able to control configuration, frequency, and pulse width.

Basic features include:

• • 8-Lead green PDIP package
  • 8-MHz clock input frequency
  • 3-wire serial bus input
  • 2.5 to 6.0-volt supply range
  • Direct replacement for Intersil CPD68HC68W1
  • Programmable frequency and duty cycle output
  • Temperature ranges from -40 degrees Celsius to +85 degrees Celsius

For more information on Sensor ASICs, contact Linear MicroSystems today for a proposal on your next project.

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.

There are a set of challenges in the development of RF ASICs, which could be beyond those encountered in baseband IC design. One of the most basic challenges is the demand it puts on the process technology.

High-Performance Passives

Aside from the fast transistors needed, high-performance passives are among those that have minimal factors that would minimize crosstalk and bandwidth reduction. For this reason, high Q inductors are needed in the process.

Performance specifications of the RF ASIC will typically drive the implementation into deep submicron processes which are optimized for RF performance. At the same time, development time will be longer due to the fact that there are extensive simulations necessary for the consideration of the impact of parasitics.

Moreover, some design iteration be it electrical or physical is necessary to account for these layout parasitics. In this case, RF ASICs would require larger non-recurring engineering budget for the process constraints and amount of the engineering resources needed.

Testing RF ASICs

The wafer-level testing process for RF ASICs should also be a factor in performance. Basically, they are sold in die form as they are part of the chip-on-board packaging technology. Therefore, wafer testing is necessary for RF frequencies.

Thus, special probe cards and prober hardware are necessary, including the knowledge of the test team having RF background. So a carefully designed tester interface hardware must be used. They must be fabricated to have a minimal impact of stray parasitics and mismatch on measurements.

Design Architecture Parameters

The design team must also choose the appropriate architecture and come up with a reasonable set of requirements to match the target budget and schedule aside from the product requirements. Therefore, it is required to conduct an investigation phase in RF ASICs around 2-6 weeks based on the customer to come up with a more satisfactory project plan.

Design Parameters to Be Considered In Investigation Phase

• Available power or DC power supply
• Full or half-duplex operation
• Receiving and transmitting frequencies and IBW or instantaneous bandwidth
• Receiver input and transmitter output dynamic range
• On and off-chip filtering
• Frequency planning for receiver and transmitter
• Number of channels
• Channel to channel isolation
• DC power dissipation
• Transmitter power, receiver sensitivity, peak to average ratio, and efficiency
• Attenuation or automatic gain control
• ESD impact

The architectural approach of RF ASIC and the integrated circuit process choice are greatly influenced by these parameters. These are required to create a link budget for the development of specifications in individual ASIC circuit blocks.

The RF circuitry is often part of the larger system-on-a-chip wherein there is importance in noise immunity and crosstalk. Therefore, it should be well considered to have an overall physical layout of the chip. At the same time, great care must be given to the power supply routing scheme, including the location and number of power and grounds.

Thus, it is always important to pay attention to the design considerations and the process and testing requirements offered by ASIC companies having extensive expertise in RF.

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.

It is important to know more about the applicability and the role of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) through their historical origins. This can also be used to differentiate analog and mixed-signal ASIC design.

Integrated circuits first came into the limelight in the early 1960s. Basically, these items contained just a number of transistors with limited digital logic functions.

Here is a list that describes the evolution of integrated circuits over the decades.

• Small scale integration (a few transistors)
• Medium scale integration (10-100 transistors)
• Large scale integration (100-1,000 transistors)
• Very large scale integration (up to 100,000 transistors)
• Integrated circuits

ASIC Beginnings

The first digital ASICs were developed with the use of a standard cell library that consists of fixed height, variable-width tiles that contain the digital logic functions. It is the ability of these blocks over and over that enabled to save time and money in designing a custom logic IC.

Since analog applications would typically involve higher voltages, such ICs would require their own unique set of manufacturing processes. In fact, a merger between analog and digital functionality onto a single silicon chip has increased market demands for a smaller size, lower power consumption, and higher speeds.

Combining Analog and Digital

The significance of mixed-signal integrated circuits is that it has both analog and digital circuits on just the same chip. Mixed-signal ASIC design offers engineers the potential to reduce complex, multiple-integrated circuit designs to a single IC.

Mixed-signal ASICs also have become widely available and commercially viable. Some of the benefits of analog and mixed-signal ASIC are

• Cost reduction
• Improved reliability
• Intellectual property protection
• Low power
• Miniaturization
• Performance improvement

Analog and mixed-signal ASIC design are both found in products used by millions of consumers the different segments of the market

• Healthcare to cosmetics
• Industrial sensors to flight control
• Instrumentation
• Mobile devices to credit card scanners

When building a mixed-signal ASIC design, you are combining the competences of the analog and digital circuit designs, which include

• Analog-to-digital conversion via all methods, such as sigma-delta modulation
• Circuit design with linear circuits as well as switched capacitor circuit techniques
• Design of low power circuits
• Development of test procedures, test patterns, and test structures or ASICs
• Mixed-signal ASIC design and modeling

ASIC Uses

On the other hand, analog ASICs have played an important role in the lives of people. In fact, the absence of such technology, no portable electronic devices that you use in day-to-day life would seem to exist.

You can just imagine a world without mobile phones, MP3 players, or navigation systems. Nevertheless, building these ICs on standard products would be expensive, as it is also impossible to bring them along with your pockets or purses.

Each automobile of today contains dozens of ASIC chips that enable the mechanism for climate control, deployment of the airbag, and suspension control to entertainment systems. At the same time, it can help many establishments, such as hospital/medical equipment, suspension control, and entertainment systems.

LMI ASIC Design House

ASICs requiring high analog content must be directed to those who design houses specializing in analog circuit design as opposed to those who just pick analog IP blocks from the library. Contact Linear MicroSystems today for a free proposal today!

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.

An Application-Specific Integrated Circuit or ASIC is a customized integrated circuit designed specifically for a particular application. This means that a chip is created with a specific use or application in mind and may not be used for general purposes. Over the years, different types of ASICs have been developed for a wide range of industries—from telecommunications to photography.

A 3D imaging ASIC is designed specifically for use in 3D vision applications including those used for consumer devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and personal computers. Let’s take a closer look at how 3D imaging works and the role of a 3D imaging ASIC in the process:

Technology Behind a 3D Imaging ASIC is Inspired by the Human Eye

Each of a human’s two eyes sees the world from different angles but they are perceived into one image through the brain combining these images into a whole, a process called parallax. This is pretty much the same with 2D imaging. But with 3D imaging, two lenses are used in every shot with each capturing an image that’s different from the other. This means that 3D images contain double the amount of information provided by 2D images.

3D imaging ASIC is Used in a Variety of Applications

3D imaging devices containing a 3D imaging ASIC can be used for a wide range of applications. This includes measuring, analyzing and positioning parts for different industrial uses. Each 3D imaging ASIC is designed to fit a specific industry or environment and 3D imaging systems use either active or passive methods. Active systems use methods like structured light or time of flight while passive methods utilize light field and depth from focus.

Active Snapshot and Laser Triangulation are also Used to Produce 3d shape Data

Snapshot-based methods and laser triangulation are both used to produce 3D shape data. In snapshot-based methods, the distance to objects is calculated by using the difference between two snapshots captured at the same time. This process is called passive stereo imaging.

One camera may be used for capturing these images but using two cameras make the process more efficient. Laser triangulation, on the other hand, uses one camera to derive height variations from laser patterns that are projected onto an object’s surface. Then, it observes how patterns moved when they are viewed from an angle using a camera.

Time is one of the Biggest Challenges in 3D Imaging

It is a known fact that creating 3D images is intensive and extremely time-consuming. This is why devices like a 3D imaging ASIC that can handle the complexity of calculations required especially in product lines to make the entire imaging process faster and more efficient.

The debate on whether 2D or 3D is better may still be up, but both technologies have proven beneficial to a wide range of industrial applications. At the end of the day, it’s all about how technology is used for a specific purpose, whether it’s using a 2d or 3D imaging ASIC.

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.

If you are in the business of technology, you’ve probably come across the term analog ASIC at some point. In fact, you may have had one created for your company. But there is so much more to developing an analog ASIC than just putting a chip together that there have been countless failed attempts at developing one. And the problem all boils down to one thing: incompetence. Here are the things that you should look out for when having your analog ASIC developed:

Lack of Proper Industry Knowledge

It’s a cold, hard fact: there are so many companies out there that would easily pretend to know about creating analog ASICs, but in reality, they don’t have a clue. So, many companies have experienced problems with their ASIC and no one seems to know what’s wrong.

Worse, no one knows how to deal with the problem because those who designed the ASIC has relied on an analog cell library from a third party vendor, which means they don’t have any idea about how the system works.

Lack of proper industry knowledge is one of the most common challenges for companies looking to have their analog ASIC developed and the problem may lie from three parties: the cell library designers, the silicon producers, and the IC design company.

This is why it’s very important to check on every detail of a project before implementing it to make sure that everyone on your team really has the expertise that you need.

Lack of Technical Skills

Developing an analog ASIC for your product is crucial because any delay in its production could mean a delay for your launch or worse, failure for your entire project. Creating an ASIC requires a good knowledge of the semiconductor fabrication process and the right computational involvement to make sure that the design is strong.

Going through the fabrication process requires technical skills to ensure that the chip produced will do its job. A lot of designers claim to have the mixed signal design skills needed to complete your product, but that doesn’t guarantee that they actually have what it takes to get your chip right. This is when credibility really counts. Go for companies that already have successful projects in the past and those whose clients can vouch for their quality of service.

Final Words

If you want to have your own analog ASIC developed, make sure to pick up a lesson or two from the horror stories of failed attempts going around the semiconductor industry. Before signing the papers for the services of an analog ASIC design company, do your research first. Don’t settle for the first company you see or the lowest offer given to you.

Instead, make sure that you tick all the boxes in terms of a semiconductor company’s integrity, quality of service and commitment to giving you the best value. Get to know the team leader who will work on your project to know if they are capable of handling the development team and if they have the skills to get things done right and address issues as they come.

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.