TABLE OF CONTENTS I remember the days when I could count on enough good analog circuit questions to create quite an afternoon of adventures in the lab. I would use theory to predict the analog outcome in terms of stability, gain, or noise levels and try to match it with reality. The mixed-signal ADC and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) questions were riddled with digital timing problems to conquer but seldom the complex noise or stability calculations that pure analog circuits provided. Since the mixed-signal circuits still required an analog front end (gain and filtering), most calculations were still handled in the analog domain. The entrance of the 16-bit converter offered somewhat of a front-end noise reduction challenge, but it did not rival the battle being waged in the pure analog domain.
Then a new player joined the team. This player was literally thrown over the wall, at least for those who aren't IEEE fans. I couldn't imagine replacing these complex circuits with a digital-centric device, but I should have paid attention to the reports that were coming back from the conferences. These reports came from the IC designer to the poor, unsuspecting, IC user. It came in the form of a 1-bit digitizer that would output a 24-bit word. I once asked an audience of engineers in a technical seminar what 2 24 was equal to. I expected one of the geniuses in the crowd to quickly shout out "16,777,216". The actual answer that I got was "4
