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Why Is Analog Design Harder Than Digital Design?

rscasny

Are you an analog design engineer or digital? By most standards, the marketplace is producing more digital design engineers than analog. Ask most engineers and they would tell you why: analog design is harder than digital, and requires more knowledge and more factors to consider such as a deep understanding of efficient power, precision measurement, wireless connectivity, and reliable circuit protection. What  do you think?

 

Let's talk about that a bit more. Is analog design just a matter of knowledge, or is there something more involved? It likely boils down to that fact that analog design involves more than just analog. It's influenced by circuit theory, signal processing, control systems, and device physics, and more. When you consider that circuits and components are more integrated and operated at ultra low power, one needs to consider both pow power, low noise, and stability over the required temperature range.

 

What's analog design require? Efficient power ICs to extend the lifetime and reduce heat dissipation for your design. Precision measurement ICs to feature high accuracy and high performance for across-the-board precision analog applications. Rugged connectivity to offer the industry’s highest level of protection for connectivity in hazardous environments. Reliable protection ICs to protect systems from faults by maintaining and monitoring proper voltage, current, and temperature levels.

 

For sure, analog design has always been more complicated than digital design. While both require the engineer to make design compromises, analog beats digital design in the arena of complexity. All the variables involved just make it nothing but hard.

 

I've told you what I think. How about you?

 

Why do you think analog design is more difficult than digital design? If you have an example, share it with the element14 community?

 

Parents

  • Digital is a subset of Analog.

     

    The boundaries of digital design are fairly easy to establish.

    In Analog, you have a more open set of criteria that make a good circuit more challenging.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Interesting perspective. I used to work with a bunch of physicists who bragged that chemistry was a subset of physics, but that didn't mean they were knowledgeable about chemistry.

  • in reply to dougw

    If you are a physicist, then you need a working knowledge of Chemistry if you are involved with elements.

    If you are a chemist, you need a working knowledge of physics, depending upon what depth of elements and compounds you need to work with.

     

    Digital engineers study circuits that have timing and decision making involved.

    Analog engineers study circuits in which a much wider range of possible events within its solution.

     

    I agree that as digital has gotten much higher speeds, the analog effects are introducing a wider range of issues than they did back in the early days of digital IC circuits.

    Analog however still remains a wide open domain requiring a very specific set of skills, usually much deeper than those needed to do basic digital circuits.

     

    I would never ask a digital engineer to do an analog circuit and vice versa.

    They are two different domains requiring two different mind and skill sets.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    True. For example if you wanted to design a multiplication circuit using gates, op-amps and transistors. It is pretty tricky whether you design a digital multiplier or an analog multiplier. I wouldn't say one is easier than the other - it just depends on your experience.

  • in reply to DAB

    There are tremendous amounts of overlap of skills between analog and digital design, and a set of building blocks (laws and theorems) that are common knowledge for either disciplines.  That too is true for electronics and other science fields.  One of the best engineers that I ever had the privilege of working  with was actually a PHD physicist.  His physics background was so helpful in understanding the lower level reasons (and theoretical limits) of electronics, especially as it applied to the life sciences application we were working with (pressures, fluidics, light, etc.).

  • in reply to dougw

    Douglas,

     

    I thought Chemistry was a sub-set of physics!

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to genebren

    Hi Gene,

     

    Agreed, there are a lot of overlap, but there are also very keen differences.

    It all depends upon what type of analog circuit you are dealing with and what parameters are involved.

     

    In my experience with advanced aerospace projects, you need very good specialist in both areas to make the project work.

     

    DAB

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  • in reply to genebren

    Hi Gene,

     

    Agreed, there are a lot of overlap, but there are also very keen differences.

    It all depends upon what type of analog circuit you are dealing with and what parameters are involved.

     

    In my experience with advanced aerospace projects, you need very good specialist in both areas to make the project work.

     

    DAB

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