Low-power analog signal processing

The reduction of the power consumption of all electronic functions is a continuous endeavor. This endeavor requires judicious comparison of analog and digital realizations from the point of view of performance per unit of power consumed. Analog signal processing offers the advantage that power consumption can be minimized at both very low and very high frequencies. This short course explores the limits in reduction of power consumption for important analog blocks. The first presentation defines the physical limits of supply voltages and power consumption based on present-day technologies and transistor models. The second presentation addresses the limits of amplifiers and filters. For all circuit blocks, figures of merit are derived, followed by circuit techniques to improve them. In the third presentation, new opportunities are identified to reduce the power consumption in all types of analog-to-digital converters, with emphasis on the improvement of the FOM with technology. Finally, in the fourth presentation, power minimization techniques are discussed for power management blocks such as dc-dc converters.