Exclusive analog design research center to be launched in Dallas

With the joint collaboration effort by US academia, government and industry a new analog and mixed-signal design research center will take birth in Dallas, Texas State of US. The partners include Semiconductor Research Corporation, State of Texas, Texas Instruments, The University of Texas at Dallas and University of Texas System

This project with a total funding of 16 million USD is mainly driven by Texas Instruments, the analog IC leader from Texas State of USA.

The research center will work on leading-edge analog technology for both traditional electronics and emerging applications. With so much attention to digital electronics, analog electronics was thought of as not so career boosting domain. Asthe Moore's law finding less relevance, digital is no more a better area compared to analog. In reality it's no more just analog or digital, but its -- mixed signal, otherwise termed as System on Chip (SoC).

Recent growth in global semiconductor sales reflects a continual increase in demand for electronics enabled by analog and mixed-signal chips. Examples include wired and wireless communications where weak digital signals are recovered by special analog circuits, automotive and robotic uses for control circuits, medical electronics that gather sensor inputs for patient monitoring, diagnostics and therapy, and a broad range of other consumer applications where a human interface and energy efficiency are critical. These capabilities will also be vital for growing public safety applications, such as more sophisticated identity cards and security sensor networks.

"Analog design research is highly complex and the need for this skill set is growing Worldwide," said Gregg Lowe, senior vice president for TI's Analog business unit. He adds, "The majority of electrical engineering students specialize in digital electronics. But as the use of digital grows, the need for analog grows at several times that rate since analog is the interface between digital and the outside world. So analog engineers are in great demand, plus many engineers find analog more rewarding to work with than digital. And TxACE will help us convey the excitement of analog technology to students."