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It’s a must for analog technology. It’s not a joke.
I'd like to share my personal growth journey, especially focusing on how I improved my technical skills. I've been working on audio DAC/ADC, specifically sigma-delta DAC/ADC. In the audio field, DAC is more critical than ADC, so my focus has always been on DAC design. Currently, our DACs have a dynamic range exceeding 100 dB, with very low power consumption and a small area. This is a significant improvement over the company's previous 70 dB DACs. Not only did we surpass the performance, but we also drastically reduced the power and area, even outperforming well-known foreign IP suppliers.
When you buy an MP3 player, do you care more about playback or recording? That's why DAC is more important than ADC. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I feel passionate about what I do and want to share my experience. I used to dream of being a programmer during school, which turned out to be valuable for analog circuit design later. My major wasn't in computer science or microelectronics, and when I first joined the company, I knew little about bandgap reference design. I didn’t even understand AC/TRAN simulation or Miller compensation. Looking back now, I can't help but laugh at my past self.
When I first joined the project team, the supervisor was busy and didn’t involve me much. When the project hit a bottleneck, I felt useless. Then I was given a task: study Class-D amplifiers, which were quite popular then. I became an expert in this area after months of research. During that time, I studied Razavi and Gray’s books, searched for papers online, and read nearly 100 articles—most of which were not helpful. Finally, I found a good paper from TI, and started building and simulating the circuit.
Opportunity is crucial, but it's equally important to seize it. Life is full of such moments, and if you miss them, they won’t come again. I’ve been working for over three years now. The IP provider was ChipIdea, which is now acquired by MIPS. Class-D was hot a few years ago, but now it's less popular. Many people think Class-D isn't as good as Class-AB, but that's not true. With proper design, Class-D can achieve excellent performance, such as a 96dB dynamic range and low harmonic distortion. ADI’s AD1991 is a great example, but there's still room for better architecture with lower power consumption and shorter development cycles.
The key factors in circuit design are performance, power consumption, area, and development cycle. The architecture determines the trade-offs between these four. A solid foundation in simulation, understanding basic analog modules like current mirrors and OTAs, developing intuition through hands-on experience, accumulating engineering knowledge, and innovating based on problem-solving are all essential steps.
Initially, I struggled with Class-D because I couldn’t grasp the principle behind PWM waveforms. How could a square wave represent a sine wave with low distortion? I learned signal and system theory, which helped me understand noise shaping and improve my design approach. Books like "Delta-Sigma Data Converters" and "Understanding Delta Sigma Data Converters" were instrumental in my learning process.
Debugging real chips taught me the most. One issue involved a triangular wave output from a sigma-delta DAC. Using MATLAB, I modeled the system and eventually identified the root cause. It turned out to be a small mistake that required only a minor change. This experience boosted my confidence in both theory and practical application.
Investment in learning pays off. Even if progress seems slow, the long-term benefits are significant. Debugging can be frustrating, but persistence leads to breakthroughs. After resolving the issue, I redesigned the DAC, achieving high performance within tight deadlines.
In summary, my journey highlights the importance of curiosity, continuous learning, and perseverance. Whether it's mastering a specific technology or overcoming challenges, dedication and a willingness to explore new methods are key to success in analog design.