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A few years ago, I was approached by a new graduate, engineering applicant at the Embedded
Systems Conference (ESC), 2001 in San Francisco. When he found out that I was a manager,
he explained that he was looking for a job. He said he knew of Microchip Technology, Inc.
and wanted to work for them if he could. He immediately produced his resume. I gave him a
few more details about my role at Microchip. At the time, I managed the mixed signal/linear
applications group. My department’s roles were product definition, technical writing, cus
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tomer training, and traveling all over the world visiting customers. At the conclusion of this
“sales” pitch, he proudly told me that it sounded like a great job. I reemphasized that I was
in the Analog arm at Microchip. He obviously thought that he did his homework because he
told me that analog is dying and digital will eventually take over. Anyone who knew anything
about Microchip would agree! Wow, I had a live one.
I was there, doing my obligatory Microchip booth duty for the afternoon. There was a lot
of action on the floor, and the room was full of exhibits. The lights were on, the sound of
conversations were projecting across the room. The heating and cooling system was doing
a splendid job of keeping us comfortable. Exhibitors in the booths were (believe it or not)
demonstrating the operation of sensors, power devices, passive devices, RF products, and so
forth. There must have been several hundred booths, all of which were trying to promote their
engineering merchandise.
Figure 1.1: The Embedded
Systems Conference exhibit
hall in 2001 had hundreds
of booths, many of which
were already showing
signs of interest in analog
systems. This was done even
though the emphasis of the
conference was digital.
C H A P T E R
1
Bridging the Gap Between
Analog and Digital
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