Explosive growth in intelligent embedded systems, which are being deployed everywhere in a cloud-connected IoT-driven smart ecosystem, has no doubt had a significant impact worldwide. The latest and most powerful microcontrollers and processors empower these sophisticated solutions, driven by powerful software that’s now becoming synthetically aware. However, without the input about the world around them and the applications they address, they’re next to useless.
To provide the data required by an intelligent electronic system for it to operate, sensors of every type are deployed to distribute the information about its environment and task at hand. These sensors are paired with analog front-ends (AFEs), signal conditioners that typically combine operational amplifiers and filters to improve input signals from sources such as sensors or antennas. Though the digital world may be run on binary digits, it needs to derive information from, and apply actions to, the real analog world to function.
Creating, choosing, and using AFEs and sensor applications can be challenging, depending on a designer's background and expertise. Electronic Design's Sensors and AFEs Week looks at the issues from different perspectives from designers of embedded applications that need analog support, to those offering analog solutions for others to utilize.
