1
Overview
No exponential is forever ... but we can delay “forever”
1.1 Introduction
This chapter begins from the assertion that the advent of VLSI (very large scale integration) has enabled solutions to intractable engineering problems. Gordon Moore predicted in 1965 the rate of development of VLSI technology, and the industry has indeed been developing newer technologies riding on his predicted curve. This rapid advancement has led to new dimensions in the core subject of VLSI. The capability to place billions of transistors in a small silicon area has tested the creativity of engineers and scientists around the world. The subject of digital design for signal processing systems embraces these new challenges. VLSI has revolutionized the commercial market, with products regularly appearing with increasing computational power, improved battery life and reduced physical size.
This chapter discusses several applications. The focus of the book is on applications primarily in areas of signal processing, multimedia, digital communication, computer networks and data security. Some of the applications are shown in Figure 1.1.
Multimedia applications have had a dramatic impact on our lives. Multimedia access on hand held devices such as mobile phones and digital cameras is a direct consequence of this technology.
Another area of application is high-data-rate communication systems. These systems have enormous real-time computational requirements. A modern mobile phone, for ...
