A CMOS general-purpose sampled-data analogue microprocessor

This paper presents a general-purpose sampled-data analogue processing element that essentially functions as an analogue microprocessor (A/spl mu/P). The A/spl mu/P executes software programs, in a way akin to a digital microprocessor, while nevertheless operating on analogue sampled data values. This enables the design of mixed-mode systems which retain the speed/area/power advantages of the analogue signal processing paradigm while being fully programmable, general-purpose systems. A proof-of-concept integrated circuit has been implemented in 0.8 /spl mu/m CMOS technology, using switched-current techniques. Experimental results and examples of the application of the A/spl mu/Ps in image processing are presented.