In my life time I just expect to see more and more functions included on
chip, ie better performance A2D,EEprom,counters,comparators,FPGA,on
board crystal /resonator, serial buffering, larger RAM,ROM etc.

ASICS require major applications to justify the cost, usually this also
means a lot of cost cutting also by chopping redundant functions, these
get stuck in a limited range of product/s and so do not usually threaten
any other market.

regards,
graham.

Sean Breheny wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is straying quite a bit OT as I am wont to do, but here goes:
>
> It really seems to me that for many (at least) low power circuits, there is
> a real trend toward more and more integration and less and less board-level
> electronics, for obvious reasons. IF and WHEN do most of you feel that most
> devices will consist of just one or more ASICs connected together with
> almost no external components at all? Of course, I suppose that another
> possibility may be that FPGAs and reconfigurable analog chips (consisting
> of op-amp and switched cap filter arrays, or ADCs/DACs and a DSP processor)
> may perform this function, instead of complete ASICs.
>
> This has been a concern of mine for some time because I am fearful that
> hobbists may eventually be left out of the loop if manufacturers go totally
> ASIC for small-signal and digital applications and the production process
> for ASICs is still too expensive for hobbists to get involved in.
>
> Are my fears unfounded? I hope so.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sean