Analog & Mixed-Signal Design — Prerequisites
What to Know Before Starting This Guide
This guide branches off from Digital Logic & Design Fundamentals directly (not through HDL/RTL/Verification/Physical Design) into circuits that process continuous voltages — the prerequisites are that one technology's foundation, not the digital-design chain that follows it.
Required (Must Have)
1. Digital Logic & Design Fundamentals, Completed
•Boolean 0/1 thinking and binary number systems — Overview's ADC/DAC section reuses binary number representation directly, mapping a continuous voltage to exactly the kind of N-bit binary code Digital Logic Fundamentals introduced
•No further digital-track technologies (HDL, RTL Design, Functional Verification, Physical Design) are required — Overview is explicit that this track "doesn't build on any of that"
2. Basic Algebra
•Rearranging Vout = -(Rf/Rin) × Vin (or the non-inverting equivalent) to solve for a different variable — Overview's op-amp gain equations are simple ratio algebra, not calculus
3. Basic Electrical Concepts (Voltage, Resistance)
•Comfort with Ohm's-law-level circuit concepts (voltage, resistance, current) — Overview's op-amp examples assume this baseline; if it's unfamiliar, a quick review of basic circuit theory before starting will make the op-amp gain equations land faster
Nice to Have (Speeds Up Learning)
Basic Signal Concepts (Continuous vs. Discrete)
Overview's dimmer-switch-vs-light-switch analogy introduces continuous vs. discrete signals from scratch, but any prior exposure to the concept (from a signals/systems course, or general electronics hobbyist experience) speeds this up.
Any Programming/Scripting Experience
Installation sets up a Python-based op-amp gain calculator and introduces ngspice, a real circuit simulator — prior scripting experience helps with the Python portion.
What You Do NOT Need
•Prior op-amp, filter, or analog circuit design experience — this guide introduces op-amp configurations and ADC/DAC concepts from zero
•Prior HDL or digital-design-tool experience — this track is deliberately independent of that chain, as Overview explains
•Access to a licensed commercial SPICE tool — Installation uses ngspice, a free, actively maintained, open-source SPICE simulator
Time Estimate
If you have the prerequisites above:
•Overview + Fundamentals: 1-2 days
•Intermediate + Advanced: 2-3 days
•Interview-ready (comfortable computing op-amp gain for both configurations and explaining quantization error in ADC/DAC conversion): 4-5 days
Start Here
Go to the Installation section to set up a Python op-amp gain calculator and ngspice, then work through Overview's inverting and non-inverting gain examples yourself rather than only reading them.
