Key Terms

To use the glossary, click below on the first letter of the term you are interested in or scroll down this page.

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 ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit; a custom device, designed for a specific customer and specification, normally digital, but sometimes including analog or mixed-signal circuits.
 ASSP: Application Specific Standard Product; a catalog part that anyone can purchase, but whose performance and characteristics are targeted for a specific application. Our chip for digital microphones is an ASSP - while it is designed specifically for miniature audio microphones, it is available for any customer requiring similar ultra low-power analog-to-digital conversion capabilities.
 CODEC: CODer/DECoder; normally a circuit that encodes an incoming signal into some other form, passes it on for further processing (by a DSP, for example), then accepts a return signal to apply the complementary decoding to produce a processed version of the original signal.
 DSP: Digital Signal Processor; a circuit or system that is specifically designed to process signals that are represented in the digital domain. Normally preceded by an A/D converter, and followed by a D/A converter (form of CODEC).
 MAC (Media Access Controller): A device that handles the lower sub-layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) data link layer. The interface between a node's Logical Link Control and the network's physical layer. The MAC differs for various physical media.
 MICS: The Medical Implant Communications Service (MICS) is an ultra-low power, unlicensed, mobile radio service for transmitting data in diagnostic or therapeutic applications associated with implanted medical devices. MICS permits individuals and medical practitioners to utilize ultra-low power medical implant devices, such as cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, without causing interference to other users of the electromagnetic radio spectrum. 
 Mixed-Signal: The integration of analog and digital circuits or functions into one device or system.
 Reed-Solomon encoding, FEC (Forward Error Correction): A commonly used error correction encoding/decoding scheme for the purpose of reducing the bit error rate of data transmitted over a serial bit stream.
 Sigma-Delta Modulator: A circuit that converts an analog signal (or a high resolution digital signal) into a pulse-density modulated (PDM) digital data stream. Such a circuit performs what is known as "noise-shaping" in order to reduce the in-band quantization noise and obtain higher resolution than traditional analog-to-digital (or digital-to-analog) conversion. A Sigma-Delta modulator is usually associated with a decimation filter that converts the PDM data stream into n-bit words to form a complete ADC or an interpolation filter and low-pass filter to form a DAC. Sigma-Delta based ADCs and DACs are found in many applications requiring high-resolution data conversion like in audio, imaging and instrumentation.
 SoC:  "System on a Chip" The highest level of integration of an integrated circuit, where a single device performs the complete function of a system. 
 Standard Product: A common catalog part that anyone can purchase, but whose performance and characteristics are tailored for general-purpose applications. 

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