Recent Development in Analog Computation - A Brief Overview

The recent development in analog computation is reviewed in this paper. Analog computation was used in many applications where power and energy efficiency is of paramount importance. It is shown that by using innovative architecture and circuit design, analog computation systems can achieve much higher energy efficiency than their digital counterparts, as they are able to exploit the computational power inherent to the devices and physics. However, these systems do suffer from some disadvantages, such as lower accuracy and speed, and designers have come up with novel approaches to overcome them. The paper provides an overview of analog computation systems, from basic components such as memory and arithmetic elements, to architecture and system design.