Interfacing solid state sensors with digital systems

The problems associated with the use of solid state sensors in digital systems are reviewed and some solutions are offered which are intended to aid progress towards a methodology for the design and development of 'intelligent' sensor subsystems. The combination of silicon-based sensors with on-chip electronics, together with the processing power of modern microprocessors, offers great improvements in techniques of compensation, signal processing and data communications. As a result radical changes in the exploitation of sensing mechanisms are forecast.