Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Vol 14, No 6: December 2025

Analog artificial intelligence hardware for neural networks: design trends and considerations

S. Gorde, Kanchan (Unknown)
M. Sonavane, Sonali (Unknown)
Hutke, Sonal (Unknown)
Hutke, Ankush (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Dec 2025

Abstract

The increasing deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in real-time and edge applications intensified the demand for energy-efficient hardware capable of high-throughput processing. Conventional digital processors were constrained by sequential data processing, memory bandwidth limitations, and high-power consumption, making them suboptimal for edge-based AI. This review presented a comprehensive analysis of analog very-large-scale integration (VLSI) design approaches for neural network (NN) implementation focusing on circuit-level architectures including in-memory analog computing, current-mode circuits, switched-capacitor (SC) techniques, and operational transconductance amplifier (OTA)-based designs. Significant hardware design considerations such as process variation, crossbar scalability, precision–linearity trade-offs, and mixed-signal interface challenges were critically examined. Furthermore, training methodologies—spanning offline learning, circuit calibration, and programmability were discussed in the context of analog AI hardware. The review incorporated case studies, recent developments in edge deployment, and a comparative analysis of advanced analog VLSI chips. Key performance evaluation metrics such as accuracy, calibration overhead, noise robustness, and energy per inference, were also addressed. Circuit-level design aspects that impacted the performance, precision, and reliability of analog computing blocks were discussed. The paper concluded by identifying research gaps and future directions for the development of analog AI hardware suitable for real-world edge applications.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

EEI

Publisher

Subject

Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Description

Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (Buletin Teknik Elektro dan Informatika) ISSN: 2089-3191, e-ISSN: 2302-9285 is open to submission from scholars and experts in the wide areas of electrical, electronics, instrumentation, control, telecommunication and computer engineering from the ...