This special issue of Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing (ALOG) includes the extended version of a selective number of papers that were originally presented at the past editions of the IEEE International NEWCAS conference, held in Grenoble (France) on June 07–10, 2015 and in Trois-Rivières (Québec) on June 22–25, 2014. Since its birth, this IEEE International NEWCAS conference has consistently grown to become a major venue where highly innovative circuit and system design techniques have been presented for the first time. The conference covers a wide variety of subjects including analog and RF circuit design, digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits, computer architecture, signal processing, sensors, encompassing a broad range of applications such as telecommunications, imaging and vision, safety, energy, and biomedical.

In the 2015 NEWCAS edition, the submissions reached the record number of 321 from 45 countries from all over the world. Based on a reviewing process with 3.4 average reviewers per paper, 140 contributions were accepted for presentation with a 43.6 % acceptance rate. This score fits well the general trend of high and yet increasing quality of the conference. This accomplishment is the results of a collective effort supported by the Technical Program Chairs, Dr. Shahriar Mirabbasi, Dr. Yannis Le Guennec, and Dr. Sylvain Bourdel, and inspired by the vision of the NEWCAS 2015 General Chairs, Dr. Dominique Morche and Dr. Mohamad Sawan.

Papers of NEWCAS 2014 edition, held in Trois-Rivières (Canada) have also been included in this Special Issue. The conference, chaired by Dr. Daniel Massicotte and Dr. Mohamad Sawan, has been also a great success.

The 12 selected papers included in this special issue address various challenges that are within the scope of NEWCAS, as listed below:

  1. (1)

    2 papers

Analog and RF circuit design: RF and MMW power amplifier design.

  1. (2)

    2 papers

Power management: Analog processing for power networks and voltage references.

  1. (3)

    3 papers

Biomedical: Ultra low power programmable filter, transmitting circuits for CMUTs and resonant converter.

  1. (4)

    3 papers

Microsystems, imaging and sensors: Single-photon avalanche diode, Rogowski coil current transducer, direct light to time converter.

  1. (5)

    2 papers

Digital circuits: Approximate adder synthesis for FIR filters and subsampled adaptive predistortion algorithm.

We would like to thank the authors for their scientific contributions, and the numerous reviewers for their constructive evaluations. We would also like to express our appreciation for the continuous and tireless support of the Springer personnel. At last, we are grateful to Professor Mohammed Ismail for giving us the opportunity to lead this special issue.

In the end, this special issue was made possible by the personal contribution of many people. We take the opportunity offered by this Editorial to thank each and all of them.