The number of high frequency mixed-signal/RF SoC designs is exploding because of the demand for smaller, lighter and lower-power products. The supply of designers is failing to keep pace with the demand. The resulting productivity crisis in analog/mixed signal design is further exacerbated by the lack of adequate design tools and analog/mixed-signal design reuse.

We will address the lack of design reuse by developing a comprehensive soft IP library for analog/mixed signal design. This library will enable significant reuse by supporting both technology migration and design retargeting.

Leverage the commercial analog synthesis technology developed by Neolinear to develop a soft analog cell IP library that will have independent technology and thereby enable automatic technology migration. The circuits in the library will have configurable specifications, enabling retargeting of the library to different applications, resulting in an IP library that enables an order of magnitude reduction in the time needed to design the AMS portion of an SoC design.

SiGe is emerging as a contender for high-speed analog/mixed signal RF and opto-electronic systems. The ability to integrate the proven high-speed circuit SiGe circuits with opto-electronic systems provides a logical solution to the problems of next generation telecommunication and networking applications. However, no widely available design methodology or design tools are available which can handle these kinds of designs.

We will also investigate the practicality of using SiGe based PIN photodiodes and SiGe HBT Phototransistors as mixed signal design tools for optimization of circuits based on SiGe BiCMOS devices. Also investigate the use of NeoLinear's NeoCircuit/NeoCell mixed design tools for optimization of circuits based on SiGe BiCMOS devices. This investigation is motivated by the availability of prototyping services for IBM revolutionary BlueLogic SiGe process provided by MOSIS.

This program will use the SiGe BiCMOS processes in the application to high-speed optoelectronics, specifically using the IBM BlueLogic SiGe process in the design and fabrication of several photodetector structures as well as high-speed receiver circuits designed with the NeoLinear toolset.

A significant challenge in multi-point video conferencing, where the H.263 standard is used, is the real-time compositing of one video stream from two or more incoming video streams. Latency caused by decompressing and compressing, or additional processing needs to be minimized. The focus of the proposed research is to develop new techniques that comply with the "compressed-input compressed output" optimal approach and reduce computational complexity.

This project will develop algorithmic solutions for compositing using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain exclusively.

Theoretical and algorithmic development will be considered in the areas of: the DCT transcoder, the inverse motion compensation in the DCT domain, the DCT compositing, the DCT motion estimation, and the re-quantization transcoding.

The first generation of multi-input, multi-output channels were narrowband systems, intended to operate only for frequency flat fading channels. Recognizing that the wireless channels-outdoors mobile in particular-frequently exhibit severe frequency-selective behavior due to significant multi-path propagation delays, we plan to employ explicit counter frequency-selective measures. We will reduce the increased order of complexity by employing our new technique of probabilistic signal separation, iterative decoding/equalization by set partitioning and threshold detection to provide new capabilities to the modem.

This project will research and develop a digital signal processing, coding and decoding technology which will enable the design of a highly spectrum-efficient and extremely robust wireless modem that will operate in harsh channel environments. The proposed system design will continuously support a robust communication link - one having a low bit error rate or a low outage rate -throughout a session. The system will be designed to be spectrum-efficient so that the throughput of the link, in bits/secs/Hz is maximized.

We plan to employ equalizers explicitly and propose to develop block turbo-iterative joint equalization/decoding receivers, which will exploit the space-time-frequency diversity and require moderate signal processing power.

The use of resonant frequency devices has become commonplace in many electronic and electromechanical applications. Due to a variety of fabrication issues, however, the prescribed frequency is difficult to achieve in a final mechanical resonator device. In addition, it is extremely difficult to alter the frequency in real time for some applications. Our novel MEMS-based device can serve as a frequency reference that can be adjusted using passive electrical elements, and which can be switched in real time to a finite number of distinct frequencies over a range of up to 20% of the nominal frequency with current technology.

We will develop and demonstrate piezoelectric MEMS methodologies and devices for a SoC environment to be used as precise frequency references and potential multiple frequency sources. Develop a new design flow with which to create optimized integrated MEMS SoC hardware such as our proposed frequency control technology.

This project will develop a new resonator methodology that uses piezoelectric materials to allow for electronic alteration of the mechanical resonance frequency of the device. The attractive features of piezoelectric materials include large achievable output forces, short response times, a high sensitivity and a low noise level.

This project will develop a remotely powered and controlled, self-contained, single-chip SoC device for remote sensing and Radio Frequency Identification containing an integrated antenna and fabricated RF analog elements and CMOS circuits designed and tested in previous research.

The objectives of this project are to design, analyze, and fabricate the antenna and detector structure of the conversion of the RF energy into a DC voltage with the highest level of power that can be obtained at this time. We plan to design communications capability for the SoC through the integration of the various elements that have been previously developed, providing a stand alone SoC with communication capability on a single die. Achieve a range of 10+ meters for a commercial version from a base station with up to 4 watts of power providing the energy to power an SoC capable of transmitting data and receiving control information and data.

The technical components in this project include: the energy harvesting antenna, communications antenna, low noise amplifier, detector, digital function, and LC oscillator.

Cognitive load - the amount of information a user is required to manage at a given time - has long been a key factor in determining usability of any user interface. As computers are used for increasingly complex tasks, minimizing cognitive load has become a primary requirement for interface designers. This project will develop displays that convey information through non-visual channels in order to ease computing users' cognitive loads.

The objectives of this project are to develop a tactile display that stimulates the skin to convey meaningful information and also develop an audio display that allows the user to simultaneously interact with a variety of applications through sound.

Prior research has developed prototypes for audio and tactile displays that will be deployed on a portable or wearable computer.