Next-generation power-aware design

摘要

Reducing power is still the main interest in the recent integrated circuit designs. Some of the new low-power design approaches are covered in this talk. Three-dimensional stacking of chips is an effective way to reduce power by decreasing inter-chip communication energy. A low-power yet low-cost interconnection method among stacked chips is wireless communication by L-coupling and C-coupling. The recent advances in these proximity communication approaches are discussed. The other effective approach for achieving low power is to explore operations under ultra-low supply voltage. The effect of variation in the ultra-low operating supply voltage regime is discussed with measurement results. Other point of interest for power-aware systems is the source of energy. The limited access to the power source has been a limiter for the ubiquitous electronics to fly. Wireless transmission of power will offer new application scenes for ubiquitous electronics. The talk also covers an interesting yet exotic integrated circuit made of organic transistors and MEMS switches which acts as a wireless power transmission sheet and may provide a solution to last-meter problem of energy-net.