MIT researchers build Quad HD TV chip
A new video standard enables a fourfold increase in the resolution of TV screens, and an MIT chip was the first to handle it in real time. Read more
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Terminal 2020Multimedia applications, such as video playback, computational photography and speech processing, are becoming increasingly pervasive on battery-operated portable multimedia devices such as smartphones and tablets. High computational complexity of such applications requires efficient hardware implementations for real-time energy-efficient processing. The Terminal 2020 project explores power reduction techniques at various design stages (algorithms, architectures and circuits) to enable efficient integration of such applications on portable devices. Research TeamNathan Ickes, Chiraag Juvekar, Michael Price, Priyanka Raina, Rahul Rithe, Patricia Suriana, Mehul Tikekar |
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Platforms for ultra-low power biomedical electronicsThis group works on a diverse range of biomedical systems where the potential exists for dramatically reduced energy consumption or breakthrough applications of electronic integrated circuits. A number of areas are currently under exploration including energy-efficient ultrasound ICs, wireless transceivers, wireless power transfer, ECG acquisition circuits, and bacterial-CMOS interfaces. The design is informed by the biomedical scenario and begins by understanding the fundamental system-level tradeoffs between energy consumption and system parameters such as up-time, sampling frequency, and signal-to-noise. The next phase is the development of new integrated circuit architectures and techniques that leverage these tradeoffs dynamically as the available energy and desired performance changes. Research TeamKailiang Chen, Nachiket Desai, Sungjae Ha, Rui Jin, Bonnie Lam, Sunghyuk Lee, Phillip Nadeau, Marcus Yip |
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Self-Powered Wireless SensorsSensing, data processing, and communication are essential functions of a useful sensor node, whether used in industrial, health or sports monitoring applications. Long battery lifetimes are required for these sensors, and the small size requirements imply small energy storage/harvesting capability. This project aims to achieve energy self-sufficiency through system level optimizations including energy harvesting and processing circuits, sensor interfaces and ADCs, RF transmitters and wireless protocol design. Research TeamGeorgios Angelopoulos, Dina El-Damak, Nathan Ickes, Samuel Jacobs, Arun Paidimarri, Frank Yaul |
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Energy efficient and energy processing circuitsThe focus in this area is design techniques and architecture-level solutions to achieve energy-efficient systems and circuits. We also focus on efficient energy processing systems. The broad scope of the group covers ultra-low-power memories, many-core energy-aware processors, 3D-IC integration, interconnects, wireless circuits, integrated switched capacitor power converters, energy-processing and characterization of GaN devices for power converters. Research TeamSaurav Bandyopadhyay, Avishek Biswas, Sushmit Goswami, Sunghyun Park, Yildiz Sinangil, Evangelos Taratoris, Gilad Yahalom, Theresa Yeh, DongNi Zhang |
The MIT Sub-Threshold Circuits Group explores energy-efficient techniques that take advantage of sub-threshold operation. The group's work span different levels of abstraction, from analyzing the optimal energy point of a given system, modeling energy characteristics of sub-threshold circuits, to developing circuit styles for logic and memory elements that operate at ultra-low voltages. Current projects involve sub-threshold circuit design and techniques to mitigate the effects of variations.
The MIT Ultra-Wideband group addresses a wide range of circuit and system issues related to UWB communication including signaling schemes, channel models and channel estimation techniques, interferer detection and rejection techniques, architectural trade-offs, energy-efficient wideband circuit techniques, and antenna design. The group has developed and demonstrated a complete wireless communication link using impulse UWB signaling. The current research focuses on developing a highly energy efficient architecture and chipset for 500MHz channelized communication in the 3.1-10.6GHz band. A complete network testbed is being developed in collaboration with researchers in LIDS, RLE and CSAIL.
This group focuses on innovative energy-optimized solutions at all levels of the system hierarchy including: physical layer (e.g., tranceiver design), data link layer (packetization and encapsulation), medium access layer (multi-user communication with emphasis on scalability), network/transport layer (routing and aggregation schemes), session/presentation layer (real-time distributed OS), and application layer (innovative applications). The research investigates techniques to optimize for energy efficiency vertically across the protocol stack.
A new video standard enables a fourfold increase in the resolution of TV screens, and an MIT chip was the first to handle it in real time. Read more
Quick, efficient chip cleans up common flaws in amateur photographs. Read more
For the first time, researchers power an implantable electronic device using an electrical potential – a natural battery – deep in the inner ear. Read more
Researchers at MIT have taken a significant step toward battery-free monitoring systems – which could ultimately be used in biomedical devices, environmental sensors in remote locations and gauges in hard-to-reach spots, among other applications. Read more
MIT EECS Department Head is the 2013 recipient of the IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits. The citation for the award reads "For pioneering techniques in low-power digital and analog CMOS design." Read more
