Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: IMEC
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 October 2002
Programme focuses on "smart
environments"
A new research programme aims to bridge the gap between microelectronics and complex system design and to exploit the most advanced components for low-cost, low-power multimode multimedia terminals.
To bridge the gap between microelectronics and complex system design and to exploit the most advanced components for the realisation of low-cost, low-power multimode multimedia terminals, IMEC has launched its new M4 programme IMEC has built up considerable expertise in critical competencies, resulting in research programmes on wireless communications, ambient multimedia, design technology, and reconfigurable systems
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Feb 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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"By strengthening our multidisciplinary approach through programmes such as M4, IMEC will develop key technologies to enable future multi-mode multimedia systems", stated Dr Rudy Lauwereins, Vice-President Design Technology for Integrated Information and Communications Systems.
"Only this convergent synergy is able to bring attractive solutions for the ever-more complex systems to be integrated at low cost and low power".
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The M4 programme will drive IMEC's research on flexible air interfaces, scalable multimedia systems, platform integration, and on appropriate design technologies.
Given the variety in geographical environment and terminals, there is no one ideal solution for the transmission scheme.
A flexible digital modem that can adapt to the link and QoS demands will be required.
The modem will be connected to a multimode radio.
For optimal spectral efficiency and power bookkeeping, advanced coding schemes (linking source and channel coding) and multiple antenna systems will be crucial.
An intelligent controller at the medium access control (MAC) layer should eventually link application to transmission in an optimal way.
In an ambient-multimedia environment, multimedia information can be consumed virtually everywhere, using a variety of heterogeneous networks and terminals.
Scalable multimedia encoding will be a key functionality that allows to create content only once and to adapt it on the fly to the network and terminal characteristics, using resource and QoS managers.
IMEC is targeting a 'system-in-a-package' (SiP) for the M4 terminal.
This SiP needs to incorporate a low-power consuming ('coarse'-grained) reconfigurable digital system and a reconfigurable ('software defined') radio (requiring advanced technological components such as RF-MEMS).
Increasing integration in mixed-signal chips will demand measures to minimise coupling of digital switching noise through the substrate to the analogue blocks.
The interconnect and leakage problems encountered in deep-submicron technologies, are considered up to the design level.
This new class of flexible systems requires an accurate and efficient design flow, demanding consistent methodologies both at design time and run time.
Design of the system will start with an executable specification of the complete system including the RF part, followed by transformation of the system to reduce the power consumption.
A power-efficient implementation can be obtained by applying data transfer and storage exploration, and task concurrency management.
Finally tradeoffs have to be made between technological parameters (such as leakage, interconnects) and the system needs to be integrated in silicon and the package.
For the run-time operation, the heterogeneous systems consisting of several processing units (hardware and software) require an operating system that guarantees QoS of the application.
This operating system will have to assign and schedule tasks and manage the HW/SW resources (reconfiguration) and QoS.
The M4 initiative is a strategic programme that will integrate IMEC's long-term research in several domains such as design methodologies, wireless applications, advanced components etc.
Current IMEC industrial affiliation programmes (IIAPs) will further align and evolve within the M4 context.
Currently, a detailed technical specification of the M4 programme is being developed and will be available shortly.
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