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Astonishing progress in semiconductor devices, circuits, and manufacturing has prompted an unprecedented revolution in electronics. “Things” are getting smarter and more connected, with higher semiconductor content. Smart personal electronics, autonomous systems, and smart factories are prime examples.
These impressive developments are fueled by the power of exponentials: CMOS scaling, efficiency of semiconductor manufacturing, the bandwidth efficiency of communication systems, and total network capacity have all been doubling almost every two years! The sheer scaling of CMOS has dominated the challenges and promises of advanced IC design. Advanced digital-intensive designs count on denser, faster, and cheaper switches. Along the way, analog and RF designs have creatively embraced the challenge of implementing analog topologies on digitally-optimized processes.
The present slowdown of the CMOS scaling trend brings exciting opportunities for “multidimensional innovations” in circuits and systems: The continuing demand for higher performance, in many applications, will further tilt solutions toward creative system and circuit topologies. Many emerging complementary technologies such as MEMS-based sensors and timing references, III-V devices, high-performance SiGe devices, and silicon photonics, will not necessarily integrate with CMOS monolithically. However, they enable opportunities for system repartitioning and new circuit topologies in applications such as sensing, power, high voltage, high-performance RF, and precision timing.
CMOS is here to stay for the foreseeable future! It will simply coexist synergistically with emerging technologies. This talk will discuss opportunities in “multi-dimensional innovation” that will make the future of the field less predictable.....but even more interesting and exciting!”
Dr. Bahai is the Chief Technology Officer of Texas Instruments and the director of TI Corporate Research, Kilby Labs. He was previously the director of research labs and CTO of National Semiconductor. He also is a consulting professor at Stanford University and IEEE Fellow.
Previously, he was the technical manager of the communication and mixed-signal processing research group at Bell Laboratories until 1997and Professor-In-Residence at UC Berkeley. He later founded Algorex, a communication and acoustic IC and system company, which was acquired by National.
Ahmad co-invented the multi-carrier spread spectrum, which is being used in many modern communication systems. He has served as the associate editor of IEEE Comms journals and ISSCC technical committee.
He has more than 80 IEEE/IEE publications and 38 patents on systems and circuits. He received his MS degree from Imperial College, University of London and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.
