The International Centre for System for System-on-Chip and Advanced Microwireless Integration

was officially launched by

Queen's Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson on Wednesday 9th March 2005. 

Press Release

Queen's International Centre for System-on-Chip and Advanced Microwireless (SoCaM) launched

A new £5.4 million world-leading research centre will be launched at Queen's University today (Wednesday) by Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson.

The International Centre for System-on-Chip and Advanced Microwireless (SoCaM) will develop high performance wireless orientated communication chips for use in advanced mobile applications such as phones, video streaming and vehicular sensors.

The Centre's research programme brings together experts from across the Faculty of Engineering who will develop entire electronic systems based on a single silicon microchip.

Driven by a demand for increased functionality, miniaturisation and efficiency, the Centre will integrate previously separate technologies to design and create the systems of the future which will, beyond doubt, engender new products and industries.

The new research centre represents the first major project to be secured by Queen’s Institute for Electronics Communications and Information Technology (ECIT). Based in the Northern Ireland Science Park, the purpose-built £40 million centre will open later this year.

SoCaM is funded through a public-private partnership under the SPUR initiative (Support Programme for University Research) and has already attracted a host of talented researchers from a number of countries. They are among more than 30 experts in high frequency electronics, microelectronics, DSP architectures and computer science who are working on a number of issues critical to the development of future highly complex electronic integrated circuits. 

These include sophisticated video processing and cryptography hardware, ultra high-speed data processing and advanced packaging of devices.

Further significant aspects of SoCaM’s programme include the modelling of signal propagation in semiconductor materials and the creation of novel electronic devices which rely on the creation of new materials with properties that do not occur naturally.  Known as metamaterials, these could eventually permit the advanced control of signal flow in the next generation of high performance integrated circuits.

Already the work of the Centre has produced a number of important breakthroughs. Late last year, Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow Dr Maire McLoone - a SoCaM lecturer – won a national prize in the Set for Britain Younger Engineers competition for her work in the area of cryptographic algorithms. SoCaM has also been credited with the creation of technology which has resulted in the development of the world’s highest performance spatial filter for use in advanced space borne pollution monitoring equipment. 

Speaking at today's SoCaM launch, Queen’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson said:  "As a major interdisciplinary project which has already attracted leading researchers from around the world, the Centre will contribute to major advances in a number of areas which are strategically important to the development of future high performance electronic chips."

Professor Vincent Fusco, SoCaM Director said: "This is an exciting innovative initiative which will contribute significantly to Queen’s capability to conduct world-leading research in the electronics field.  This in turn strengthens Northern Ireland’s position in attracting high-technology inward investment and enables Queen’s to continue to supply industry and business with highly qualified graduates and technical expertise.

"We are particularly excited by the fact that aside from providing a platform for world leading research, the Centre will also generate a substantial amount of new intellectual property which will undoubtedly produce both new products and new companies," added Professor Fusco.

Notes to editors:

SPUR 2, administered by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), is a 50-50 partnership between the Government and the private sector. The private sector component comes from Atlantic Philanthropies, an American organisation that supports regional development worldwide.

About ECIT

Announced in 2003, the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (www.ecit.qub.ac.uk) will open officially in summer 2005.

With a unique focus on blue skies, strategic and industrial research projects, it brings together, in one building, internationally renowned research groups from Queen's University, Belfast specialising in key areas of advanced digital and communications technology.

The Institute extends the significant links Queen's has already developed with major industrial partners and research centres throughout the world. It also provides hot-housing and incubation facilities to encourage and support the establishment and development of new companies.   

For further information, please visit www.ecit.qub.ac.uk/SoCaM/ or contact:

Professor Vincent Fusco, director of SoCaM, (028) 901806 or

Communications Office, Queen's University, (028) 9097 5384

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Director of SoCaM, Professor Vincent Fusco's opening address

Introduction

Over the past two decades there have been remarkable advances in the field of electronics, fuelled by intensive and innovative research.  This has led to the creation of major new industries and new products, many of which were unforeseen, even a relatively short time before.  One example is computer technology, which has seen rapid migration from mainframe to mini to personal and now laptop computers.   Another is communications systems, which have developed rapidly from fully analog fixed networks to digital broadband and digital wireless systems such as the now ubiquitous mobile phone.

Despite these there continues to be insatiable and, if anything, greater demand for further innovation, for increased functionality, miniaturisation, and power reduction. Examples include wirelessly connected personal computers, multi-stream digital TV and set-top boxes, integrated digital televisions, wirelessly connected PDAs, 3G and 4G cell phones with the ability to allow rapid download and viewing of television or video signals while on the move.

Another important aspect is the interconnection of these devices with domestic electronic systems such as digital video recorders or home security systems, through so called ‘Home Gateways’.

The creation of these future electronic systems increasingly demands the integration of what were previously disparate technologies.  These include wireless (RF) technology, digital signal processing (DSP), silicon digital design, embedded software and systems and novel silicon fabrication techniques. Pressure, lead by the ever increasing demands of the consumer electronic industry is militating not only a major requirement for new research in each of these specific areas, but also important innovations are required in the integration and cross coupling of these technologies at integrated circuit level.

The opportunities and technical challenges required are, in part, a consequence of the new era of System-on-chip (SoC).  SoC reflects the continuing advances in silicon fabrication technology.  For example, it is predicted that by 2006 it will be possible to integrate digital logic circuits containing one billion transistors on the same device.  Complex electronic systems that not so long ago were built using individual semiconductor components (e.g. microprocessors with individual memory, input and output devices, etc) can now increasingly be fabricated as SoC devices.  However, these advances bring with them very demanding research challenges in terms of new architectures and design methods at both the digital and analog levels, as well as at the system integration level.  This also motivates important new research in methods for the fabrication and integration of wireless and digital circuitry on a single integrated device.  The fabrication of such highly functional devices on a single integrated circuit have conventionally been regarded as something extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve. 

The purpose of The International Centre for Research on System-on-Chip and Advanced MicroWireless Integration - SoCaM is to establish at Queen’s University a unified world-class research facility - specialising in investigation of core technology advances that are fundamental to future generations of integrated electronic systems on a single chip.

This new interdisciplinary research centre brings together the internationally recognised expertise that exists within three major research groupings in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering – DSP Systems-on–Chip lead by Professor John McCanny FRS, High Frequency Electronics lead by myself and Silicon Microelectronics Technology lead by Professor Harold Gamble as well as expertise in embedded systems from the School of Computer Science lead by Professor Danny Crooks

An important function of SoCaM is that it unifies these areas of expertise in a coherent and holistic manner in order to allow basic generic research in the design and integration of complex micro-integrated electronic systems.  This will be achieved by developing new knowledge, methods and techniques that are essential for the creation of future generation of ultra miniaturised and highly integrated electronic systems. 

The research we are conducting within SoCaM is fundamental too much of the future electronics industry.  Within SoCaM we are seeking to challenge conventional thinking and to produce significant and disruptive changes to the ways in which future generations of electronic systems are designed and fabricated.

SoCaM involves a very strong team of high calibre academics each of whom has an impressive track record in their respective fields.  The centre which is housed in the Northern Ireland Science Park in the new Queen’s ECIT Research Institute has as its objectives very exciting ambitious, but we believe, achievable goals which hold the potential to produce a number of very important breakthroughs that could fundamentally change the way that future generation of electronic systems and integrated circuits are designed and fabricated.

The work within SoCaM significantly enhances Queen’s University’s already very strong international reputation for research in electronics, and has, and will continue to allow us to attract new, top-quality academic staff and first-class Post-Doctoral and PhD researchers, thereby allowing us to achieve critical mass and co-ordinated activity in complementary research areas.

This new research facility has as its objectives the following:

International recognition as a world leading research centre – specialising in the design and fabrication of future generations of complex integrated electronic systems including digital, analog and wireless aspects.   The research undertaken is focused on advanced topics pertinent to future mainstream areas of electronics technology as evidenced by the recent House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology report – ‘Chips for Everything’ as well as industry roadmaps.  And is targeted at key growth areas such as wireless broadband communications, integrated digital TV, personal/wireless communications systems and home-gateways.  A key challenge will be to create the architectures, design and fabrication methods that will ultimately allow the integration of complex digital and analog systems on a single integrated circuit, so that we can for example develop wireless based systems not currently achievable – such a system might be a wireless based personal assistant which is a thin as a credit card and that requires charging only once every six months.  Another might be an ultra-wide band wireless sensor which could be used to estimate mass, a critical but as yet unachievable objective for use in pro-active airbag deployment, the possibilities are endless.

We also wish to attract and create long term career opportunities for top quality academics, research staff and PhD students and to future proof our already excellent laboratory infrastructure in order to create sufficient critical mass which is essential if we are to expand and reinforce existing research strengths as well as to develop new areas. 

Already we have made 20 new high quality appointments and we wish to make a further 3 in the near future.  The total number of people in the centre currently stands at 35.  These people are now playing a major role in the execution of high quality research and in the mentoring and training of a new generation of world-class researchers – in the key research areas of fundamental importance to QUB Northern Ireland and the UK. In addition we have initiated a visiting professor scheme through which each year we will host up to 4 major world leading technical experts in areas of technology relevant to SoCaM.  An international advisory board consisting of major figures from the academic and industrial communities has already been appointed and has met.

In addition to the strengthening of existing and the creation of new links with major research centres worldwide, exchange of researchers is of paramount importance. 

Since October 2003 the centre has added significantly to the university’s research output in terms of producing over 50 top quality research publications and generating additional research revenue in excess of £1M.  The work of the centre has already lead to a major breakthrough in advanced filters for space borne pollution monitoring equipment where we have produced the worlds lowest loss device as well as to a major national prize in the area of data encryption to Dr Maire McLoone a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow and SoCaM appointed lecturer.

In conclusion

The International Centre for Research on System-on-Chip and Advanced Microwireless Integration (SoCaM) represents a significant commitment on behalf of Queen’s University and its staff to make an impact of major strategic importance on the international research and industrial communities in terms of its ability to deliver novel innovations and intellectual property in the critical area of advanced electronic systems integration.

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