Green chips for your laptop?

Today Online 16 Dec 09;

SINGAPORE - Soon, you could own an ultra-low-power or even self-powered laptop, PDA or mobile phone.

Such devices are made possible by cutting-edge technologies that help optimise energy use in everything from electronic devices to space shuttles. Capitalising on such technologies will be the new $50 million integrated circuit (IC) research design centre launched yesterday.

Called Virtus - Latin for excellence - it aims to be a "world class" design house focusing on ultra-low-power green microchips and circuits for applications in medical technology, clean technology and consumer electronics.

The centre is jointly funded by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) and will collaborate with world-renowned universities, companies and research institutions.

One key partner is Agilent Technologies and it is contributing its industry-leading suite of simulation software worth some $28 million to Virtus.

The simulation software means the centre can speed up the process of commercialisation of ICs for use in areas such as mobile phones and space shuttles noted Mr Rob Young, general manager of Agilent Technologies Singapore.

Virtus is located at NTU and expected to be operational in the next quarter. It will boast a team of "at least 20 top notch scientists and researchers within the next five years", said NTU in its press release.

It also aims to train 100 postgraduate students and researchers within this period.

"Virtus research areas are well-aligned with the growth areas of green electronics and bioelectronics," said Mr Damian Chan, director of the Electronics Cluster Group at EDB.

With the global shortage of IC design engineers, Singapore wants to differentiate itself by building up capabilities in this area: There are some 1,100 design engineers specifically focusing on IC design here.

The setting up of Virtus signals "the need for Singapore to groom more locally based IC design houses to fuel and further foster the growth of the semiconductor ecosystem in Singapore", said Professor Kam Chan Hin, chair of NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

"(Its) establishment is of strategic national interest and promises potentially high economic yield".

No battery needed for chip thrills
New NTU lab to look for ways to tap energy from the environment instead
Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times 16 Dec 09;

CREATING computer chips that do away with batteries for their source of power is just one challenge that a new $50 million integrated chip design centre at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) wants to take on.

When it opens early next year, the 1,000 sq m Integrated Circuit Design Centre of Excellence will have 20 full-time scientists researching new ways to harvest energy from the environment.

Their research could yield a new generation of self-sustaining electronic devices, like mobile phones that draw power from radio waves around them and surgical implants that never have to be replaced, within the next five to 10 years, said Professor Yeo Kiat Seng, the centre's interim director.

Unlike digital chips that can differentiate only between on and off signals, analog chips can process variable signals like temperature and electrical currents.

Because of this, analog power management chips that ensure other chips in an electronic device get an uninterrupted supply of electrical power to perform without hiccups are key to reducing a device's power consumption, said Prof Yeo.

But an analog chip's impact extends far beyond its contribution to a greener world, said Economic Development Board director for electronics Damian Chan, guest of honour for the launch event at Suntec convention centre yesterday.

He said: 'As how we experience the world through sound and sight is analog in nature, analog integrated chips essentially serve as the windows...of digital devices to the external world. Despite the trend towards digitisation, analog integrated chips remain critical and increasingly so.'

Apart from having its own researchers, NTU - ranked the world's No. 16 in the field of integrated chip design by the Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers - has also inked deals with other research and development centres like the Technical University of Munich as well as industry partners like German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies, said Prof Yeo.

Yesterday, it firmed ties with American instrumentation giant Agilent Technologies, which is donating a $28 million chip design simulation suite to the centre. The simulation suite, Agilent's biggest donation to any educational institution here to date, will allow the centre's staff to test the viability of chips virtually, instead of having to produce actual physical prototypes, said Agilent's general manager for Singapore Rob Young.

The electronics sector is a key component of Singapore's economy, contributing $14 billion or 5.7 per cent of the Republic's gross domestic product last year. It provides employment to 92,000 workers, including 1,100 integrated design engineers.

The Government announced last week that it is investing in four key growth

areas for Singapore's electronics sector, one being green electronics.

Efforts include convincing industry players like STMicroelectronics to invest additional resources in the sector, and making sure Singapore has a good supply of technical experts - like the 50 postgraduate students the centre will produce over the next five years - so that firms keen to invest will have a ready pool of manpower to staff their facilities.

New S$50m centre to focus on developing green microchips
Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia 15 Dec 09;

SINGAPORE: A new integrated circuit design research centre has been launched to position Singapore for new growth areas in the electronics industry.

The S$50 million centre aims to be a world-class integrated circuit design house.

It will focus on ultra low power green microchips and circuits used in laptops and mobile phones. They can also be used in medical technology and clean technology.

The centre, called VIRTUS, is jointly funded by the Nanyang Technological University and the Economic Development Board. It will be located at NTU and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2010.

VIRTUS will also collaborate with renowned universities, top research institutions and well-known companies for research and development in IC design and technology.

It also aims to train more than 100 postgraduate students and researchers in the next five years.

The project is in line with Singapore's plans to develop new growth areas in the electronics sector. These new growth segments are projected to triple their contribution to form about a third of Singapore's electronics output by 2020.

Damian Chan, director, Electronics, Singapore Economic Development Board, said: "IC design is a key enabling capability and an area to drive the growth of electronics and semi-conductor manufacturing and R&D in Singapore.

"It is also an important area to drive some of our new growth areas in electronics, especially bioelectronics and green electronics."

There are also many expected economic spinoffs from investing in these areas.

Professor Kam Chin Han, chair, School of Electrical & Electronic, Engineering, NTU, said: "IC design area is all about innovation because your design comes out, you get intellectual property, you commercialise it, you spin it off, and companies license it and they manufacture it. So it's a very big impact on the whole industry."

Separately, Agilent Technologies will also contribute simulation software worth some S$28 million to VIRTUS, under a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday with NTU. - CNA/vm