HKUST Students' Research Made Chip Olympics Again

Abstract

[evdate 2001-02-04] For release 12 February 2001

HKUST STUDENTS' RESEARCH MADE CHIP OLYMPICS AGAIN

Two PhD students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed novel techniques in the design and fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs) that could result in cheaper, smaller and more durable wireless devices such as pagers, mobile phones and MD players.

Vincent Cheung and Zhaofeng Zhang, both PhD candidates in HKUST's Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, presented their papers at the prestigious IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2001 (ISSCC or "Chip Olympics in San Francisco from 4-8 February.

This is the fourth time, and the third year running, Hong Kong students have been invited to present their research at the Chip Olympics alongside top industry and academic researchers. To date, HKUST is the only university from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland to have its research papers accepted and presented at the world's top solid-state circuits conference.

Intel, Sony, IBM, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Lucent, NEC, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Bell, Caltech, UCLA, MIT, Stanford and UC Berkeley are just some of the companies and universities that also presented their latest research findings this year.

Vincent unveiled an IC that performs high-frequency, high-resolution analog-to-digital conversion on a single one voltage supply. "At present, most analog ICs still need a supply voltage of at least 2.5V to achieve acceptable performance. Our novel technique enables the IC to perform at least ten times faster than existing 1V designs," explains Vincent.

The microchip that Vincent has created will significantly reduce the size, weight and the power consumption of portable electronic devices including mobile phones, laptops, CD and MD players.

This was the second presentation by Vincent, who was invited to report on his innovation last year. "It is very unusual for a student to have his paper presented at the Chip Olympics, not to mention doing it twice in a row. Vincent is a very creative student, but at the end of the day, hard work is really the key to his success," said Assistant Professors Howard Luong and Wing-Hung Ki, Vincent's supervisors. Born in Hong Kong, Vincent received his BEng (1997) and MPhil (1999) from HKUST.

Zhaofeng has developed the world's first CMOS fully integrated single-chip pager receiver, and overcome the problems of direct current offset and flicker noise commonly faced by direct conversion receiver. A graduate of Southeast University in Jiangsu Province, Zhaofeng joined HKUST in September 1997.

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"This breakthrough allows us to implement small-size, low-cost ICs with the same capabilities as more complicated and expensive ICs," explains Zhaofeng.

His work can lead to a wide range of applications in wireless receivers, including mobile phones and indoor wireless network products as well as pagers.

"In terms of technological advancement, achieving a fully integrated pager is one step closer to realizing the long-awaited 'system on a chip' and the eventual convergence of analog and digital," said Associate Professor Jack Lau, Zhaofeng's supervisor.

For media enquiries only: Jacky Tsang Tel: 2358-6306 email: patsang@ust.hk

Press Release and photos at http www.ust.hk/~webopa/news/2001_News/news0212.html