JohnyBear, Debra

English

UNH Scholars' Repository

University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryMedia Relations Administrative Offices4-3-2008UNH Students Win National SemiconductorResearch Corporation Design ChallengeDebra JohnyBearUNH College of Engineering and Physical SciencesFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/newsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationJohnyBear, Debra, "UNH Students Win National Semiconductor Research Corporation Design Challenge" (2008). UNH Today. 404.https://scholars.unh.edu/news/404UNH Students Win National Semiconductor Research Corporation Design Challengehttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/April/dj3design.cfm.html[9/8/2016 1:31:57 PM] UNH Students Win National Semiconductor ResearchCorporation Design ChallengeMedia Contact:  Debra JohnyBear (603) 862-3102College of Engineering & Physical SciencesApril 3, 2008Reporters and editors: Faculty advisor Kuan Zhou can be reached at 603-862-1333or kuan.zhou@unh.edu.Durham NH - Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world's leading universityresearch consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, named three University ofNew Hampshire graduate students as winners in the SRC/Semiconductor Industry Association(SIA) Integrated Circuits Design Challenge held March 19, 2008 at Research Triangle Park,N.C. The UNH team's winning design was for a serializer/deserializer (SERDES) that convertsthe low-rate parallel data into high-rate serial data or vice versa. The UNH team was one ofeight winning teams selected from more than 40 universities and 120 engineering studentswho competed to design circuits with potential future electronic applications.The UNH team - electrical and computer engineering graduate students James Brandt, GangChen, and Yifei Luo -- was awarded fabrication with the Jazz Semiconductor 180nm SiGeBiCMOS technology (worth approximately $56,000)."Thanks to the hard work of my three students, we are fortunate to be one of eight teamsselected for Phase II," said Kuan Zhou, UNH assistant professor of electrical and computerengineering and faculty advisor to the students."This is a great opportunity for the industry as SRC and SIA member companies cultivatefuture designers for the semiconductor business," said SRC's Dale Edwards, an AdvancedMicro Devices, Inc., assignee and contest organizer.The Design Challenge theme was "Performance at the Limits" and the UNH team's winningdesign exemplifies this theme, pushing the data link rate to 40Gb/s and possibly even 60Gb/s.The SERDES design presented by Zhou and his students exhibits many advantages comparedto existing technologies. The bandwidth of circuit blocks is extended and the powerconsumption is reduced. Several unique circuit technologies were used in the SERDES design.SERDES can be used in many applications such as biological imaging, radio astronomy, upperatmosphere study, plasma diagnostics, and future terahertz broadband communicationsystems.The first objective of this SRC/SIA High Performance Design Challenge is to create designsthat can overcome the existing bottlenecks. The second objective is to stimulate greaterinterest in IC (integrated circuit) design careers among students, both at the undergraduateand graduate levels.In addition to receiving free fabrication in Jazz SBC18, these finalists have qualified toUNH Students Win National Semiconductor Research Corporation Design Challengehttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/April/dj3design.cfm.html[9/8/2016 1:31:57 PM]compete in the final phase of the Design Challenge where they will fabricate these designs inJazz Semiconductor's SBC18 180nm SiGe technology. All eight teams will present posters atSRC's TECHCON 2008 in Austin, Tex. September 15-16. The eight finalists will vie for $50,000in cash prizes, to be announced in December.Design Challenge sponsors include Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Analog Devices, Inc.,Cadence Design Systems, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation,Intersil Corporation, Jazz Semiconductor, LSI Corporation, Mentor Graphics Corporation,National Semiconductor Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Quik-Pak Division of DelphonIndustries, Texas Instruments Incorporated, SRC and SIA.Jazz Semiconductor donated thefabrication support.Celebrating 26 years of collaborative research for the semiconductor industry, SRC definesindustry needs, invests in and manages the research that gives its members a competitiveadvantage in the dynamic global marketplace. Awarded the National Medal of Technology,America's highest recognition for contributions to technology, SRC expands the industryknowledge base and attracts premier students to help innovate and transfer semiconductortechnology. For more information, visit http://www.src.org./Default.asp .The SIA is the leading voice for the semiconductor industry and has represented U.S.semiconductor companies since 1977 and SIA member companies comprise more than 85%of the U.S. semiconductor industry. Collectively, the chip industry employs a domesticworkforce of 232,000 people. More information about the SIA can be found at http://www.sia-online.org/home.cfm-30-Photograph available to download:http://www.ceps.unh.edu/images/zhou.jpgCaption: (L-R) UNH electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. candidates Gang Chen and YifeiLuo, along with their faculty advisor Kuan Zhou (standing), will vie for $50,000 in cash prizesduring SRC's TECHCON 2008 in Austin, Tex. September 15-16.Credit: Kuan Zhou.

UNH Students Win National Semiconductor Research Corporation Design Challenge

https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1403&amp;context=news

UNH Students Win National Semiconductor Research Corporation Design Challenge

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UNH Scholars' Repository