| 'Radio on a Chip'
Debuts
By Jay Lyman
NewsFactor Sci::Tech,
Part
of the NewsFactor Network
May 30, 2002
'You could build these radios that are
basically the size of a grain of rice,' lead researcher Kenneth O
told NewsFactor. 'That could be possible someday.'
Unwire
your workforce with Intel(R) Centrino(TM) mobile technology.
Give your workforce new freedom to stay connected, be
productive, and take advantage of the extra efficiency gains
wireless notebook technology offers. Click
here.
|
A team of researchers at the University of Florida has
demonstrated the first wireless communication device -- including a
miniature radio transmitter and antenna -- built entirely on a
silicon chip.
"It's a complete radio on a chip," University of Florida
professor and project researcher Joe Brewer told NewsFactor.
The radio system, capable of broadcasting information across a
fingernail-sized chip, could bypass wires embedded in the silicon
platform of semiconductors  and ensure continued performance improvements
in larger, more powerful computer chips , according to lead researcher and University
of Florida professor Kenneth O.
"You could build these radios that are basically the size of a
grain of rice," O told NewsFactor. "That could be possible someday."
.gif)
ADVERTISEMENT
| Smaller, Cheaper
Devices
O said the work, backed by US$1 million in funding from the Semiconductor Research Corporation
and detailed in the May issue of the IEEE's Journal of Solid
State Circuits, could lead to microphones, motion detectors and
other devices that are both tiny and inexpensive.
"It could be for standalone sensors, but that includes so many
different things," O said. "But it's going to provide an inexpensive
means for these things to communicate." O called the development a
step toward faster computers and a new breed of devices.
On-Chip
Communications
In a demonstration, researchers were able to broadcast a clock
signal -- which synchronizes different processing tasks -- from a
tiny transmitter on one side of a chip to a receiver at the other
end, 5.6 millimeters away.
Professor O said the development could allow the transmission of
information to all parts of a chip at once, a feat that is difficult
using wires.
"The larger the chip, the harder it is to send information to all
of its regions simultaneously, because the distances between the
millions of tiny circuits within the chip become more varied," O
said. "This can impact the chip's performance when the delay affects
distribution of the so-called clock signal."
Wireless Chip
Networks
O said the technology's biggest application may be in the
formation of chip-based networks, which could relay information
collected with tiny sensors that listen, detect motion and measure
temperature.
He compared such a network to today's wireless local area
networks (WLANs), saying that base stations could be increased in
number and eventually blurred with network nodes.
"The radio we've developed could be an integral component in that
type of network," O said.
Talking
Wallpaper
The wireless chip also could be used for military purposes.
Brewer said that tiny sensors, such as microphones, could be paired
with wireless chips that cost less than a dollar each and dropped in
mass quantities to eavesdrop over a wide area.
Another application of the wireless chips could be to pair them
with motion detectors and place them in the walls or wallpaper of
buildings, allowing information on motion or location to be
broadcast to rescuers in the event of a collapse.
"Radio-frequency technology is not an answer to everything, but
if you can replace the low data-rate lines -- take them out
completely through using wireless interconnects -- it could have a
significant impact on cost and space savings," O said. 
| 
April 16, 2003 
See more news
Front Page
Talkback: .gif){kind=small}
Handspring Partners with Orange on Smartphones.gif){kind=small}
