Smart power management: integrated circuits and system solutions

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In recent years, as the microelectronics industry struggles to stay on the path of exponential growth projected by Moore's law, energy efficiency and power-management have taken center stage. Switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) are the key enabling technology for efficiently delivering the tightly regulated supply voltages required by today's modern mixed-signal (digital+analog) integrated circuits (ICs). The SMPS acts as the interface between the energy source, such as a battery, and the load ICs. A typical SMPS uses a combination of high-quality semiconductor switches, energy storage components, sensors and control circuits to regulate one or more output voltages in the presence of disturbances. State-of-the-art SMPS have a power conversion efficiency above 90%. The resulting low heat dissipation allows multiple SMPS to be integrated with their load circuits into a single IC. The clear trend in SMPS research is toward digital control-loops, increased integration within system-on-chip (SoC) applications, higher efficiency over the full load-range and higher switching frequency, resulting in smaller energy storage components. The long-term goals of the proposed research are to make tomorrow's integrated power-supplies smarter, smaller, more efficient, more robust, and more reliable, while reducing electromagnetic interference (EMI) and environment impacts. This work will focus on high-voltage applications with particularly strict reliability standards, where system failure results in dire consequences to humans. These include automotive, aerospace, biomedical and industrial applications. In these applications, such as automotive control units for engine management or airbags, multiple power-supplies operate in harsh environmental conditions that push the limits of silicon technology. Accordingly, specialized high-voltage technologies and circuits are needed to develop tomorrow's automotive SoCs. The short-term research will be focused on circuit-level power-stage efficiency optimization, advanced packaging and hybrid-integration technologies, as well as system-level innovations.