Wireless Microsystems for Augmented Machine and Human Intelligence

人工智能、物联网和增强现实等颠覆性技术正在改变我们的生活。要充分发挥微系统的潜力，必须与微系统相结合。微系统是毫米级系统，包括用于处理或通信的微电子和用于传感和驱动的传感器。它们可以提供创建传感器节点所需的高度集成功能，以密集地满足这些技术对数据日益增长的需求，以及向用户或机器（例如，可穿戴设备）提供反馈所需的紧凑性。因此，微系统可以通过使这些技术蓬勃发展的能力来增强机器和人类的智能。挑战不仅在于小型化，还在于低功耗操作和无线连接，以实现无处不在的部署和最大实现。微机电系统（MEMS）是实现微系统传感和驱动功能的自然选择，集成电路（IC）非常适合创建其电子产品。然而，由于制造工艺不兼容、设计复杂性和协同优化挑战，IC和MEMS仍然难以集成。此外，能源效率使集成变得复杂，因为微系统需要在无线可穿戴设备和节点中运行，具有非常严格的能量限制，使得这些功能的能量消耗目前过于令人望而却步。它们的效率可以通过减少组件的功耗和收集能量来提高。长期目标是创造一种新型的节能微系统，它将以独特的方式将无线连接、能量收集、传感器及其接口集成到一个微型的形状因素中。我们将专注于3个短期目标，以推进LTO: 1)精心设计以上ic兼容的MEMS传感器，支持多传感功能，并利用谐振操作以及碳材料来提高性能。2)设计与MEMS传感器集成的节能无线收发器和接口电路。3)制造机械能收集器，利用低温共烧陶瓷增加能量产生，提高微系统效率。结果将是一个新的集成平台，使微系统可以在各种环境和应用中使用，以增强人类和机器智能。这将在MEMS、能量收集、传感、低功耗集成电路和集成等领域取得进展，为加拿大的研究做出重大贡献。这些新型设备将具有全面的适用性，并影响运输、医疗保健、环境和工业过程等部门，从而加强加拿大的竞争力。11名HQP培训（2名本科，4名硕士，5名博士）将为加拿大经济获得有价值和市场的先进制造和设计技能。

Disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, the internet of things and augmented reality are transforming our lives. A joining with microsystems is inevitable to fully realize their potential. Microsystems are millimeter-scale systems that include microelectronics for processing or communication and transducers for sensing and actuation. They can offer the highly integrated functionalities required to create sensor nodes to densely feed the ever-increasing appetite of these technologies for data, and the compactness they require to provide feedback to users or machines (e.g., with a wearable). Accordingly, microsystems can augment machine and human intelligence by enabling the capabilities for these technologies to thrive. The challenges lie not only in miniaturization, but also in low-power operation and wireless connectivity for ubiquitous deployment and maximal enablement. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a natural choice to fulfil the sensing and actuation functionalities in microsystems, and integrated circuits (IC) are well-suited to create their electronics. Still, IC and MEMS remain hard to integrate due to fabrication process incompatibilities, design intricacies and co-optimization challenges. Furthermore, energy efficiency complicates integration, as microsystems need to operate in wireless wearables and nodes with very stringent energy constraints, making the energy draw of these functionalities currently too prohibitive. Their efficiency can be increased by reducing their components' power consumption and harvesting energy. The long term objective is to create a new class of energy-efficient microsystems that will integrate in a unique way wireless connectivity, energy harvesting, transducers and their interfaces into a miniature form-factor. We will focus on 3 short term objectives to advance toward the LTO: 1) Elaborate above-IC-compatible MEMS transducers that support multi-sensing functions and leverage resonant operation along with carbon materials to enhance performance. 2) Design energy-efficient wireless transceivers and interface circuits for integration with MEMS transducers. 3) Create mechanical energy harvesters to improve the efficiency of microsystems by using low-temperature cofired ceramics to increase energy generation. The outcome will be a new integration platform enabling microsystems that can be used in a variety of environments and applications to augment human and machine intelligence. This will yield advances in the fields of MEMS, energy harvesting, sensing, low-power ICs and integration, which represent significant contributions to research in Canada. These novel devices will have an overarching applicability and impact sectors such as transportation, healthcare, environment and industrial processes, strengthening Canada's competitiveness. The 11 HQP trained (2 BEng, 4 MASc, 5 PhD) will gain valuable and marketable advanced manufacturing and design skills for the Canadian economy.