Nanomechanical Hardware Platforms for Edge Computing

物联网操作环境在许多与企业和循环经济相关的重要物联网（IoT）应用中很常见，包括汽车、航空航天、工业和发电。然而，传统的电子设备不适合在具有挑战性和苛刻的环境中操作，例如在高温下。i-EDGE为物联网边缘设备建立了一个使能的纳机电（NEM）交换技术平台，可在苛刻的条件下运行，即高温（<300 °C）和/或高辐射（<1 Mrad），使用零待机功率，非易失性存储器，并具有低计算性能要求。i-EDGE将实现一个具有FPGA的NEM“片上系统”（SoC）物联网节点的概念验证演示器，该器件包括一个非易失性存储器和一个温度传感器，由高温电容器组供电，带有一个无线功率接收器，用于对电容器进行涓流充电，以及一个简单的数据收发器和传感器读出器，用于连接片上FPGA和非易失性存储器。FPGA结构将基于用于数字逻辑的NEM开关技术，并与非易失性存储器阵列、用于无线电力传输、数据交换和传感器读出的模拟实用模块集成。我们将开发用于设计和电路仿真的NEM物理设计工具包（PDK），这将有助于应用工程师的广泛使用。该技术和设计流程将通过为工业物联网流程开发的状态监测应用程序进行演示。在之前的几个欧盟和国家项目中，我们的技术已经成熟到TRL 3，i-EDGE将把它带到TRL 5。i-EDGE联盟拥有建立完整供应链的所有专业知识，从基本逻辑和存储单元设计到片上系统，以及NEM技术在欧洲试点制造的迁移路径。因此，正如《欧盟芯片法案》所设想的那样，i-EDGE将帮助欧盟处于芯片设计和制造能力的最前沿。

Challenging operating environments are common across many important internet of things (IoT) applications related to enterprises and the circular economy, including automotive, aerospace, industrial and power generation. However, conventional electronics are not suitable for operation in challenging and harsh environments, e.g. at high temperatures. i-EDGE establishes an enabling nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switch technology platform for IoT edge devices operating under demanding conditions, i.e. high temperature (<300 °C) and/or high-radiation (<1 Mrad), uses zero standby power, non-volatile memory and has low compute performance requirements.i-EDGE will realize a proof-of-concept demonstrator of a NEM “system-on-chip” (SoC) IoT node with an FPGA, non-volatile memory, and a temperature sensor, powered by a high-temperature capacitor bank, with a wireless power receiver for trickle charging the capacitor, and a simple data transceiver and sensor readout to interface to the on-chip FPGA and non-volatile memory. The FPGA fabric will be based on the NEM switch technology for digital logic, and integrated with a non-volatile memory array, analog utility blocks for wireless power transfer, data exchange and sensor readout. We will develop a NEM physical design kit (PDK) for design and circuit simulation, which will facilitate broad usage by application engineers. The technology and design flow will be demonstrated with a condition monitoring application, that has been developed for industrial IoT processes. In several previous EU and national projects, our technology has matured to TRL3 and i-EDGE will bring it to TRL5. The i-EDGE consortium has all expertise to establish a full supply chain, from basic logic and memory cell design to Systems-on-Chip and a migration path to pilot manufacturing of the NEM technology in Europe. Thus, i-EDGE will help position the EU at the cutting edge of chip design and manufacturing capabilities, as envisaged by the EU Chips Act.