Functional Oxide Reconfigurable Technologies (FORTE): A Programme Grant

我们的愿景是通过开发和实现电子系统的新方法来振兴现代电子产品，其中结合了可重构性，可扩展性，操作灵活性/弹性，功率效率和成本效益。这一愿景将通过突破CMOS技术的大而全面的探索来实现，CMOS技术几乎是所有现代电子产品的基础，消费者和非消费者都是如此。引入新的纳米电子元件，我们在手机中携带的技术中从未使用过，这将引入迄今为止由于当前硬件技术的限制而无法实现的新功能。由此产生的工程师能力的提高，以更低的电力成本在更小的区域内挤压更多的计算能力，将开启以下可能性：a）真正普及的物联网计算，其中消耗几乎为零功率的微小传感器监测我们周围的世界并告知我们的选择，B）真正智能的植入物，在极其有限的功率和尺寸预算内，不仅可以与大脑接口，而且还以有意义的方式处理该数据，并将结果向前发送给例如医生，或者甚至将其反馈到大脑中以进行进一步处理，c）将在民用和军用的卫星和飞机中部署抗辐射电子设备，并提高通信可靠性，同时降低维护成本。在建立这一愿景时，我们的项目将实现一系列的科学和商业目标：i）发展纳米电子元件（忆阻）技术的基础，使其成为一般工业设计师的商业选择。ii）建立一个完全支持的（模型，工具，设计规则等），端到端的设计基础设施，使任何人都可以访问用于电子设计的行业标准软件，今天可以利用忆阻技术在他们的设计。iii）引入一种新的设计范式，其中忆阻技术与传统的模拟和数字电路紧密集成，以提供任何孤立的性能都无法实现的性能。这包括设计原始的硬件模块，可以作为更高层次设计的构建模块，使工程师能够构建大规模系统，而无需担心忆阻器操作的复杂细节。iv）积极培养用户社区，鼓励他们探索潜在的商业影响，并进一步推动我们工作的科学发展，同时通过合作等方式反馈到项目中。5.尽早开始，尽快将拟议研究中最成熟的方面商业化，以便在英国创造就业机会。通过以下方式存在巨大的转化机会：a）项目成果的直接商业化，特别是开发的应用程序（在实验室中证明，然后获得风险投资资金并商业化），B）产生新颖的电子设计（IP /设计局模式;使英国成为基于忆阻技术的电子产品的全球设计中心）和c）销售为帮助加速该项目而开发的工具（仪器仪表、CAD和支持软件）。我们的团队（学术界和工业界）是实现这一颠覆性愿景的理想场所，这将使我们的社会能够有效地扩大电子产品的操作范围，使其能够在恶劣的环境中使用，以及重复使用或重新使用电子产品。

Our vision is to rejuvenate modern electronics by developing and enabling a new approach to electronic systems where reconfigurability, scalability, operational flexibility/resilience, power efficiency and cost-effectiveness are combined. This vision will be delivered by breaking out of the large, but comprehensively explored realm of CMOS technology upon which virtually all modern electronics are based; consumer and non-consumer alike.Introducing novel nanoelectronic components never before used in the technology we all carry around in our phones will introduce new capabilities that have thus far been unattainable due to the limitations of current hardware technology. The resulting improved capability of engineers to squeeze more computational power in ever smaller areas at ever lower power costs will unlock possibilities such as: a) truly pervasive Internet-of-Things computing where minute sensors consuming nearly zero power monitor the world around us and inform our choices, b) truly smart implants that within extremely limited power and size budgets can not only interface with the brain, but also process that data in a meaningful way and send the results either onwards to e.g. a doctor, or even feed it back into the brain for further processing, c) radiation-resistant electronics to be deployed in satellites and aeroplanes, civilian and military and improve communication reliability while driving down maintenance costs.In building this vision, our project will deliver a series of scientific and commercial objectives: i) Developing the foundations of nanoelectronic component (memristive) technologies to the point where it becomes a commercially available option for the general industrial designer. ii) Setting up a fully supported (models, tools, design rules etc.), end-to-end design infrastructure so that anyone with access to industry standard software used for electronics design today may utilise memristive technology in their design. iii) Introduce a new design paradigm where memristive technologies are intimately integrated with traditional analogue and digital circuitry in order to deliver performance unattainable by any in isolation. This includes designing primitive hardware modules that can act as building-blocks for higher level designs, allowing engineers to construct large-scale systems without worrying about the intricate details of memristor operation. iv) Actively foster a community of users, encouraged to explore potential commercial impact and further scientific development stemming from our work whilst feeding back into the project through e.g. collaborations. v) Start early by beginning to commercialise the most mature aspects of the proposed research as soon as possible in order to create jobs in the UK. Vast translational opportunities exist via: a) The direct commercialisation of project outcomes, specifically developed applications (prove in lab, then obtain venture capital funding and commercialise), b) The generation of novel electronic designs (IP / design bureau model; making the UK a global design centre for memristive technology-based electronics) and c) Selling tools developed to help accelerate the project (instrumentation, CAD and supporting software). Our team (academic and industry) is ideally placed for delivering this disruptive vision that will allow our society to efficiently expand the operational envelope of electronics, enabling its use in formidable environments as well as reuse or re-purpose electronics affordably.