Real-time signal processing systems for advanced and emerging technologies

我的研究是基于探索先进和新兴的电子技术构建的处理器的计算特性，以及它们在信息，通信技术和生命科学中的应用。微处理器包含在我们使用的计算机中，嵌入在我们的手机、汽车、电器、娱乐系统、医疗设备等中，它们都在其设计中执行作为基本功能的计算。对于实时系统，数据流必须连续处理，“嵌入式”微处理器通常需要每秒执行数十亿次计算。这些计算反映了我们可能用纸和铅笔手写的计算。在现代集成电路技术中制造所需的设计过程是如此复杂，以至于许多设计者将简单地使用设计工具中提供的可用功能。然而，为了以最有效的方式使用这些技术，有必要研究执行基本算术运算的替代方法，甚至研究表示数据的替代方法。随着集成电路技术以指数方式提高了晶体管的封装密度（称为“摩尔定律”），这些基本计算模块的速度显著提高;然而，过去被忽视的问题特征现在变得至关重要，因此我们需要不断寻找这些新问题的解决方案。一个例子是现代高密度集成电路的过度功率耗散，这已经限制了我们的台式机和膝上型计算机中使用的微处理器的最大时钟频率。在我的研究中，我们探索在集成电路上构建处理器的替代方法，并在选定的应用领域中研究这些替代方法。我的工作最近的应用可以在生命科学中找到，例如：助听器处理器和植入式葡萄糖传感器，其中极低的功耗是一个主要的限制，在非常高的带宽无线基站，其中需要非常可靠的计算，每秒涉及万亿次基本算术运算。

My research is based on exploring computational properties of processors built with advanced and emerging electronic technologies, and their application to information, communication technology, and the life sciences. The microprocessors that are contained in the computers we use, and that are embedded in our cell phones, automobiles, appliances, entertainment systems, medical devices etc., all perform computations as fundamental functions in their design. For real-time systems, where streams of data have to be continuously processed, "embedded" microprocessors often need to perform many billions of computations every second. The computations mirror the sorts of calculations we might do longhand with paper and a pencil. The design procedures required for fabrication in modern integrated circuit technologies are so complex, that many designers will simply use the available functions that are provided within the design tools. However, in order to use the technologies in the most efficient way possible, it is necessary to examine alternative ways to perform basic arithmetic operations, even down to looking at alternative ways to represent the data. As integrated circuit technology has exponentially improved the packing density of transistors (known as "Moore's Law"), these basic computational blocks have dramatically increased in speed; however problem features, that used to be neglected, have now become critical and so we need to continually search for solutions to these new problems. One example is the excessive power dissipation of modern high density integrated circuits, that has been responsible for limiting the maximum clock frequency of the microprocessors used in our desktop and laptop computers. In my research we explore alternative ways of building processors on integrated circuits and examine these alternatives in selected application areas. Recent applications of my work can be found in the life sciences, for example: hearing-aid processors and implantable glucose sensors, where extremely low power dissipation is a major constraint, and in very high bandwidth wireless base stations, where very reliable computation involving a trillion basic arithmetic operations per second is required.