Adaptive Integrated Circuits for Wearable Technology

拟议的研究领域是“可穿戴技术”，重点是实现即将到来的第四代可穿戴技术的电路的先进硬件实现。 就像智能手机取代个人电脑成为世界上很大一部分人的界面技术选择一样，可穿戴技术现在正在取代智能手机。虽然智能手机已经在世界上很大一部分人口中变得几乎无处不在，但可穿戴技术正在刺激人类与技术和信息商店之间更高水平的连接。将可穿戴技术作为首选界面模式的趋势正在持续且迅速加速。 早期的第一代可穿戴技术只显示信息。第二代可穿戴技术也收集了信息。第三代可穿戴技术将机器智能和模式识别应用于收集的信息，以便向可穿戴技术用户提供可行的建议。即将到来的第四代可穿戴技术从大量用户中收集细粒度的丰富数据，以便挖掘数据中的趋势和标志性功能，使系统能够预测未来的事件。第四代可穿戴技术实现中存在的接口和处理技术的数量甚至远远超过第三代可穿戴技术设备实现中的接口和处理技术。 拟议中的研究将生产对第四代可穿戴技术实施至关重要的电路组件，在第四代可穿戴技术实施中，将同时推动尺寸减小、电源需求降低、性能提高和成本降低。这些所需的特征通常是通过工艺技术扩展来实现的，例如在CMOS技术中转移到更小的特征尺寸，但这样做会产生一系列与电路性能相关的问题。 第四代可穿戴技术所需的电路性能将通过创新的集成信号测量电路、模拟信号复用电路、信号处理电路和反馈电路来实现，这些电路将调整需要适配的每个初级电路的工作点和配置。这类电路对于即将到来的可穿戴技术实施至关重要，这些技术实施对性能的要求与当前的医疗级设备相当，同时以低一个数量级的成本和操作复杂性瞄准普通消费者。 拟议研究的一个组成部分是培训微电子、无线和有线通信系统以及侧重于生物传感和环境监测的传感器技术领域的高素质人员。

The proposed research area is “wearable technologies” and the focus is on advanced hardware implementation of circuits that will enable the upcoming fourth generation of wearable technologies. Just as the smart phone replaced the personal computer as the interface technology of choice for a large segment of the world’s population, wearable technologies are now supplanting the smart phone. While the smart phone has become nearly ubiquitous across an enormous segment of the world's population, wearable technologies are spurring an even greater level of connectedness between humans and technology and information stores. There is an ongoing and rapidly accelerating move towards wearable technologies as the preferred interface modality. Early first-generation wearable technologies only displayed information. Second-generation wearable technologies also collected information. Third-generation wearable technologies apply machine intelligence and pattern recognition on collected information in order to provide actionable recommendations to the wearable technology user. The upcoming fourth-generation of wearable technology collects fine-grained rich data from a vast population of users in order to mine the data for trends and signature features that enable the system to predict future events. The amount of interface and processing technology present in a fourth generation wearable technology implementation eclipses that of even a third-generation wearable technology device implementation by a very wide margin. The proposed research will produce circuitry components that are of critical importance for fourth generation wearable technology implementations where there is a simultaneous drive towards decreased size, lower power requirements, higher performance, and lower cost. These desirable features are generally achieved by process technology scaling, for example moving to smaller feature sizes in CMOS technologies, but doing so creates a host of problems related to circuit performance. The circuit performance required for fourth generation wearable technology will be achieved through innovative integrated signal measurement circuits, analog signal multiplexing circuits, signal processing circuits, and feedback circuits that will adjust the operating point and configuration of each primary circuit that requires adaptation. Such circuits are essential for upcoming wearable technology implementations that have demanding performance requirements on par with current medical grade equipment, while targeting the general consumer at an order of magnitude lower cost and operating complexity. Integral to the proposed research is training highly qualified personnel in the areas of microelectronics, wireless and wireline communication systems, and sensor technologies focused on bio-sensing and environmental monitoring.