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。为了充分发挥微系统的潜力，加入微系统是不可避免的。微系统是毫米级系统，包括用于处理或通信的微电子器件以及用于感测和致动的换能器。它们可以提供创建传感器节点所需的高度集成的功能，以密集地满足这些技术对数据不断增长的需求，以及它们向用户或机器提供反馈所需的紧凑性（例如，一个可穿戴设备）。因此，微系统可以通过使这些技术的能力蓬勃发展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化。微机电系统（MEMS）是实现微系统中的感测和致动功能的自然选择，并且集成电路（IC）非常适合创建其电子器件。尽管如此，由于制造工艺的不兼容性、设计的复杂性和协同优化的挑战，IC和MEMS仍然很难集成。此外，能源效率使集成复杂化，因为微系统需要在具有非常严格的能源约束的无线可穿戴设备和节点中运行，使得这些功能的能源消耗目前过于高昂。它们的效率可以通过降低组件的功耗和收集能量来提高。 长期目标是创建一类新的节能微系统，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微型外形中。我们将专注于3个短期目标，以推进到LTO：1）精心制作以上IC兼容的MEMS传感器，支持多传感功能，并利用谐振操作沿着碳材料，以提高性能。2)设计高能效无线收发器和接口电路，以便与MEMS传感器集成。3)通过使用低温共烧陶瓷来增加能量产生，创建机械能采集器以提高微系统的效率。其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，以增强人类和机器的智能。这将在MEMS、能量收集、传感、低功耗IC和集成等领域取得进展，这对加拿大的研究做出了重大贡献。这些新设备将具有广泛的适用性和影响力，如运输，医疗保健，环境和工业流程，加强加拿大的竞争力。11 HQP培训（2工程学士，4硕士，5博士）将获得宝贵的和适销对路的先进制造和设计技能，为加拿大经济。

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.