What's New @ IEEE in Circuits

February 2007 Volume 8, Number 2

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Tech Insiders Webinar: RF Packaging Trends
2. Electronics Giants in Race to Develop Smaller, Faster Chips
3. IEEE-USA President Commends Congressional Leaders for Increased Investment in Innovation
4. Call for Paper: Microelectronics and Electronics Conference
5. Micro-Sensor Opens Up New Applications in Fuel Cells
6. U.N. Calls for Tighter Controls of Nanomaterial
7. Collocated Workshops Coming to Poland
8. Luminescent, Magnetic Nanoparticles Have Wide Promise
9. Realizing Moore's Law: "IEEE Circuits and Device" Magazine Reports

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1. TECH INSIDERS WEBINAR: RF PACKAGING TRENDS
The challenge to create new, increasingly complex systems-in-a-package at a lower cost and in shorter lead time is pressuring industry companies to develop new methodologies to meet market demands. Listen to industry experts discuss how market leaders are meeting these challenges, the hot spots in semiconductor packaging design and assembly, and how RF design translates into future multiple air interfaces and modulation formats for software-defined radios. Register now! www.spectrum.ieee.org/webcast/4858

2. ELECTRONICS GIANTS IN RACE TO DEVELOP SMALLER, FASTER CHIPS
In an &ldquoarms race” that industry experts predict will see microchips shrink every two years, Intel and IBM both announced recently they had solved electricity leakage problems in chips. Intel, the world's biggest maker of microchips, said the advances will be used later this year when it shrinks existing chip designs to smaller dimensions, while Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a research partner of IBM, will not include the technology in its processors until 2008, according to industry sources. Microchip progress is seen by experts to follow Moore's Law, which says the number of transistors on a chip doubles approximately every two years, the current state of the art etches circuits just 65 nanometers across, less a thousandth the width of a human hair. Read more: www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197001119&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News

3. IEEE USA PRESIDENT COMMENDS CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS FOR INCREASED INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION
IEEE-USA President John Meredith commended congressional leaders for including increased investments in innovation and competitiveness in the proposed continuing budget resolution in a 31 January letter. The continuing resolution includes increased funding for research and development (R&D) at the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation. To read the letter, visit: See the letter at www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2007/013107.pdf

4. CALL FOR PAPER: MICROELECTRONICS AND ELECTRONICS CONFERENCE
Paper submissions are currently being sought for the 2007 Conference on Ph.D. Research in Microelectronics and Electronics. Authors are asked to submit papers on topics including design and use of MEMS in ICs, analog and digital signal processing, VLSI and SoC applications, visual signal processing, computer aided design, analog and digital ICs, integrated power ICs, and sensor systems. Paper submission deadline is 16 March 2007. The conference takes place from 2 to 5 July in Talence, France. To submit, or more information, visit: prime07.ixl.fr/

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5. MICRO-SENSOR OPENS UP NEW APPLICATIONS IN FUEL CELLS
An embedded density and chemical concentration sensor for accurate fluid analysis has been developed by Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc., a Michigan firm that specializes in microelectromechanical systems, the company announced recently. The firm says the sensor was developed specifically for methanol concentration measurement for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell portable batteries, but will be useful in a wide variety of previously impossible applications, including sugar mixtures for sodas, alcohol mixtures for beverages, biodiesel blending, water in ethanol, ethylene glycol-water fuel cells and butanol for biofuel refinery. Read more: www.smalltimes.com/display_article/283491/109/ARTCL/none/none/ISSYS-launches-embedded-fuel-cell-sensor/

6. U.N. CALLS FOR TIGHTER CONTROLS OF NANOMATERIAL
The United Nations called for tighter regulation of nanotechnology in an 87-page report which cited the potential risks of nanomaterials already being mass-produced, saying free-roaming nanoparticles or nanotubes could be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or built in the environment, and that humans already breathe in millions of nanoparticles a day. The report says it is unclear whether the chemicals the nanoparticles are made of are harmful or what they will do when released into the atmosphere, water, or soil. Experts say by 2014, nanotechnology will account for 14 percent of the $2.6 trillion global manufacturing market; in 2004 it made up less than 0.1 percent of that market. Nanotechnology is being developed for use in drugs, foods, cosmetics, and medical devices. The U.N. is calling for global test protocols and greater cooperation between private- and public-sector industries and between the developing and industrialized world. Read More: www.smalltimes.com/display_article/283822/109/ARTCL/none/none/Tighter-controls-needed-for-nanotechnology,-says-UN-report/

7. COLLOCATED WORKSHOPS COMING TO POLAND
TheIEEE Workshop on Design and Diagnostics of Electronic Circuits and Systems (DDECS) along with the 2007 Challenges in Collaboration Engineering (CCE) are scheduled to take place from 11 to 13 April in Krakow, Poland. DDECS will focus on a variety of topics including design verification/validation, built-in self-test (BIST), and memory and processor test. To register to attend, or more information, visit: www.iele.polsl.pl/ddecs2007/ OR cce.ecolleg.org/2007/

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8. LUMINESCENT, MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES HAVE WIDE PROMISE
A new type of nanoparticle that is luminescent, magnetic, and inexpensive to make could be used in tests for environmental pollution or contamination of food products, and for medical diagnostics, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who developed the 100- to 200-nanometer-sized particles. The nanoparticles, made by spray pyrolysis, which involves mixing the raw material in a solvent and spraying it through a flame, consist of a magnetic core of iron oxide or iron/neodymium/cobalt oxide coated in a shell of europium and gadolinium oxide, developers say, and can be manipulated with magnets and detected by fluorescence. The particles can also be coated with short pieces of DNA and used for genetic analysis, according to researchers, who are exploring uses such as testing for bioterrorism agents and for genetic tests in cancer medicine. Read More: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/uoc--mln012507.php

9. REALIZING MOORE'S LAW: "IEEE CIRCUITS AND DEVICE" MAGAZINE REPORTS
The January/February special issue of "IEEE Circuits and Device" magazine (v. 22, no. 1), now available through the IEEE Xplore digital library, explores "Breaking the Size Limit: Realizing Moore's Law and Exploring the Implications". The issue features articles on future 4G front-ends enabling smooth vertical handovers, VLSI designer's interface, MOSFET hand analysis using BSIM, and more. Access the issue at: ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=33612&isYear=2006

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Acting Managing Editor: Barbara Soifer, b.soifer@ieee.org

Editors: Diana Fuksin

Contributing Editors: Robert J. Howe, Brian Pedersen, Ryan Thomas, Cari Wolfert

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