What's New @ IEEE in Circuits

December 2006 Volume 7, Number 12

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Coming Soon
2. New Chips Could Speed Web Browsing For Mobiles
3. First Very-Low-Cost Laptops Produced In China
4. Digital Signal Processing and System Theorist Dr. Thomas Kailath Named 2007 IEEE Medal Of Honor Recipient
5. MyIEEE Adds New Features
6. Symposium on Signals, Circuits & Systems Calls For Papers
7.Semiconductor Industry Honors Chip Pioneer
8. World's Largest Radio Telescope Needs 100 Million Chips

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1. IEEE INTERNATIONAL SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS CONFERENCE COMING SOON
The 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) will take place between 11-15 February in San Francisco, California, USA. ISSCC hopes to offer a unique opportunity for engineering working at the cutting edge of IC design and use to maintain technical currency, and to network with leading experts according to their vision statement. For more information, visit: www.isscc.org/isscc/

2. NEW CHIPS COULD SPEED WEB BROWSING FOR MOBILES
A family of chips was recently introduced that could speed web browsing on cell phones, are powerful enough to handle multimedia and mobile web browsing, and allow extended and mobile web browsing. Marvell Technology Group says its new PXA 320 chip runs at 806 megahertz, much faster than its predecessors, and maintains efficiency by completing its tasks faster and going to stand-by mode. All three of the 90-nanometer architecture chips automatically scale their frequency to optimize battery endurance, the firm says. Read more: www.infoworld.com/article/06/11/29/HNmarvellchips_1.html?source=rss&url=www.infoworld.com/article/06/11/29/HNmarvellchips_1.html

3. FIRST VERY-LOW-COST LAPTOPS PRODUCED IN CHINA
The first 1,000 XO prototype laptops developed by the One Laptop Per Child organization (OLPC) have been produced at Quanta Computer's manufacturing facility in Shanghai, according to the non-profit, and are ready to be field-tested by children in the developing world. In addition to testing by children, the laptops will be dropped from different heights, their casings tested for dirt and dust resistance, and their open source operating system and software will be debugged. Initial production models will be priced at $135 to $140, and will have 500-MHz processors, 128-Mbytes DRAM, 500-Mbytes flash memories (and no hard drives), and four USB ports, developers say. The first production models will be delivered early next year to school children in Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, and Thailand, according to OLPC, with mass production scheduled to get underway next summer. Read more: www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=QEUBEAMTPJMGKQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=195400024

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4. DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND SYSTEM THEORIST DR. THOMAS KAILATH NAMED 2007 IEEE MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT
Dr. Thomas Kailath, a respected leader in digital signal processing and systems theory, has been named the recipient of the 2007 IEEE Medal of Honor for exceptional development of powerful algorithms in the fields of communications, computing, control and signal processing.” Some of Kailath&rsquos most recent research has influenced modern work in semiconductor manufacturing and wireless communications. Kailath, a professor of engineering at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., will be presented with the award at the annual IEEE Honors Ceremony in June 2007. The award is sponsored by the IEEE Foundation. To view the full press release, visit www.ieee.org. For a full listing of 2007 IEEE Medal recipients and other honorees, visit: www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/pr/2007medalrecips.html

5. MyIEEE ADDS NEW FEATURES
The IEEE's membership portal, myIEEE, has just updated its career development features. From the Profession Desktop, members can now get listings from the IEEE Job Site, updated daily. New modules link members to IEEE's Mentoring Connection and the advise from IEEE-USA's Career Navigator site. From myIEEE, members can also access their subscriptions, launch IEEE.tv, and manage their membership account. Log in at www.ieee.org/myieee

6. SYMPOSIUM ON SIGNALS, CIRCUITS & SYSTEMS CALLS FOR PAPERS
The 2007 International Symposium on Signals, Circuits & Systems (ISSCS 2007) is currently soliciting papers for their upcoming conference in Iasi, Romania between 12-13 July 2007. ISSCS 2007 invited original papers on the following topics: linear and nonlinear circuits & systems, analog and digital signal processing, circuits and systems for communications, image and video processing, computer aided design, VLSI circuits & systems, and power electronic circuits. Full paper submission is due electronically by 5 February 2007. For more information, visit: scs.etc.tuiasi.ro/isscs2007/

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it. ~ Aubrey Eben

7. SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY HONORS CHIP PIONEER
Tso-Ping (T.P.) Ma, a veteran of microelectronics research, received the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) annual University Researcher Award for his pioneering work in semiconductor technology. Ma, the Raymond John Wean Professor of Electrical Engineering and chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department at Yale, has been involved in research with the Semiconductor Research Corporation since 1986, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and fellow of the IEEE, which recognized him with its Andrew Grove Award in 2005. According to SIA, Ma has done pioneering work in gate dielectrics and gate tunneling, which have been critical to scaling of MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) devices, and invented and developed several systems of measures used in the development of new gate dielectrics. Read more: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/yu-ypt112206.php

8. WORLD'S LARGEST RADIO TELESCOPE TO USE 100 MILLION CHIPS
IBM and a Dutch astronomy institute will work together to develop chips to power the Square Kilometer Array telescope, the world&rsquos largest radio telescope. While not commercially viable for other products, these chips will be put to the test under extreme conditions, opening opportunities to advance the state of the art in chip production. IBM will develop and manufacture as many as 100 million chips for the massive radio telescope whose antennas will span an area the size of the continental United States by 2020. Learn more: www.informationweek.com/hardware/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=2RT1OZLYTNYT2QSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=196602158

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

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

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