Integrated Systems Group

The Research Lab of Electronics (RLE) Integrated Systems Group conducts investigations in noise and dynamics of integrated circuits and systems, CMOS based electrical and optical interfaces for high-speed links, implementation of digital communication techniques to constrained systems such as high-speed links, applications of convex optimization techniques to digital communications, systems and VLSI integrated circuit design, and high performance / low-power digital circuit design.

Integrated Systems Group is focused on several key design aspects of modern integrated systems. The group is focused on building cutting edge, energy-efficient integrated systems through vertical optimization encompassing communications and signal processing algorithms and architectures, and digital and mixed-signal circuits. The main research topics include modeling of noise and dynamics in circuits and systems, application of convex optimization to digital communications, analog and VLSI circuits.

Most integrated systems today are limited by tight power and/or throughput constraints. In this environment, the usual system hierarchy becomes inefficient and novel vertical system design approaches are needed to create overall most efficient integrated systems. We believe that this can be achieved by blurring of the strict hierarchy boundaries and modification of standard communication techniques and circuits to perform the operations in a most energy-efficient way. Some of the example systems that we are interested in are high-speed electrical and optical interfaces, UWB transceivers and sensors, on-chip networks and signaling, clock generation and distribution for system-on-a-chip.

The overarching idea of this research theme is to develop circuit and system design techniques that best leverage the potential of the emerging switch and interconnect devices. This research both points to the potential impact of these new technolgies at the system/application level as well as sets the specifications and roadmaps that these new devices and technologies have to achieve to successfully compete and surpass the CMOS technology.