Research

Analog/Mixed Signals

Mixed-signal interface circuits connect real-world signals to digital processing. These real-world signals include bio-sensor outputs, video and audio signals, as well as wireless and wireline communication and is critical to a very wide range of applications ranging from implantable medical devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) to  high-speed data-centers.

Profs. David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester collaborate on a wide-range of mixed-signal and analog circuit research focused on enabling mm-scale sensor systems. Topics include low-power energy harvesting and power management, low power analog/capacitive/resistive to digital conversion, low power instrument and audio amplification and low power imagers. They have pioneered new voltage and frequency references (XO and RO) which have set new records in power efficiency. In addition, they have combined these circuits into novel low power systems that enable the worlds smallest, mm-scale computing and sensing systems.

Prof. Michael Flynn research team has longstanding and ground breaking research in analog to digital conversion, including pioneering work in noise shaping SAR-ADCs. One theme of his research is exploiting the tremendous speed of devices in nanometer processes and the development of novel digital schemes to assist analog processing. 

Profs. Hun-Seok Kim and David Blaauw collaborate on minimally invasive neural probes for brain-machine interfaces with application to limb function restoration. This work includes new low-noise neural amplifier circuits, power and communication techniques as well as novel communication protocols for connecting thousands of tiny neural implants with external readers.