Eric Vittoz - IEEE

President’s Message
Willy Sansen, K. U. Leuven, willy.sansen@esat.kuleuven.be
SSCS members ask me, is hardware
disappearing? (They seem
to be worried.) Is this an observation,
or is it the conclusion of some
hardware vs. software panel?
Where has hardware gone? Has it
gone virtual, or has it been globalized
out?
Hardware is, for example, my car.
It is not gone. I sit in it and I drive
it, thanks to all the software inside.
The chips in my car are also hardware,
but they have been realized
thanks to software.
Our “Red Rag” as a Canvas
The Journal of Solid-State Circuits is
also hardware. It is a thick pack of
paper we are used to receiving every
month by mail. We glance through,
we turn pages, like walking through
a painting exhibit. Once in a while
we stop and allow the content to
seep through. We notice the painter
made it twenty years ago. We try to
understand what it tries to say, but
we don’t. We feel something is there,
but it will take more time to understand.
It will take more effort as well.
Right now we don’t have the time.
We will go through it later, somewhere,
when we have more time.
The JSSC Goes Green
Today the Journal in paper form is
disappearing. Environmentalists have
Introduction
convinced us that sending thousands
of pages to readers who look at only
a few makes too heavy a carbon
print on our precious world. So the
Journal in paper has gone virtual; it
has turned into a passworded list of
numbers on a website. Of course, we
have kept the last paper copy in the
lowest drawer of our desk so we can
show it to our grandchildren; and we
smile at their remarks that this is
what we indulged in some time ago.
So we remember and we still like
the red color of that red rag. Now
the red rag has gone green. It has
been virtualized together, perhaps,
with our desk.
Unpeeling the Circuit Paper
We need our Journal for learning. --
Learning is life, and this we need.
How much have we actually
learned from the JSSC?
Looking at a painting never teaches
you all. Going through a paper
never reveals all its secrets. Nowadays
the circuit “paper” comes in layers.
The title and abstract contain its entire
performance, and it is searchable. As
with a number of technical terms, all
paintings [sorry, technical exhibits] are
revealed and explained and put in a
comparative table with the FOM of its
kind. The next layer goes up or
down. Up are all applications, down
are the circuit details. The paper is
Erik H.M. Heijne, CERN, Erik.heijne@cern.ch
Microelectronics profoundly
impacts consumer products
and habits, and the products
themselves put rigorous constraints
on microelectronics. This reciprocity
is perfectly illustrated by the summer
2008 issue of the SSCS News.
The historical accounts given by
some of the actors show how the use
of microelectronics circuits in wristwatches
has forced them to improve
power usage far beyond earlier limits.
Also required were better understanding
and improved tools for
device and circuit simulation.
About a year ago, I suggested to
Mary Lanzerotti and her colleagues
that Eric Vittoz and his contributions
to low power microelectronics might
be a good subject for an issue of the
Society News. Mary has implemented
this in a marvelous way by contacting
organized per screen (or slide). Only
one delta of understanding is added
per screen. The longer we follow, the
more our insight is built up. At the
end we see some SPICE files and
curves. Who would actually go that
far? Only someone who wants to use
the circuit. First some money must be
paid, however. On the lowest level, I
can do a redesign, according to my
specs. The design procedure is then
started a few layers higher, and my
version is ready. More money is needed
to get a hardware version, and
some more time.
Has Chip Design Gone Virtual?
This circuit was submitted to the
Journal only three weeks ago. Only a
few comments by a few experts have
been added since then. More will be
added later on, I am sure. I have to
add mine as well, if I use it. Otherwise
much more money is required.
Thus, design has gone virtual
now, or is it the hardware (chip)
which has gone virtual? Has the
design of this hardware gone soft?
A conference is like the premiere of
a painting exhibit. We receive a catalogue
beforehand. Then we get together
with a few colleagues or friends to
make a short tour; we exchange our
impressions, and on the reception at
the end, we have a drink, free for SSCS
members.
and stimulating the authors and by
coordinating the issue that you have
in hand. I am certain that the authors’
enthusiasm and informed accounts
will lead to new ideas and stimulate
many in our community, demonstrating
the dynamic of the IEEE as an
international community of engineers
with high profile and great potential,
including expertise in the area of low
power.
4 IEEE SSCS NEWS Summer 2008