Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: Feb. 6


New technical papers added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library this week. [table id=187 /] More ReadingTechnical Paper Library home » read more

HW/SW Techniques To Regulate Supply Voltage And Clock Frequency Of Intermittently-Computing Devices


A technical paper titled “Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling for Intermittent Computing” was published by researchers at Politecnico di Milano, Georgia Institute of Technology, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Uppsala University. Abstract: "We present hardware/software techniques to intelligently regulate supply voltage and clock frequency of intermittently-computing devic... » read more

Every Walk’s A Hit: Making Page Walks Single-Access Cache Hits


As memory capacity has outstripped TLB coverage, large data applications suffer from frequent page table walks. We investigate two complementary techniques for addressing this cost: reducing the number of accesses required and reducing the latency of each access. The first approach is accomplished by opportunistically "flattening" the page table: merging two levels of traditional 4 KB p... » read more

Research Bits: Feb. 22


Dense optical data storage Researchers from the University of Southampton developed a laser writing method for producing high-density nanostructures in silica glass, which could be used for long-term, dense data storage. “Individuals and organizations are generating ever-larger datasets, creating the desperate need for more efficient forms of data storage with a high capacity, low energy ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: May 11


Light-emitting silicon Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Johannes Kepler University, and Technische Universität München developed a silicon germanium alloy that can emit light, paving the way for a silicon laser that could be integrated for on-chip and chip-to-chip communication. Bulk silicon is extremely inefficient at emitting... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Aug. 5


Biofuels from microorganisms Researchers at Uppsala University are working on adapting microorganisms to be capable of producing useful biofuels out of carbon dioxide and solar energy. The team is focused on a series of modified cyanobacteria that produces the alcohol butanol, said Pia Lindberg, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University. "When ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 22


Exotic water The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) organization, Uppsala University and SLAC have turned a large X-ray laser into the world’s fastest water heater. Using an X-ray free-electron laser from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, researchers have heated water from room temperature to 100,000 degrees Celsius in less than a tenth of a picosecond or a millionth of a mil... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 17


Flexible LCDs Researchers at Donghua University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology developed a flexible, optically rewriteable LCD for paperlike displays. The team estimates it will be cheap to produce, perhaps only costing $5 for a 5-inch screen. Optically rewriteable LCDs, like conventional LCDs, are structured like a sandwich, with a liquid crystal filling between two ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 28


Storing solar energy as carbon monoxide A team at Indiana University engineered a molecule that collects and stores solar energy without solar panels. The molecule uses light or electricity to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide more efficiently than any other method of carbon reduction. Burning fuel such as carbon monoxide produces carbon dioxide and releases e... » read more