The 17th International System-on-Chip (SoC)

Conference, Exhibit & Workshops

 October 16 & 17, 2019

University of California, Irvine (UCI) - Calit2

         
 
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SoC Conference Presenters'

Bios & Abstracts

16th International System-on-Chip (SoC)

Conference, Exhibit & Workshops

 

The Theme for This Year’s Conference Is “Silicon Engineering an Automated World."

To present and/or exhibit at this highly-targeted International System-on-Chip (SoC) Conference, please contact: 

949-981-1837 or SoC.Conf.Update@Gmail.com

a

Click Here To Download The UCI Campus Map

Directions & Parking for Calit2 Building at the University of California, Irvine (UCI)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schedule & Program Summary

 

 

 

SoC Conference Day 1

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

UCI - Calit2 Building

  8:00 am - 6:30 pm

 

 

SoC Conference Day 2

Thursday, October 18, 2018

UCI - Calit2 Building

  8:00 am - 6:30 pm

 

 

SoC Student Design Contest & Reception at 5:30 pm (open to public)

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

UCI - Calit2 Building

  2:00 pm - 7:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day One Wednesday October 17, 2018

 

SoC Conference Program Agenda*

 

 

Savant Company Inc.

 

 

SoC Conference

Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

 

 

Moderator

 

Farhad Mafie, President and CEO of Savant Company Inc., that provides marketing and business development services to high-tech startups and mid-size companies on a worldwide basis. He has over 25 years of experience in high-tech industries including semiconductor and computer businesses; additionally, he has more than 15 years of university-level teaching experience.

 

In 2003, Farhad designed and developed the annual Internationals System-on-Chip (SoC) Conference, Exhibits, and Workshops. As the SoC Conference Chairman, he drives the Conference leading-edge annual program.
 

As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for a Switzerland startup, Farhad is driving an innovative mobile payment system based on selected concepts that are very similar to Blockchain. 
 

For almost six years at Microsemi Corporation, as Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and Corporate Communications teams (in US, EU, India, and China), Farhad developed and managed the entire Microsemi’s worldwide outbound and inbound marketing strategies and programs; and worked directly with executive team on M&A projects and successfully integrating over 18 acquired companies.

 

Farhad is also the former Vice President of Marketing/Business Development and Technical Sales Engineering at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. He was responsible for marketing the entire Toshiba standard ICs in North America, as well as engineering development for Toshiba's Embedded and Digital Consumer products & solutions based on ASSP and SoC Models.


Farhad has worked at Lucent Technologies on marketing communications ICs, Toshiba Information Systems on product definition for Toshiba's notebooks PCs and handheld products, Unisys on designing new processors and computer systems, Ocean Scientific on designing medical instrumentations, and MSI Data on designing data collection products. He has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
 

He is an author and a translator. In 2003, he published the biography of Iranian poet and Nobel nominee who lived in exile, Nader Naderpour (1929-2000), Iranian Poet, Thinker, Patriot. Farhad is also Editor-in-Chief for the CRC Press SoC Design and Technologies Book Series, which includes (1) Low-Power NoC for High-Performance SoC Design and (2) Design of Cost-Efficient Interconnect Processing Units. Farhad is an active member of IEEE, and he is the chair of IEEE Orange County Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), as well as IEEE Orange County Entrepreneurs' Network (OCEN). He is also a member of two UCI Advisory Committees: Communication System Engineering and Embedded System Engineering Certificate Programs.

     

 

Microchip Technology

 

 

Dr. Lloyd Clark, Staff Applications Engineer, Microchip Technology.


 

“MCU Cores and Core-Independent Peripherals: Getting the Balance Right.”   

 

 

Abstract: Modern 8-bit microcontroller chips contain a capable, low-power CPU core as well as a wide variety of peripherals that require minimal interaction with the CPU. An increasing number of these peripherals are being designed to function as autonomous units that can communicate with each other via direct paths that do not involve the CPU -- so-called Core-Independent Peripherals (CIPs). By communicating directly, these peripherals can perform tasks such as waveform generation, analog-to-digital conversion with computation, and even closed-loop control with little or no CPU interaction, allowing the CPU to sleep or focus on other tasks. CIP implementations can provide significant advantages such as a nearly-instantaneous response time since there is no dependency on CPU interrupt latency. However, programming and debugging CIPs can also be challenging because their activities are, by design, highly independent of the CPU. What, then, is the proper partitioning of complexity between the CPU core and CIPs? How does one get the balance right? This talk will focus on some of the considerations involved in answering these questions.

Bio: Lloyd Clark is currently a Staff Applications Engineer with Microchip Technology. He has a decade of integrated circuit and MCU design experience with Atmel. Prior to that, he was with Ticom Geomatics and Schlumberger doing system design and embedded systems engineering, so he has worked with SoCs both on the inside and outside. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and holds 7 U.S. patents.
 

 

 

University of Bologna

 

 

Dr. Davide Rossi, University of Bologna.


 

“PULP: A Transprecision Multi-Core Platform for Micropower In-Sensor Analytics.”   

 

 

Abstract: The “internet of everything” envisions trillions of connected objects loaded with high-bandwidth sensors requiring massive amounts of local signal processing, fusion, pattern extraction and classification. From the computational viewpoint, the challenge is formidable and can be addressed only by pushing computing fabrics toward massive parallelism and tunable-precisions, achieving brain-like energy efficiency levels. In this talk, I will describe the evolution of the open source Parallel-Ultra-Low-Power (PULP) platform and tackle the main challenges for next generation mW-range energy efficient computing systems.

Bio: Davide Rossi, received the PhD from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2012. He has been a post doc researcher in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi” at the University of Bologna since 2015, where he currently holds an assistant professor position. His research interests focus on energy efficient digital architectures in the domain of heterogeneous and reconfigurable multi and many-core systems on a chip. This includes architectures, design implementation strategies, and runtime support to address performance, energy efficiency, and reliability issues of both high end embedded platforms and ultra-low-power computing platforms targeting the IoT domain. In these fields, he has published more than 60 paper in international peer-reviewed conferences and journals.
 

 

 

Kalray

 

Dr. Benoît De Dinechin, Chief Technology Officer of Kalray. 


 

“Kalray’s MPPA3 Manycore Processor: At the Heart of Intelligent Systems.”

 

Abstract: Kalray’s MPPA3 manycore processor is designed as a building block for intelligent systems. Intelligent systems require the integration of high-integrity functions, such as control-command, and high-performance functions, in particular signal processing, image processing and machine learning. Such intelligent systems are found in defense, aerospace, and automated vehicles. The MPPA3 processor will be taped-out in TSMC 16FFC technology by the end of 2018. The MPPA3 architecture comprises multiple compute units connected by on-chip global fabrics to external memory systems and network interfaces. Selecting compute units composed of fully programmable cores, a large local memory and an asynchronous data transfer engine enables to match the high performance and energy efficiency of GPGPU processors, while avoiding their limitations. We illustrate in particular how the MPPA3 processor accelerates deep learning inference by distributing computations across compute units and cores, and by offloading tensor operations to the tightly coupled coprocessor connected to each core.

Bio: Benoît Dupont de Dinechin is Chief Technology Officer of Kalray. He is the Kalray VLIW core main architect, and the co-architect of the Multi-Purpose Processing Array (MPPA) processors. Benoît also defined the Kalray software tools roadmap and contributed to its implementation. Before joining Kalray, Benoît was in charge of Research and Development of the STMicroelectronics Software, Tools, Services division, and was promoted to STMicroelectronics Fellow in 2008. Prior to STMicroelectronics, Benoît worked at the Cray Research park (Minnesota, USA), where he designed the software pipeliner of the Cray T3E production compilers. Benoît earned an engineering degree in Radar and Telecommunications from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (Toulouse, France), and a doctoral degree in computer systems from the University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris) under the direction of Prof. P. Feautrier. He completed his post-doctoral studies at the McGill University (Montreal, Canada) at the ACAPS laboratory led by Prof. G. R. Gao.
 

 

 

Morning Break

Morning Break

 

 

IHS Markit Technology

 

 

 

Tom Hackenberg, Principal Analyst, Embedded Processors Technology, Media & Telecom.

 

 

“Next Generation SoCs, SiPs and PoPs – Markets driving new levels of integration.” 

 


Abstract: The scope of this presentation would be to demonstrate how specific market demands have recently shaped the need for application specific SoCs and how new technologies and trends, especially in an automated world, are likely to further drive integration producing more complex heterogeneous SoCs, and where that makes sense. The content would run through six major market sectors Automotive, Consumer, Data Processing, Industrial, Wired Communications and Wireless Communications. The intent is to look at IoT, Edge Computing and AI enabling more advanced automation as trends driving particular applications to benefit from even higher levels of integration. AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Storage/Data Centers, Autonomous Vehicles, Neuromorphic Computing, Robotics, IoT, Blockchain, Smart Home, Security, Aerospace Electrification, 5G Communications, H2M, and Industry 4.0 would all be addressed where they are applicable by market.

 

Bio: Tom Hackenberg is the principal analyst for embedded processor markets at IHS Markit. His broad scope of processor coverage includes microcontrollers (MCU), microprocessors (MPU), signal processors (DSP) and logic component markets. In addition to component coverage, Tom provides a breadth of knowledge related to deeply embedded systems in markets such as automotive, industrial and telecommunications equipment. His analysis extends to processor technology trends such as embedded vision, machine to machine (M2M) communications, internet-of-things (IoT), sensor fusion, smart devices and embedded security. As part of his research scope, Tom authors a detailed tracking service for MCUs as well as custom reports on processors in automotive, telecommunications and industrial markets. He supports IHS Markit core services such as the Competitive Landscape Tool and Application Market Forecast Tool. Tom is well versed in all processor components including CPUs, GPUs, MPUs, MCUs, ASICs & ASSPs, FPGAs and configurable processors. Tom has been providing embedded processing market analysis since 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin specializing in processors and FPGAs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NXP Semiconductor

 

 

Keynote

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Robert Oshana, Vice President Software Engineering Research and Development, Microcontroller Group.

 

 

"RISC-V; is this the Linux of CPU’s?"

 

Abstract: RISC-V is a free and open ISA enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. The RISC-V Foundation now has more than 100 member organizations building the first open, collaborative community of software and hardware innovators powering innovation at the edge forward. The RISC-V ISA delivers a new level of software and hardware freedom on architecture in an open extensible way. This open ISA delivers easier support from a broad range of operating systems, software vendors and tool developers. The open source of hardware, RISC-V does not rely on a single supplier, but instead multiple suppliers, which supports unlimited potential for future growth. Can RISC-V become the Linux of CPU’s. Can we achieve the freedom that exists in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community. We will discuss some of the similarities as well as challenges in achieving such a model.

Bio: Rob Oshana is Vice President of Software Engineering R&D for the Microcontroller business line at NXP. He is a Senior Member IEEE and serves on multiple industry advisory boards, including the RISC-V Board of Directors. Rob is an recognized international speaker and has published numerous books and papers on software engineering and embedded systems. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University.
 

 

 

Lunch

Lunch

 

 

 

 

 

ON Semiconductor

 

 

Keynote

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), ON Semiconductor.
 

 

"Autonomous driving: where distributed and local systems find their optimum configuration"

 

Abstract:  The benefits of improved cost and reliability have long been the driver of monolithic integration. Individual devices are powered today by SoCs built in 10nm or better process technologies. With lithography continuing to improve, further digitization can be expected. Most of the functions that can be mapped into the digital domain, should be integrated monolithically. However, any associated memories require their own process and should be integrated at the board or package level to satisfy bandwidth and power constraints. When it comes to sensors or actuators, the unique processes are not compatible with the low voltage digital domain. Fortunately, stacking of dies and wafers has become practical, and provides much upside to optimizing each process for its main function, whether that be photon capture, or power control or management. In other words for sensor and actuator functions, SiP is a key method to integrate heterogeneous processes into the smallest, cheapest, highest performance packages. We will illustrate a few examples to highlight the varied requirements and choices: from image sensors for autonomous driving applications that require high dynamic range, at high speed, and high pixel density, to intelligent motor control with local, efficient power conversion using both discrete and mixed-signal processes and devices.
TBD.

 

Bio: Dr. Hans Stork is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at ON Semiconductor. He oversees the development of wafer process technologies, modeling and design kits, design libraries, as well as packaging technologies and assembly support.  Prior to joining ON Semiconductor, Dr. Stork was Group Vice President and CTO of the Silicon Systems Group at Applied Materials. From 2001 to 2007 he was Senior Vice President and the CTO of Texas Instruments. Before that, Dr. Stork held various R&D and management positions at Hewlett Packard Laboratories and at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center. Dr. Stork serves on the supervisory board of ASML, is a member of the Scientific Advisory board at IMEC, and has previously served on the boards of Sematech and the SRC. He is also a longstanding member of the SIA Technology Strategy Committee.  He authored more than 100 cited papers and holds 11 U.S. patents. He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1994, and served on several IEEE sponsored conference program committees, and is currently vice-chair of the Technical Field Awards Council and a member of the Awards Policy and Portfolio Review Committee.  Dr. Stork was born in Soest, The Netherlands, and received the Ingenieur degree in electrical engineering (EE) from Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, and holds a PhD in EE from Stanford University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intel

 

 

 

Jeff Parkhurst, PhD – Center Director for the Intel Science and Technology Center on Agile HW Design.
 

 

“Agile HW Design: Exploring the application of Agile SW methods to HW design.”

 

 

Abstract: Intel has been working with UC Berkeley and Stanford on applying Agile SW methods to HW design via the Intel Science and Technology Center (ISTC) on Agile HW Design including exploring increasing front end design productivity. This talk will cover some of the efforts in this center and survey some key learnings.

Bio: Dr. Jeff Parkhurst is the Program Director for the Intel Science and Technology Centers on Agile HW Design. He is responsible for managing the operational details in each center as well as providing direction setting of the research. The Center Director is the primary liaison between Intel and the universities on all operational matters including contracts, IP, space, logistics, funding, and technology/knowledge transfer. Center director is also responsible for guiding research and messaging. Prior to this assignment, Jeff was program director for the Intel Science and Technology center on Big Data. Jeff was also an Academic Research Programs Manager working with senior technologists internal and external to Intel setting research directions for the design science areas of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Jeff received his BS from University of Nevada at Reno in 1983 and his MS from the University of California at Davis in 1988 and his PhD at Purdue University in 1994. Dr. Parkhurst is the author of numerous papers and one patent.
 

 

 

Microsemi

 

 

Dr. Rino Micheloni, Vice-President and Fellow, Microsemi Corporation.

 

 

“Scaling and Reliability challenges of 3D NAND Flash memories.”

 


Abstract:  Over the last 2 decades, NAND Flash memories have changed our lives: Flash cards have almost completely replaced photographic films, and USB-pens have driven floppy disks to extinction. In the last few years, thanks to a great balance between cost and performances (i.e. write and read speeds), NAND Flash technology, in the form of Solid State Drives (SSDs), has begun gaining momentum over Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). This is especially true in consumer electronics, but SSD’s penetration in enterprise and cloud applications seems unstoppable. 3D NAND Flash is a brand-new technology, not only because of its multi-layer architecture, but also because it is based on a new type of NAND memory cell. There is a plethora of different materials and vertical architectures out there. New cells, new materials, new vertical architectures; basically, each Flash vendor has its unique solution. To increase the number of Gbit per mm2, cell’s size should shrink and the number of layers must go up, causing a lot of manufacturing challenges. Not only that. Indeed, NAND reliability becomes a major concern, especially when looking at SSD applications, where Flash is used as a standard drive. Therefore, together with the technological effort, Flash microcontrollers have to be designed to tolerate more and more native errors coming from the NAND (i.e. raw Bit Error Rate, BER).

Bio: Dr. Rino Micheloni is Vice-President and Fellow at Microsemi Corporation, where he currently runs the Flash Signal Processing Labs in Milan, Italy, with special focus on NAND Flash, Error Correction Codes, and Machine Learning. Prior to joining Microsemi, he was Fellow at PMC-Sierra, working on NAND Flash characterization, LDPC, and NAND Signal Processing as part of the team developing Flash controllers for PCIe SSDs. Before that, he was with IDT (Integrated Device Technology) as Lead Flash Technologist, driving the architecture and design of the BCH engine in the world’s first PCIe NVMe SSD controller. Early in his career, he led NAND design teams at STMicroelectronics, Hynix, and Infineon/Qimonda; during this time, he developed the industry’s first MLC NOR device with embedded ECC technology and the industry’s first MLC NAND with embedded BCH. Dr. Micheloni is IEEE Senior Member, he has co-authored more than 70 publications, and he holds 278 patents worldwide (including 131 US patents). He received the STMicroelectronics Exceptional Patent Award in 2003 and 2004, and the Infineon/Qimonda IP Award in 2007. Dr. Micheloni has published the following books with Springer: Solid-State-Drives (SSDs) Modeling (2017), 3D Flash Memories (2016), Inside Solid State Drives (2013), Inside NAND Flash Memories (2010), Error Correction Codes for Non-Volatile Memories (2008), Memories in Wireless Systems (2008), and VLSI-Design of Non-Volatile Memories (2005).

 

 

 

Afternoon Break

Afternoon Break

 

 

Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited.

 

Hitoshi Saito, director of Emerging memory Department of Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited.


 

“Highly reliable non-volatile memory suitable for battery-less equipment and its business solutions.”    


Abstract: Ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) is a non-volatile memory which has advantages such as high write endurance, low power consumption, high writing speed, verification-free, and stronger data retention even in the high temperature environment in comparison with conventional non-volatile memories. Although a downside of our previously commercialized FRAM was large cell, we have newly developed a triple hydrogen protection structure which can thoroughly protect PZT capacitor from hydrogen degradation and reduce the area to 40%. [1] FRAM is suitable for the battery-less equipment operated by energy harvesting because of the low power consumption of FRAM. For example, we have proposed a FRAM-embedded wearable solution, namely “smart shoes”. That can record data of step counts using accelerometer and send it to a smart phone or a smart watch using weak electric power unstably generated by bending soles integrated in the smart shoes. Moreover, an FRAM-embedded battery-less keyboard can communicate with computer or tablet with reader/writer in the same way as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags communicating. A new non-volatile RAM, so called Nanotube RAM (NRAM) consisting of carbon nanotube (CNT) cell resistor is under developing for higher density memory portfolio. We can apply NRAM to fine pitch logic process and continue shrinkage. Because NRAM has high endurance up to 1E12 cycles [2], high retention ability at 300 degree C [3], and high speed writing, a high-density NRAM has potential to replace NOR FLASH and even DRAM used in the mobile devices such as a smart phone. We also continue to promote the numbers of business solutions using new non-volatile RAMs, those offer a low power consumption, and many other advantages. I will present our strategy for the future non-volatile RAM in its development and marketing.

1. H. Saito et al., IEEE 7th IMW, 137 (2015).
2. S. Ning et al., IEEE T. Electron Devices, 2837 (2015).
3. T. Rueckes, Flash Memory Summit, 303 (2011).
 

Bio: Hitoshi Saito received the bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan and joined FUJITSU LIMITED in 1990. He had contributed to development of DRAM and FLASH process technology in 0.6 μm to 0.13 μm, had developed FRAM process and device of 0.35 μm to 0.18 μm technology, then has been developing NRAM process and device of 180 nm to 55 nm technology. Since 2016, he has been a director of Emerging memory Department of FUJITSU SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED. His recent interest is nonvolatile memory process and device including future exotic memories.
 

 

 

Mythic

 

Dr. Dave Fick, CTO and co-Founder of Mythic.
 

 

“Edge Inference with Matrix Multiplying Memories.”  

 

 

Abstract: Deep neural networks and deep learning have already shown a tremendous ability to serve as the foundation for highly-advanced perceptual algorithms. They will be essential for the most important technological developments over the next 10 years: autonomous systems (cars, drones, last-mile delivery), factory robotics, AR/VR, security, smart-buildings, and IoT to name a few. One of the major challenges of realizing this future falls on the semiconductor industry: delivering the massive compute performance needed for real-time neural networks in a form-factor suitable for devices with size, power, and cost constraints. When faced with massive compute loads and tough real-time requirements, the challenges come down to: performance (both throughput and latency), power dissipation, cost, and ease of integration. In deep neural networks (DNNs), the limiting factor is memory. The actual arithmetic itself is quick and low power: DNNs operate primarily on simple arithmetic like multiplies and additions and bit-depths are low (especially for inference). The challenge is memory: getting neural network weights, which can exceed 50 million, to the right processing element at the right time to be multiplied against the input and intermediate data.  Mythic created significant advantages for inference compute using flash memory and analog computation. Flash is capable of storing many levels (up to 8-10 bits) if it is treated as a short term (10-30 days) memory rather than a long term (10 years at 125 °C) memory. This represents an on-chip storage medium that is 50x denser than SRAM. Normally reading 8 bit multi-level-cell values out of flash would be very time and energy consuming. The solution is analog computation: calibrated analog currents that are steered across a string of flash transistors and modulated by the stored threshold voltages. This effectively performs the matrix math of DNN inference in a massively parallel fashion at low voltages, without ever having to read multi-level values out of the cells. Keeping processors close to memory is key, and by turning the flash cells into multiply-accumulate units, there is no way to make them closer.  The results speak for themselves: a single chip consuming under 2 Watts of power can deliver the same framerate for Resnet-50 as a $1000 GPU burning 150 Watts – at a small fraction of the price. More advanced networks, such as OpenPose and Video/LIDAR, can run at 60 fps at 2.5 W on two Mythic chips connected together. The same $1000 GPU burns 250 W running the same networks. These performance numbers will ensure the future of AI in applications like autonomous vehicles don’t have to live inside of $5000 liquid cooled boxes.

 

Bio: Dave Fick is the CTO and co-founder of Mythic, an Austin-based startup that is creating the next generation of inference microchips. Mythic uses mixed-signal computing to achieve 20-100x improvements in neural network performance for edge devices, and has raised $55M from top-tier investors to execute on this vision. Dave Fick earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
 

 

 

 

 

 

University of California, Irvine

(UCI)

 

 

Keynote

 

 

Nader Bagherzadeh, Professor (Joint Appointment), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science.
 

 

"Machine Learning a Paradigm Shift but has Limitations."

 

Abstract:  In this talk, an overview of current trends in machine learning will be discussed with an emphasize on challenges and opportunities. Finally, there will be an overview of our work related to this topic of research.

 

Bio: Dr. Nader Bagherzadeh has been involved in research and development in the areas of computer architecture, reconfigurable computing, VLSI chip design, and computer graphics. For almost ten years ago, he was the first researcher working on the VLSI design of a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) processor. Since then, he has been working on multithreaded superscalars and their application to signal processing and general purpose computing. His current project at UC, Irvine is concerned with the design of coarse grain reconfigurable pixel processors for video applications. The proposed architecture, called MorphoSys, is versatile enough to be used for digital signal processing tasks such as the ones encountered in wireless communications and sonar processing.  DARPA and NSF fund the MorphoSys project (total support $1.5 million). Dr. Bagherzadeh was the Chair of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine. Before joining UC, Irvine, from 1979 to 1984, he was a member of the technical staff (MTS) at AT&T Bell Laboratories, developing the hardware and software components of the next-generation digital switching systems (#5 ESS). Dr. Bagherzadeh holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. As a Professor, he has published more than a hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals and conference papers in areas such as advanced computer architecture, system software techniques, and high performance algorithms. He has trained hundreds of students who have assumed key positions in software and computer systems design companies in the past twelve years. He has been a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on more than $2.5 million worth of research grants for developing next-generation computer systems for solving computationally intensive applications related to signal and image processing. 

 

 

 

Panel

 

 

 

Panel:  

 

“AI and Machine Learning driving the Intelligent Machines: Will the Technological Singularity Happen?"

 

Abstract:  Artificial intelligence (AI) will no doubt have a significant impact on society in the coming years. But how intelligent can a machine be? The idea that human history is approaching a “Technological Singularity” that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of AI and machine learning continues to develop at its current dizzying rate, the singularity could come about in the middle of the present century. This panel will discuss the current state of the art for AI, deep learning and robotics, and try to predict where this technology is heading.

 

Moderator:  Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

Panelists: 

1. Professor Alexander Ihler, Associate Professor, Information & Computer Science, UC Irvine.
2. Anil Mankar, COO & SVP Engineering, BrainChip Inc.
3. Geeta Chauhan, CTO, DeepCloud.
4. Manoj Roge, VP, Strategic Planning & Business Development, Achronix.

5. Nader Bagherzadeh, Professor (Joint Appointment), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science. University of California, Irvine.

6. TBA.

 

 

 

This Panel Is Open To Everyone . . .  Register Online for FREE Panel Pass

 

 

 

Savant Company Inc.

 

 

SoC Conference

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

 

 

Moderator

 

Farhad Mafie, President and CEO of Savant Company Inc., that provides marketing and business development services to high-tech startups and mid-size companies on a worldwide basis. He has over 25 years of experience in high-tech industries including semiconductor and computer businesses; additionally, he has more than 15 years of university-level teaching experience.

 

In 2003, Farhad designed and developed the annual Internationals System-on-Chip (SoC) Conference, Exhibits, and Workshops. As the SoC Conference Chairman, he drives the Conference leading-edge annual program.
 

As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for a Switzerland startup, Farhad is driving an innovative mobile payment system based on selected concepts that are very similar to Blockchain. 
 

For almost six years at Microsemi Corporation, as Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and Corporate Communications teams (in US, EU, India, and China), Farhad developed and managed the entire Microsemi’s worldwide outbound and inbound marketing strategies and programs; and worked directly with executive team on M&A projects and successfully integrating over 18 acquired companies.

 

Farhad is also the former Vice President of Marketing/Business Development and Technical Sales Engineering at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. He was responsible for marketing the entire Toshiba standard ICs in North America, as well as engineering development for Toshiba's Embedded and Digital Consumer products & solutions based on ASSP and SoC Models.


Farhad has worked at Lucent Technologies on marketing communications ICs, Toshiba Information Systems on product definition for Toshiba's notebooks PCs and handheld products, Unisys on designing new processors and computer systems, Ocean Scientific on designing medical instrumentations, and MSI Data on designing data collection products. He has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
 

He is an author and a translator. In 2003, he published the biography of Iranian poet and Nobel nominee who lived in exile, Nader Naderpour (1929-2000), Iranian Poet, Thinker, Patriot. Farhad is also Editor-in-Chief for the CRC Press SoC Design and Technologies Book Series, which includes (1) Low-Power NoC for High-Performance SoC Design and (2) Design of Cost-Efficient Interconnect Processing Units. Farhad is an active member of IEEE, and he is the chair of IEEE Orange County Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), as well as IEEE Orange County Entrepreneurs' Network (OCEN). He is also a member of two UCI Advisory Committees: Communication System Engineering and Embedded System Engineering Certificate Programs.

 

     

 

BrainChip

 

 

Anil Mankar, COO & SVP Engineering, BrainChip Inc.


 

Panelist.  

 

 

Bio: Anil Mankar has spent 30 years developing products in the semiconductor industry. At Western Digital, Mr. Mankar developed PC core Logic chipsets. During his years at Conexant Systems Inc. in the position of VP of Engineering, he developed multiple products across industry segments and later became the company’s Chief Development Officer overseeing all product development for V92 Modem, DSL, Set-top boxes, PC audio and video ‘System on a Chip’ products. Mr. Mankar was SVP of VLSI Engineering at Mindspeed Technologies, responsible for Wireless and VOIP infrastructure product development.
 

 

 

UC Irvine

 

 

Professor Alexander Ihler, Associate Professor, Information & Computer Science, UC Irvine.


 

Panelist.  

 

 

Bio: TBA.

 

 

 
 

 

 

DeepCloud

 

 

 

Geeta Chauhan, CTO, DeepCloud.


 

Panelist.  

 

 

Bio: CTO with 25 yrs of expertise in building resilient, anti-fragile, large scale distributed platforms with 1B+ users for startups and Fortune 500s. Built and launched 15+ platforms and countless applications based on AI/Deep Learning, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, SDN, Micro-services, Self-healing, Elastic Scaling. Lead diverse global teams, scaling complex distributed systems for companies ranging from nimble startups to Fortune 500s. Focusing these days on building AI, Deep Learning and Blockchain based platforms for startups. Or tinkering in my garage to convert my electric car to run autonomously.

 
 

 

 

Achronix

 

 

Manoj Roge, VP, Strategic Planning & Business Development, Achronix.


 

Panelist.  

 

Bio: TBA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

University of California, Irvine

(UCI)

 

 

Nader Bagherzadeh, Professor (Joint Appointment), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science.
 

Panelist.  

 

 

Bio: Dr. Nader Bagherzadeh has been involved in research and development in the areas of computer architecture, reconfigurable computing, VLSI chip design, and computer graphics. For almost ten years ago, he was the first researcher working on the VLSI design of a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) processor. Since then, he has been working on multithreaded superscalars and their application to signal processing and general purpose computing. His current project at UC, Irvine is concerned with the design of coarse grain reconfigurable pixel processors for video applications. The proposed architecture, called MorphoSys, is versatile enough to be used for digital signal processing tasks such as the ones encountered in wireless communications and sonar processing.  DARPA and NSF fund the MorphoSys project (total support $1.5 million). Dr. Bagherzadeh was the Chair of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine. Before joining UC, Irvine, from 1979 to 1984, he was a member of the technical staff (MTS) at AT&T Bell Laboratories, developing the hardware and software components of the next-generation digital switching systems (#5 ESS). Dr. Bagherzadeh holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. As a Professor, he has published more than a hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals and conference papers in areas such as advanced computer architecture, system software techniques, and high performance algorithms. He has trained hundreds of students who have assumed key positions in software and computer systems design companies in the past twelve years. He has been a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on more than $2.5 million worth of research grants for developing next-generation computer systems for solving computationally intensive applications related to signal and image processing. 

 

 

 

Networking

 

Student Design Contest & Networking

 

 

   

Day TWO Thursday, October 18, 2018

 

SoC Conference Program Agenda*

 

 

Savant Company Inc.

 

 

SoC Conference

Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

 

 

Moderator

 

Farhad Mafie, President and CEO of Savant Company Inc., that provides marketing and business development services to high-tech startups and mid-size companies on a worldwide basis. He has over 25 years of experience in high-tech industries including semiconductor and computer businesses; additionally, he has more than 15 years of university-level teaching experience.

 

In 2003, Farhad designed and developed the annual Internationals System-on-Chip (SoC) Conference, Exhibits, and Workshops. As the SoC Conference Chairman, he drives the Conference leading-edge annual program.
 

As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for a Switzerland startup, Farhad is driving an innovative mobile payment system based on selected concepts that are very similar to Blockchain. 
 

For almost six years at Microsemi Corporation, as Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and Corporate Communications teams (in US, EU, India, and China), Farhad developed and managed the entire Microsemi’s worldwide outbound and inbound marketing strategies and programs; and worked directly with executive team on M&A projects and successfully integrating over 18 acquired companies.

 

Farhad is also the former Vice President of Marketing/Business Development and Technical Sales Engineering at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. He was responsible for marketing the entire Toshiba standard ICs in North America, as well as engineering development for Toshiba's Embedded and Digital Consumer products & solutions based on ASSP and SoC Models.


Farhad has worked at Lucent Technologies on marketing communications ICs, Toshiba Information Systems on product definition for Toshiba's notebooks PCs and handheld products, Unisys on designing new processors and computer systems, Ocean Scientific on designing medical instrumentations, and MSI Data on designing data collection products. He has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
 

He is an author and a translator. In 2003, he published the biography of Iranian poet and Nobel nominee who lived in exile, Nader Naderpour (1929-2000), Iranian Poet, Thinker, Patriot. Farhad is also Editor-in-Chief for the CRC Press SoC Design and Technologies Book Series, which includes (1) Low-Power NoC for High-Performance SoC Design and (2) Design of Cost-Efficient Interconnect Processing Units. Farhad is an active member of IEEE, and he is the chair of IEEE Orange County Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), as well as IEEE Orange County Entrepreneurs' Network (OCEN). He is also a member of two UCI Advisory Committees: Communication System Engineering and Embedded System Engineering Certificate Programs.

 

     

 

University of Michigan

 

 

NASA JPL

 

Dr. Mina Rais-Zadeh, Associate Professor, University of Michigan, EECS Department, Technical Supervisor and Lead, Advanced Optical and Electromechanical Microsystems, NASA JPL. 


 

“"Phase Change RF and Optoelectronics on Silicon."   

 

Abstract:  Chalcogenide glasses are a sub-family of phase change materials (PCM) with nonvolatile properties; familiar examples of chalcogenide glasses include Germanium (Antimony) Telluride [1] and Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) [2]. For several decades, chalcogenide glasses have been incorporated into different electronic and optical systems. Certain properties of PCMs are especially useful for such applications. Specifically, PCMs undergo a structural transition between their room-temperature-stable phases, amorphous and crystalline, in response to an external stimulus such as electrical current or laser pulse. Amorphous films are optically transparent and electrically isolative while crystalline PCMs are typically optically lossy, reflective, and electrically conductive. More than six orders in magnitude of change in the resistivity and 2X change in optical properties with reliable phase transitions make Germanium Telluride (GeTe) a good candidate to be incorporated in both electrical and optical devices. Moreover, as GeTe lacks antimony, which is a contaminant that reduces stability, it is arguably a better material for nanofabrication processing. One area for application of PCMs is reconfigurable switches for radio frequencies (RF) with high isolation. PCMs integrated in a band-pass filters have the potential to be very useful in numerous of applications such as cognitive radios, modern transceivers, anti-jamming communication systems, and multi-channel systems. Electrical resistivity modulation between the amorphous and crystalline phases of GeTe helps to improve switching at RF regions with very low insertion losses and high isolations up-to 20 GHz in PCM-based RF switches [3]. The core component of GeTe-based switches is the heating method integrated in them for crystallographic phase transition. Among the different methods of GeTe phase transition, joule-heating with an electrical pulse either through direct or indirect heat sources stand apart as the preferred method. This is due to easier integration and low cost, as well as the availability of fast, reversible, and low power transitions for many cycles. Potential applications of PCMs are not limited to RF applications alone. Tunable optical components are of utmost interest in a variety of applications such as shutters, modulators, and color filters. A nonvolatile and ultra-high contrast optical switch is needed to isolate the laser beam in a chip-scale atomic clock for higher accuracy. Incorporation of GeTe in a Fabry–Pérot cavity, leads to realization of a zero static power color reflector. A zero static power color reflector has the potential to revolutionize commonly used static optical components to produce colors [4-7]. Zero static power passive displays, which only consume power when switching colors, are among most important alternatives to active devices, especially in ultra-low power displays with a low refresh rate. Moreover, continues vivid colors in a single pixel demonstration is only possible where a tunable color reflector is integrated into the display system such as in single mirror interferometrics (SMI), where a moving MEMS mirror is used to tune the pixel color [8,9].  To address durability, power, and performance of these SMI devices, a GeTe-based layered color reflector on silicon substrate is introduced. Ultra-thin GeTe films used in these devices undergo a smoother phase transitions compared to thicker films. Unlike VO2 or liquid crystal, these are stable at room temperature without the presence of external stimuli [10,11]. Multiple total light absorption layers consisting of ultra-thin layers of GeTe and silver (Ag) are used to achieve such a tunable color reflector. Stacking the total light absorption is possible with the availability of Ag films with thicknesses < 20 nm Ag, developed by adding 3% of aluminum to during the sputtering as well as as-sputtered amorphous silicon films with high optical index [12]. Such a design can provide smaller time constant which is required for successful amorphization process. To sum up, this paper introduces a novel optical switch consist of a PCM material integrated with noble metals and amorphous silicon to achieve tunable color filtering within the visible spectrum employing a total light absorption phenomenon in thin films with high loss.
[1] Hosseini, P., Wright, CD., and Bhaskaran, H., “An optoelectronic framework enabled by low-dimensional phase-change films”. Nature, 511(7508), pp. 206-211. (2014).
[2] Liu, M., et al. "Terahertz-field-induced insulator-to-metal transition in vanadium dioxide metamaterial." Nature 487.7407 (2012): 345.
[3] Wang, M., 2017. “Phase Change Material Based Ohmic Switches for Reconfigurable RF Applications.”, PhD dissertation, 2017, University of Michigan.
[4] Li, J., et al. "Highly Efficient Organic Light‐Emitting Diode Based on a Hidden Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Channel in a Heptazine Derivative." Advanced Materials 25.24 (2013): 3319-3323.
[5] Zhu, M., and Yang, C. "Blue fluorescent emitters: design tactics and applications in organic light-emitting diodes." Chemical Society Reviews 42.12 (2013): 4963-4976.
[6] Lee, K.T., et al. "Strong Resonance Effect in a Lossy Medium‐Based Optical Cavity for Angle Robust Spectrum Filters." Advanced Materials 26.36 (2014): 6324-6328.
[7] Do, Y. S., et al. "Plasmonic Color Filter and its Fabrication for Large‐Area Applications." Advanced Optical Materials 1.2 (2013): 133-138.
[8] Lee, J., Chen, H. F., Batagoda, T., Coburn, C., Djurovich, P. I., Thompson, M. E., & Forrest, S. R. (2016). Deep blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with very high brightness and efficiency. Nature materials, 15(1), 92.
[9] Hong, J., Chan, E., Chang, T., Fung, T. C., Hong, B., Kim, C., ... & Wen, B. (2015). Continuous color reflective displays using interferometric absorption. Optica, 2(7), 589-597.S
[10] Jafari M. and Rais-Zadeh M., “Zero-static-power phase-change optical modulator,” Optics letter, pp. 1177-1180. (2016).
[11] Jafari, M. and Rais-Zadeh, M., “A 1550 NM phase change electro-optical shutter.” In IEEE 29th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), pp. 655-658. IEEE. (2016)
[12] Zhang, C., et al. "An ultrathin, smooth, and low‐loss Al‐doped Ag film and its application as a transparent electrode in organic photovoltaics." Advanced Materials 26.32 (2014): 5696-5701.

Bio: Mina Rais-Zadeh received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees both in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2008, respectively. From 2008 to 2009, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2009, she joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Since 2014, she has been an Associate Professor in EECS with courtesy appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is currently at NASA JPL and on leave of absence from U. of Michigan. She is a senior member of IEEE, and a member of ASME, and a distinguished lecturer of IEEE EDS. She has served as a member of the technical program committee of IEEE IEDM (2011-2014), IEEE Sensors Conference (2011-2017), the Hilton Head workshop (2012, 2014, 2016), the IEEE MEMS Conference (2014-2015), Transducers (2015, 2017), and IFCS (2015-2018). She served on the 2015 IEEE MEMS Executive Committee and was an associate editor of IEEE Electron Device Letters (EDL). She is now an associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) and on editorial board of Nature Scientific Reports. She is the TPC chair for the Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop (Hilton Head) Workshop in 2018. Her research interests include electron devices for wireless communication and sensing applications and the related device physics, resonant micromechanical devices, RF MEMS, gallium nitride MEMS, and micro/nano fabrication process development.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cadence Design Systems

 

 

Pankaj Singh and Vinayak Hegde, Cadence Design Systems, Bangalore, India.

 

 

“Overcoming Challenges of Verifying Complex High Speed Mixed Signal Designs." 

 

Abstract: Verification complexity of Interface Mixed Signal IP’s like SERDES increased manifold with increased design. Receive (RX) path of the SERDES is most complex and hence verifying it thoroughly is a significant challenge. This includes verifying calibration techniques, equalization adaptation algorithm, clock and data recovery path, production test-modes like eye-surf form the core of receiver path verification of SERDES. As verification of these techniques have strong link with analog parameters; Verilog standard-logic functional models are not sufficient to ensure thorough verification. Verification using Spice netlist is desirable to get most accurate results, However this is not a practical approach as limiting factor in this context is the longer simulation time. Efficient and Innovative Digital Mixed-Signal (DMS) verification methodology is required to enable effective verification of RX path of SERDES. This presentation describes the usage of Real value models and Capture -Verify approach to verify complex high speed mixed signal design. Real value models are the backbone of DMS methodology. Real value models are created for all critical modules in Receive path like Equalizer and Sampler and its associated peripheral modules. It is critical to make sure created models are functionally equivalent to respective designs. This is achieved by verifying each created model with respective designs for all functional modes. While the Real Value models are effective in meeting overcoming the simulation performance bottleneck by achieving 10x faster simulation time; the Nonlinearity factors of the front-end design are not represented accurately in discrete domain real value models for next generation of SerDes Design at very high data rate.  To overcome this problem, a novel approach called ‘capture and verify’ is used for verifying the jitter tolerance and eye parameters. In this approach, waveforms from spice level verification of Equalizer for different functional modes are captured and stored. These stored waveforms are used to generate run time table-based models to accurately represent the analog modules. These run time models are used in top-level simulations along with real value models thereby achieving required goal of simulation performance without compromising on accuracy of results. The complete Design Verification (DV) environment is developed using UVM-e Methodology. Verification environment contains model for transmitter with all de-emphasis settings along with protocol compliant channels with multiple attenuations. DV infrastructure has hooks to plug-in required channel models to verify SERDES. This verification environment is also capable of verifying the clock data recovery (CDR) path of the design using protocol compliant jitter and Spread-Spectrum Clocking (SSC) stimulus. The real value modelling bridges the gap between the performance requirements of the simulation and accuracy limitations of design. A significant speed-up in simulation performance is achieved (almost 10X in this case) by replacing with functionally equivalent real value models for mixed signal designs. Usage of Capture and Verify methodology with spice simulation waveforms for critical blocks ensures non-linearity of the next generation high speed SerDes design is well captured in simulations provide complete comprehensive solution for high speed mixed signal designs.  Sampler and Equalizer calibration results are shown in Figure 1. Here static calibration is followed by Adaptation and Dynamic Offset Correction. Offset values can be dynamically configured from verification environment to cover all the required ranges. Figure 2 shows the results of CDR path verification with 4000 ppm offset, 1MHz single tone sine jitter for data rate of 5 Gbps.

Final paper will cover more details on DMS verification challenges and the verification methodology for different calibration techniques, 2D Eye surf and CDR path verification with jitter, SSC stimulus.

Bio/s: Vinayak Hegde is Sr Design Engineering Manager in IP group of Cadence Design Systems, Bangalore. He is responsible for Modelling and Mixed Signal verification of SerDes IP’s in Bangalore Center. He has more than 16 years of experience in mixed signal verification and ams methodology development since he graduated from Karnataka University, Dharwar, India. He also holds a Master of Science degree in  Microelectronics from BITS, Pilani, India. He has 5 international presentations to his name in DVCon India, DVCon US and DAC.

Pankaj completed his Bachelors in Electronics from NIT Bhopal in 1993; Master's in Electrical Engineering from USF, Florida and an MBA from SMU, Dallas. He has 20+ years of industry experience which includes various leadership management roles. Currently he is leading and managing Central Verification R&D teams for Cadence Design Systems India and APAC. He has published 30 technical papers in various international conferences.

 

 

 

 

TSI Semiconductors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilbur Catabay, SVP TDCS & Corporate Strategy, TSI Semiconductors.

 

 

"Leveraging 0.18UM Foundry Technologies with Heterogeneous Integration of Novel Devices in an ITAR/Trusted Foundry."

 

Abstract: There has been rapid growth in our Consumer and Industrial markets that is driving the need for more sensors and big data to fulfill the needs of innovative ideas that push the limits beyond what a typical foundry can offer. Today’s IOT devices are getting smarter and more connected and is now moving to the next stages of the “Internet of Everything”. Devices for RFID tags, Micro controller, NVM, DNA sequencing and MEMS Sensors have been around but are constantly evolving and are considered as significant and innovative changes to our devices. Silicon innovators in Large Device Manufacturers, small to mid size companies, and start-up companies with disruptive technologies targeting today's "Smart Markets" need a flexible fabrication facility to showcase a proof of concept and if successful, a place to commercialize the technology with secure IP protection and more importantly IP retention. TSI Semiconductors will give an overview of how to close the innovation gap to enable these disruptive technologies by integrating and leveraging the CMOS platform with new materials and novel architectures in a high volume manufacturing facility.

Bio: Wilbur Catabay is a veteran of the semiconductor industry with more than 25 years of experience. Recently, Mr. Catabay was VP of Technology at SVTC Technologies and President of Silicon Integrated Solutions, Inc., who provided Engineering Services for Device and Process Integration. He also was Senior Director for LSI Logic’s Foundry Engineering & Integration organization and Director of the Advanced Process Module Development in the R&D organization. He was responsible for evaluating and developing advanced material research for CMOS transistors and advanced metal interconnect technology. Mr. Catabay also worked with design and manufacturing organizations as the focal point for implementation of new process module technology from 130nm to 45nm CMOS technology nodes. In 1991, he was an assignee of the technical staff at SEMATECH. Mr. Catabay has submitted more than 100 invention disclosures and has been awarded more than 65 patents with patents pending during his tenure with LSI Logic and SVTC Technologies. He has published more than 50 technical articles in professional journals and presented at various technical conferences. In addition, he was the Patent Liaison and Inventor of the year at LSI Logic and currently serves as a board member/technical advisor for several technology firms. He attended San Jose State University in Industrial Technology with Business Management.

 

 

 

Octavo Systems

 

Gene Frantz – CTO, Octavo Systems.


 

“Integration Beyond System-on-Chip: The System-in-Package.”   

 

Abstract: The semiconductor industry has depended on Silicon Integration to meet the ever-demanding needs of their customers. This has led to ever more complex System-on-Chip (SoC) designs, integrating a wide variety of disparate functions. However, as the demands of end systems have continued to increase and Silicon processes continue to specialize the possibility of integrating everything into a single die has become increasingly difficult, forcing SoC to really be SSoC (Sub-System on Chip). If the semiconductor industry wants to continue to integrate the features customers are demanding, a new solution to future integration must be found. The new solution is System-in-Package. This presentation will discuss the need for System-in-Package technology and how it can work with SSoC to meet the future needs of customers.

Bio: Gene is one of the founders and the visionary behind Octavo Systems. He currently serves as Chief Technology Officer. He is also a Professor in the Practice at Rice University in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Previously, Gene was the Principal Technology Fellow at Texas Instruments where he built a career finding new opportunities and building new businesses to leverage TI’s DSP technology. Through this work he became highly regarded in the industry as a leader in DSP technology. Gene holds 48 patents, has written over 100 papers/articles and presents at conferences around the globe. He has a BSEE from the University of Central Florida, a MSEE from Southern Methodist University, and a MBA from Texas Tech University. He is also a Fellow of the IEEE.
 

 

 

 

LG Electronics Mobile Communications

 

 

Keynote

 

 

Dr. Yasser Nafei, Senior Vice President LG Electronics Mobile Communications.
 

“Accelerating the adoption of 5G: The journey towards a consumer centric vocabulary"

 

Abstract:  TBD.

 

Bio: Yasser Nafei currently serves a Senior Vice President and division head at LG Electronics. Dr. Nafei joined LG in 2010 and currently oversees strategy, sales and business development for mobile business unit. In his current role, he is responsible for developing, communicating and executing LG strategy, business plans, product and technology roadmaps and go to market activities. Throughout his career, Dr. Nafei previously held senior management positions at Alcatel, IBM, Motorola, Nortel and Tellabs. His global assignments include research & development, technology strategy, mergers & acquisitions, sales & marketing along with quality and service operations.  Dr. Nafei holds a Bachelor’s and a Masters’ degrees in Electrical Engineering from Ain Shams University in Egypt, a Master of Science in Telecommunications from INRS Canada, and a Ph.D. in Organization Development from Benedictine University in the United States. He is the author of several business books including “Corporate Dictatorship ISBN 978-0982328743 and Corporate Spring ISBN 978-0982328750. He is a published writer and lecturer in future technology trends, consumer centric research, corporate governance, business turnaround strategies, conflict management, customer advocacy and mergers & acquisitions.
 

 

 

Lunch

Lunch

 

 

UC Irvine

 

 

Dr. Fadi J Kurdahi, Center for Embedded & Cyber-physical Systems, University of California, Irvine.
 

“Towards Self-Aware Systems-on-Chip Through Intelligent Cross-Layer Coordination.”   

 

Abstract: Although there is a rich history of cross-layer design for embedded computing systems to achieve desired QoS, we are facing ever more challenges from the intertwined goals of energy- efficiency, thermal design constraints, as well as resilience to errors emanating from the application, environment and hardware platforms. We posit that next-generation computing platforms must necessarily deploy intelligent cross-layer design achieved through self-awareness principles inspired by biology and nature. Such an approach will move us from current strategies (using limited cross-layer coordination) to a holistic cross-layer strategy that enables intelligent cross-layer management policies which can adaptively tune itself based on the current state of the system. The talk will present design exemplars that embrace this intelligent cross-layer approach, and highlight the role of self-awareness in achieving dynamic adaptivity.

Bio: Fadi Kurdahi received his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1987. Since then, he has been a faculty at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at UCI, where he conducts research in the areas of Computer Aided Design and design methodology of large scale systems. He serves as the Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, and the Director of the Center for Embedded & Cyber-physical Systems (CECS), comprised of world-class researchers in the general area of Embedded and Cyber-physical Systems. He served on numerous editorial boards, and was program chair or general chair on program committees of several workshops, symposia and conferences in the area of CAD, VLSI, and system design. He received the best paper awards for the IEEE Transactions on VLSI in 2002, ISQED in 2006 and ASP-DAC in 2016, and other distinguished paper awards at DAC, EuroDAC, ASP- DAC and ISQED. He also received the Distinguished Alumnus award from his Alma Mater, the American University of Beirut in 2008. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the AAAS.
 

 

 

UCLA

 

Dr. Boris Vaisband, UCLA Engineering Dept.


 

“Design of Ultra-Large Wafer-Level Systems.”

 

Abstract: Silicon interconnect fabric (Si-IF) is a compatible wafer-level platform to satisfy the needs of heterogeneous ultra large scale systems (e.g., neuromorphic systems). Si-IF provides an opportunity to reduce both, the distance between chips and the vertical interconnect pitch. Bare (unpackaged) dies are placed directly on the passive Si-IF platform that effectively replaces the printed circuit board. The Si-IF supports integration of heterogeneous dies including III-V, MEMS, and sensor dies. The dies are connected using fine pitch vertical interconnects (pillars) designed directly on the Si-IF. The pitch of the vertical pillars that are used to bond dies to the Si-IF is 2 to 10 μm, and the minimal distance between adjacent dies on the Si-IF is approximately 50 to 100 μm. To enable the Si-IF as a practical platform for ultra large scale heterogeneous integration, system-level issues, similar to a large system on chip (SoC), must be addressed. A network on interconnect fabric (NoIF) is proposed to support global communication (e.g., RF and optical interconnects), power management (including multiple technologies and voltage domains), synchronization, and to facilitate testing within the Si-IF. The Si-IF is a passive platform; utility dies (UDs) serve, therefore, as intelligent nodes within the NoIF. Various parameters must be considered when designing the NoIF, including communication performance, power, functionality, yield, and cost.


Bio: Boris Vaisband is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, working on wafer-level heterogeneous system integration. He received a B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel in 2011, and an M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, in, respectively 2012 and 2017. Between 2008 and 2011, he held a hardware design position at Intel Corporation in Israel. In the summer of 2013, he interned with the Optical and RF research group at Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, CA. In the summer of 2015, he interned with the Power Design team at Google Inc., Mountain View, CA. His current research interests include integration of heterogeneous systems, power delivery, communication, thermal aware design and floorplanning, and noise coupling for high performance computing, IoT, and bio-compatible systems.
 

 

 

ANSYS, Inc.

 

Dr. Norman Chang co-Founded Apache Design Solutions in 2001, and currently serves as Chief Technologist at Semiconductor BU, ANSYS, Inc. 


 

“Emerging ADAS Thermal Reliability needs and Solutions."   

 

Abstract: Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) used for pedestrian detection, parking assist, night vision, blind spot monitoring, collision avoidance and other such capabilities have significantly enhanced car safety and reduced the risk of dangerous accidents. These technologies are enabled through sensors, cameras, advanced processors and intelligent software for continuously sensing the environment, gathering, and processing the data to make meaningful decisions in real time. They are further evolving to create a network of intelligent systems using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, thus paving the way for autonomous driving. To support these advanced technologies, automotive electronics require to be overhauled to enable Machine Learning and particularly Deep Learning capabilities to transform the typical car into a smart system on wheels. Thermal reliability becomes very critical for these high-power, intelligent electronics systems since it needs to last more than 10 years under often hostile thermal environments – temperature under the hood of the car can go as high as 135°C to 150°C. This talk presents an innovative multi-physics solution for thermal, thermal-aware EM, and thermal-induced stress analysis of a Chip-Package-System realized in 3DIC, an example of which is an AI system used in ADAS.

Bio: Norman Chang co-founded Apache Design Solutions in February 2001 and currently serves as Chief Technologist at Semiconductor BU, ANSYS, Inc. He is also currently leading the effort of applying ML/DL at ANSYS. Prior to Apache, Dr. Chang lead a group at Palo Alto HP Labs, focused on interconnect related signal/power integrity issues and contributing to the HP-Intel IA64 micro-processor design. Dr. Chang received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from University of California, Berkeley. He holds thirteen patents and has authored over 50 technical papers. He also co-authored the popular book, "Interconnect Analysis and Synthesis", published by John Wiley & Sons, 2000. He is currently in the committee for ESDA-EDA and SI2 Open3D TAB.
 

 

 

HPE

 

 

Michael Krause, VP and Fellow Engineer at HPE. 


 

“Next-Generation Interface - Gen-Z.”

 

Abstract: The public release of the Gen-Z Core Specification 1.0 allows silicon providers and IP developers to start working on products based on this exciting new interface. Gen-Z is the right way to address the worldwide explosion of data (180ZB annually by 2025) and the need for a high throughput, low-latency, scalable, memory-centric fabric. Gen-Z responds to the rapid rise in the number of extremely fast devices and enables a memory-centric architecture with full composability. It simplifies memory-to-memory transfers and eliminates the need for side channels and DMA, thus avoiding behind-the-curtain operations that are difficult to understand, evaluate, debug, or update. Gen-Z is designed with security as a key tenet and contains embedded access and security rights. Future versions of Gen-Z will meet the needs of emerging applications such as artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, real-time data analysis, the Edge, and autonomous systems.

Bio: Michael Krause supports the HP Servers area of the Enterprise Group, where he is focused on developing new computer and memory architectures and developing HP strategies on a range of technologies. In a career spanning nearly three decades at HP, Krause has worked in a variety of positions developing deep expertise in I/O, OS, storage, memory, virtualization, and high speed
network and fabric architectures. He also chairs the HP Servers Technical Career Path Promotion Board and is active in mentoring and developing HP’s technical community. Widely admired as an inventor, Krause has co-developed and led HP in the creation of numerous technologies including PCI Express, InfiniBand, single and multi-Root I/O Virtualization, ATS, RDMA, M-PCIe, HMC, and Ethernet DCB / EVB. He has also been an active contributor to key industry associations, including the PCI-SIG, IETF, IEEE, DMTF, InfiniBand TA, and USB-IF. Krause received his B.S. and M.S. in computer engineering from San Jose State University
 

 

 

Intrinsic ID

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Pim Tuyls, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Intrinsic ID.

 

 

"Securing the IoT via a Software-Delivered Hardware Root of Trust"
 

 

Abstract: As concern for securing the Internet of Things continues to escalate, so does the need for a reliable root of trust to establish a unique, immutable and unclonable identity for any connected device. A root of trust establishes an anchor point for security, and drives critical system security functions such as device-to-cloud authentication, secure device life cycle, encryption and IP protection. Today's market and economic dynamics mandate increased flexibility in deploying IoT security, flexibility that is best achieved by delivering a root of trust via software. This presentation will describe how a software-deployed root of trust offers technology and economic advantages previously unavailable to the IoT.

Bio: Pim Tuyls is CEO of Intrinsic ID, a company specializing in IoT security technology. Before founding Intrinsic ID in 2008 he was at Philips Research, where he was Principal Scientist and managed the cryptography cluster. While there he initiated the work on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), which forms the basis of Intrinsic ID’s silicon fingerprinting technology. Tuyls has a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Leuven University, holds more than 50 patents and is widely acknowledged for his work in the field of security for embedded applications.

 

 

 

Synopsys, Inc.

 

Mina J Hanna, Sr. Application Consultant, Static Timing Analysis, PrimeTime Suite, Synopsys, Inc.
Chair, IEEE-USA AI & AS Policy Committee, Vice chair, IEEE-USA R&D Policy Committee, Co- Chair, IEEE-SA Global Initiative on Ethics of A/I Systems, Policy Committee

 

“The Policy and Law Background to Net Neutrality, and the recent FCC Ruling to upend it."  

 

Abstract: The debate over net neutrality has been contentious since the early days of the Internet. It has repeatedly been challenged in court by Internet service providers (ISPs) for years, culminating in the latest decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to upend the 2015 net neutrality ruling. Critics see this decision as a threat to Internet consumer freedoms, economic competition (imposing a significant market disadvantage on small businesses), and even the progress of scientific research and knowledge discovery. Seeing how important the Internet is to the advancement of innovation, development of human capital, and economic growth, it is imperative for technologists, researchers, and innovators to take heed of the policy debate and the latest developments. On 18 May, 2017, the FCC voted to put forth the Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking comments on a proposal to roll back the 2015 net neutrality regulations. In 2015, the Obama administration passed a rule to classify the Internet as a public utility under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. The rule prohibits ISPs from preferentially allocating bandwidth for affiliated content, throttling bandwidth, or implementing preferential price structures for their customers. Several months later, on December 14, the FCC moved forward with their decision to repeal the rule after a 3–2 party-line vote.

Bio: Mina J. Hanna is a senior software consultant at Synopsys, Inc., the current Chair of the IEEE-USA Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Policy Committee, the current Vice Chair of the IEEE-USA Research and Development Policy Committee and the Chair of the IEEE Central Texas Section Government Relations, Policy and Regulations Committee. He serves as Editor of the Science Policy Column and a member of the editorial board of IEEE Computer magazine. He is also a member of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology and IEEE TechEthics. Prior to joining Synopsys, he worked for 6 years at Intel in the Platform Engineering Group on the Intel Atom Processors and SOCs, having contributed to 10+ tapeouts. Mina received an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas-Austin.

 

Professor Scott Jordan, from University of California, Irvine is substituting for Mina Hanna.

 

 

 

 Scott Jordan, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine.

 

Scott Jordan is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. His research has focused on Internet quality of service issues, including traffic management and resource allocation, in both wired and wireless networks. His current research interests are Internet policy issues, including net neutrality, data caps, and device attachment.  Scott received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2006, he served as an IEEE Congressional Fellow, working in the United States Senate on communications policy issues. In 2014-2016, Scott served as the Chief Technologist at the Federal Communications Commission, advising on technological issues across the Commission.
 

 

 

Panel

 

"FREE"

Panel:  

 

“Are you ready for the Blockchain of Things? Blockchain & Semiconductors Economy – Hypes, Realities, and Opportunities."

 

Abstract: Blockchain is the technology at the heart of bitcoin and other virtual currencies. It is an open and distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. What makes this system theoretically tamperproof is two things: a cryptographic fingerprint unique to each block, and a “consensus protocol,” the process by which the nodes in the network agree on a shared history. Many industry analysts believe that Blockchain technology is the solution for many of the security, privacy and reliability concerns in the Internet of Things (IoT). The billions of smart devices coming to the IoT could transform homes, cities and lives. But they also could create a serious security headache. The combination of artificial intelligence, IoT and Blockchain will bring multiple benefits across multiple industries, leading to a whole host of IoT applications that we haven’t yet considered. With billions of connected devices filling our homes, workplaces and cities, security of data must keep pace. Could blockchain-based solutions offer a viable alternative to current methods? In this panel, we will discuss hypes, realities, and opportunities in Blockchain of Things and much more.

 

Moderator:  Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

Panelists:

 

Panelists:
1. Dr. Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Director of Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
2. Erik Saberski, Data Scientist, XYO Network.
3. Ben Taylor, CEO, LedgerDomain.
4. Raghu Bala, CEO, NetObjex.
5. Eman Hashem Safadi, Blockchain Strategy Consultant, CoFounder LA Blockchain Lab, Blockchain Strategy Consultant, ObEN, Inc.
6. Stephan Wullschleger, CTO, PBV Kaufmann.
 

 This Panel Is Open To Everyone . . .  Register Online for FREE Panel Pass

 

 

 

Savant Company Inc.

 

 

SoC Conference

 

 

 

 

Farhad Mafie, SoC Conference Chairman.

 

 

Moderator

 

Farhad Mafie, President and CEO of Savant Company Inc., that provides marketing and business development services to high-tech startups and mid-size companies on a worldwide basis. He has over 25 years of experience in high-tech industries including semiconductor and computer businesses; additionally, he has more than 15 years of university-level teaching experience.

 

In 2003, Farhad designed and developed the annual Internationals System-on-Chip (SoC) Conference, Exhibits, and Workshops. As the SoC Conference Chairman, he drives the Conference leading-edge annual program.
 

As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for a Switzerland startup, Farhad is driving an innovative mobile payment system based on selected concepts that are very similar to Blockchain. 
 

For almost six years at Microsemi Corporation, as Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and Corporate Communications teams (in US, EU, India, and China), Farhad developed and managed the entire Microsemi’s worldwide outbound and inbound marketing strategies and programs; and worked directly with executive team on M&A projects and successfully integrating over 18 acquired companies.

 

Farhad is also the former Vice President of Marketing/Business Development and Technical Sales Engineering at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. He was responsible for marketing the entire Toshiba standard ICs in North America, as well as engineering development for Toshiba's Embedded and Digital Consumer products & solutions based on ASSP and SoC Models.


Farhad has worked at Lucent Technologies on marketing communications ICs, Toshiba Information Systems on product definition for Toshiba's notebooks PCs and handheld products, Unisys on designing new processors and computer systems, Ocean Scientific on designing medical instrumentations, and MSI Data on designing data collection products. He has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
 

He is an author and a translator. In 2003, he published the biography of Iranian poet and Nobel nominee who lived in exile, Nader Naderpour (1929-2000), Iranian Poet, Thinker, Patriot. Farhad is also Editor-in-Chief for the CRC Press SoC Design and Technologies Book Series, which includes (1) Low-Power NoC for High-Performance SoC Design and (2) Design of Cost-Efficient Interconnect Processing Units. Farhad is an active member of IEEE, and he is the chair of IEEE Orange County Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), as well as IEEE Orange County Entrepreneurs' Network (OCEN). He is also a member of two UCI Advisory Committees: Communication System Engineering and Embedded System Engineering Certificate Programs.

 

     

 

 

ObEN, Inc.

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

Eman Safadi – COO, LA Blockchain Lab & Principal, EHS Consulting.

 

 

Panelist
 

Bio:  Eman is a strategy consultant and general manager who helps organizations identify and implement key technologies that can fundamentally change their business, most recently focusing on blockchain, tokenomics, and use cases across the healthcare vertical. She is also the COO of the LA Blockchain Lab, a collaboration of UCLA, UCI, USC, Caltech, the City of LA, enterprises, startups, and nonprofits working to build the blockchain ecosystem in Southern CA. Prior to moving to LA, she led key technology initiatives for the Dept of Education to overhaul and modernize the FAFSA process and its underlying solutions and technologies. She spent a year in Jordan as Chief of Staff for HM Queen Rania where she strategically reorganized and oversaw all local and international operations. Previously, Eman cofounded Xypnos, a developer of embedded software for IoT devices and Ultiverse, a cross-platform messaging venture. She spun off and ran WorldCare Technologies, which operates the largest telemedicine network internationally and spent time at the World Bank, McKinsey, and Verizon Broadband Services. She holds an MS in computer science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
 

 

 

 

USC

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

Dr. Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Director of Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

 

Panelist
 

Bio:   TBA.

 

 

 

LedgerDomain

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

Ben Taylor, CEO, LedgerDomain.

 

Panelist
 

Bio:   TBA.

 

 

 

NetObjex

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

 

 

Raghu Bala, CEO, NetObjex.

 

Panelist
 

Bio:   TBA.

 

 

 

XYO Network

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erik Saberski, Data Scientist, XYO Network.

 

 

Panelist
 

Bio: In 2018, Erik joined the XYO team as the lead mathematician and data scientist while pursuing his PhD in Biological Oceanography studying nonlinear dynamics, complexity theory, and data-driven theory at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). He is fascinated by variable interactions within complex systems and uses dynamic modeling techniques to understand the casualties in blockchain markets, ecological systems, and even locations of objects.

 

 

 

PBV

 

 

Panelist

 

 

 

Stephan Wullschleger, CTO, PBV Kaufmann.

 

Panelist
 

Bio:   TBA.

 

 

 

 

Open To Everyone

 

Reception &  Networking

 

 

 

 

 

 

16th International SoC Conference Closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * * * * * *

 

* SoC Conference Program is subject to change.  Savant Company Inc, SoC Conference Organizing Committee, and Technical Advisory Board, reserve the rights to revise or modify the SoC Conference agenda at its sole discretion.

 

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