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Overview
Recent years have seen a great resurgence of interest
in analogue circuits. This was brought about initially by the emergence of
high quality integrated circuit technologies which in turn stimulated the
invention of numerous new and ingenious circuit techniques. Although
digital methods have also developed enormously during the same period,
continuing circuit innovation has ensured a secure position for analogue
circuits in the front line of IC design world-wide. Our research activities
are grouped into the following two themes:
Analogue Circuits
and Signal Processing: For many years the
group has been developing novel analogue circuits and techniques to improve
the performance of large and complex (usually digital) systems. Such
systems include error control decoders for digital communications, motion
estimators for digital video encoding and analogue-to-digital converters
(ADCs) for mobile video and wireless applications. Major achievements
include the design of the world’s first
“switched-current” analogue Viterbi
decoder with an order of magnitude reduction in energy consumption compared
to a digital equivalent, the design of the most energy efficient 10-bit
pipeline analogue-to-digital converter reported to date, and the invention
of a motion estimator architecture which is insensitive to analogue mismatch.
The work has recently been expanded to developing novel architectures and
circuits for inductive positioning sensors to be deployed in harsh
environments. The group has strong industrial collaborations with key
players in the microelectronics industry (including Sony). The research is
supported by industry, the DTI and the EPSRC.
Biomedical Circuits and Systems:
The group has been conducting pioneering research in this area for many
years with particular emphasis on developing implanted devices to replace
lost functions in patients with spinal cord injury. Recently developed
systems include ultra-low noise amplifiers for direct interface with
biological tissue, miniature stimulators that are fail-safe without the
need for off-chip blocking capacitors, and power efficient bidirectional
telemetry for communication between the implanted electronics and the
external environment. The group has a major role in two high profile
biomedical EU FP6 projects: i) HEALTY AIMS a
Є16M project with 26 partners which aims to develop a range of
medical implants to help the aging population and those with disabilities,
and ii) IMANE a Є2M project with 8 partners which aims to develop new
technologies applicable to a broad range of implanted devices. The work in
integrated bioelectronics has recently been expanded to developing novel
instrumentation for non-invasive monitoring of neonate lung function and to
lab-on-a-chip biosensors for bioassays. The group has very strong
multidisciplinary collaborations including key hospitals in the UK (e.g., Royal
National Orthopaedic Hospital,
Great Ormond Street
Hospital) and abroad.
The research is also supported by major EPSRC grants.
The main technologies employed in the group are
silicon CMOS and BiCMOS. The group is equipped
with CADENCE design software.
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A
ultra-energy-efficient ADC
An low-power
analogue convolutional decoder.
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