PULLMAN, Wash. — Semiconductor Research Corp., the largest continuous, industry-driven university research consortium in the United States, recently joined Washington State University’s Center for Design of Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits. Members comprising the two research organizations represent the majority of semiconductor companies in the country today.
“CDADIC is an established research consortium with an excellent reputation in the area of analog and mixed-signal design research,” said W. Dale Edwards, research program manager for SRC’s Integrated Circuits and Systems Science group. “The SRC joined CDADIC to further enhance our already-strong mixed-signal design research portfolio. Our member companies have a growing interest in this area, and CDADIC is well established and has some excellent programs in mixed-signal design research.”
Mixed-signal design is a key factor in the growing “system-on-a-chip” technologies that make possible greater miniaturization of high-tech products and enhanced performance. The complex and sophisticated circuit systems make many modern-day advances possible, especially in the telecommunications and wireless communications fields where the demand for smaller, yet more powerful equipment continues to grow.
John Ringo, CDADIC director and professor in WSU’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is hopeful that a major outcome of the alliance with SRC will be the organizations’ ability to plan a common road map for mixed-signal design in the future.
“We want to avoid duplicative research efforts, so we can make far greater headway in mixed-signal design,” Ringo said. “SRC teaming with CDADIC will leverage the work of both of our research consortiums and benefit the entire industry.”
The SRC, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., with an office in San Jose, Calif., sponsors research conducted at 67 universities in the United States and Canada. Since 1982, SRC has funded more than $460 million in long-term semiconductor research contracts on behalf of its member companies.
WSU’s CDADIC is one of the country’s 53 National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers. The center focuses its research on mixed-signal circuitry and systems and is one of the few university-led research efforts in the nation dedicated to designing chips for mixed-signal applications, gaining an international reputation in the field. Research conducted at the center has wide applications, from use in medical and space technology to communications and transportation systems.
As a university research consortium member, SRC will have access to cutting-edge mixed-signal circuit design research conducted at four of the center’s affiliated universities: WSU (headquarters), University of Washington, Oregon State University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
More information can be obtained by visiting the CDADIC Web site at www.eecs.wsu.edu/cdadic and SRC’s Web site at www.src.org.
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