Competing in the 'Semiconductor Olympics'... UNIST Submits 3 Semiconductor Circuit Design Technologies to ISSCC

(From left) Researcher Park Chan-saem, Researcher Cha Ji-hyung, Researcher Park Seong-hyeok.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, trainee reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Three semiconductor circuit design technologies from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) are scheduled to be presented at the 2022 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), known as the "Semiconductor Olympics."

The technologies to be unveiled include brain neural data monitoring technology and LiDAR sensor design technology from Professor Kim Sung-jin's team in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, as well as real-time blood pressure measurement technology based on bio-impedance information from Professor Kim Jae-jun's team.

According to ISSCC, the number of papers accepted from UNIST ranks third among domestic universities, following KAIST with 10 papers and POSTECH with 5 papers.

Among a total of 10 papers accepted in the Image, MEMS, Medical, and Display (IMMD) fields, UNIST researchers had 3 papers selected.

Researcher Cha Ji-hyung from Professor Kim Sung-jin's team will present technology that effectively monitors signal information generated by brain neural cells.

This technology can be applied to electronic devices that operate by reading the user's thoughts without pressing any control buttons.

The research team reduced the semiconductor circuit size by five times compared to existing designs while increasing brain signal measurement efficiency by more than 15 times. They also significantly reduced data processing volume by over 50%, thereby lowering power consumption.

Researcher Cha Ji-hyung explained, "Through this study, we developed a circuit design technology that can monitor brain signal data more efficiently than before."

There is also bio-impedance measurement technology that can continuously monitor blood pressure simply by wearing a neckband. This technology was jointly proposed by Researcher Park Chan-saem from Professor Kim Jae-jun's team, Professor Jang Dong-pyo's team at Hanyang University, and the company 'Soso'.

Bio-impedance measurement technology is widely used for body composition analysis.

The research team developed a blood pressure monitoring semiconductor circuit capable of extracting subtle cardiovascular information from bio-impedance.

The core of the technology lies in halving the number of required electrodes, reducing size and cost while maintaining high measurement accuracy. The number of channels needed for analysis was also reduced from two to one, enabling more efficient use of power and area.

Researcher Park Sung-hyuk from Professor Kim Sung-jin's team will present LiDAR sensor technology, often called the "eyes of autonomous vehicles."

LiDAR sensors obtain distance images using light, providing clearer images and better performance in dark environments compared to existing radar or ultrasonic-based technologies. They are expected to be essential components in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles.

The research improved processing speed while maintaining pixel size compared to previous studies. It also incorporated an ambient light removal technology that captures accurate distance images in real time even under strong sunlight.

The papers will be presented at the ISSCC conference held in San Francisco, USA, in February next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.