Ultra low power electronics in the next decade

We are seeing a shift in electronic technology from centralized and high-touch to ubiquitous and low-touch. Semiconductors are enabling intelligent systems to be developed that enable a more immersive environment expanding the role and applications of electronic technology. Driving this change is the availability of low-power electronics for wireless connectivity and performance processing. In the next decade, our ability to develop system-level solutions for energy management, delivery and consumption, will determine the extent to which the application space for electronic technology will grow. Power management techniques developed in the last decade have focused on process technology and circuit design techniques. As we move to distributed intelligent systems, power reductions of another few orders of magnitude are required. This talk looks at some of the key areas for innovation ranging from ultra-low power chips for personal and health technology to solutions for energy generation and delivery for autonomous systems.

The constraint for the development and deployment of autonomous systems is access to the energy sources. In most applications advances in battery technology together with some form of harvesting and storage will be possible provided the power requirements are low. The present battery technology roadmap has a 2x capacity improvement every decade, while the power demand will probably increasse at the rate of 2x every 18 months or so. Key areas for innovation are in RF/analog, where achieving wireless connectivity with high data rates will be a challenge for low power, the need for more performance embedded processing, and the sensor technology, as well as the battery, energy generation, harvesting, and management. The next decade will see strong cross-functional design between multi-scale systems engineers, circuit designers, and software engineers.