Robert H. Nixon

256/spl times/256 CMOS active pixel sensor camera-on-a-chip

A CMOS imaging sensor integrates the sensor technology and digital control functions on a single chip. This demonstrates the viability of producing a camera-on-a-chip suitable for commercial, military, and scientific applications. Good imaging performance has been demonstrated with high quantum efficiency, low noise, no lag, no smear and good blooming control. The chip is characterized by random access, simple clocks, low system power, simple power supplies and fast read-out rates. The simple digital interface permits easy restructuring of windows-of-interest and integration times. The measured performance indicates that this technology will become competitive with CCDs in many applications, resulting in enhanced system performance and reduced cost.

Holographic Optical Interconnects For VLSI

This paper introduces new applications and design trade-offs anticipated for free-space optical interconnections of VLSI chips. New implementations of VLSI functions are described that use the capability of making optical inputs at any point on a chip and take advantage of greater flexibility in on-chip signal routing. These include n-port addressable memories, CPU clock phase distribution, hardware multipliers, and dynamic memory refresh, as well as enhanced testability. Fault tolerance and production yields may be improved by reprogramming the optical imaging system to circumvent defective elements. These attributes, as well as those related to performance alone, will affect the design methodology of future VLSI ICs. This paper focuses on identifying the design issues, their possible solutions, and their impact on VLSI design tech-niques and, finally, presents some preliminary measurements on various sys-tem components.

Applications And Design Considerations For Optical Interconnects In VLSI

This paper introduces new applications and design tradeoffs anticipated for free space optical interconnections of VLSI chips. New implementations of VLSI functions are described that use the capability of making optical inputs at any point on a chip, and take advantage of greater flexibility in on-chip signal routing. These include N-port addressable memories, CPU clock phase distribution, hardware multipliers, dynamic memory refresh, as well as enhanced testability. Fault tolerance and production yields may be improved by reprogramming the optical imaging system to circumvent defective elements. These attributes, as well as those related to performance alone, will affect the design methodology of future VLSI ICs. This paper will focus on identifying the design issues, their possible solution, and their impact on VLSI design techniques.