With support from major industrial partners, Cornell has opened a state-of-the-art laboratory for the design and testing of radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits, such as the transceivers in cellular phones and other wireless devices.
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| Kevin Kornegay, right, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, works with Jon S. Duster, a postdoctoral associate in Kornegay's group, in the new Cornell Broadband Communications Research Laboratory in Phillips Hall, Oct. 17. Charles Harrington/University Photography |
The Cornell Broadband Communications Research Laboratory will be used to train the next generation of RF engineers and conduct research in the design of future broadband communication systems. The new lab, directed by Kevin Kornegay, Cornell assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and housed in Phillips Hall, will include a file server and 25 high-performance RS-6000 workstations together valued at $750,000, made possible through an IBM Shared University Research Grant. Elsewhere in Phillips, students and researchers will have the use of a Model 84000 production quality RF integrated circuit test system donated by Agilent Technologies, valued at $1 million, and a RF/microwave 8 inch semiautomatic Model 12101 wafer probe station, valued at $200,000, from Cascade Microtech.
The IBM workstations will run advanced chip-design software donated by Cadence Design Systems Inc. The Cadence donation provides licenses for up to 50 workstations for an extensive suite of design tools valued at millions of dollars when sold to industry.
IBM also will provide design kits for its state-of-the-art silicon-germanium chip technology. These design tools, developed in IBM's Research and Microelectronics Divisions, also are of multimillion dollar value, according to IBM.
"This is the equipment our future engineers will use on the production floor," said Kornegay, organizer of the industrial partnership. "This unique industry/academia partnership addresses a critical need -- a major shortage of well-trained RF circuit designers, particularly in the northeast U.S. region."
"IBM has a tradition of collaborating with leading schools worldwide, and in the long run that interaction benefits our customers and the technology industry at large," said Nick Donofrio, IBM senior vice president and group executive, technology and manufacturing. "We're particularly excited about this program because IBM is a leader in developing powerful new technologies for the booming communications market. It's a privilege to be able to train and nurture a whole new generation of technologists in this important field."
"With the great need of design engineers in the electronics industry today, the university's highly reputed program and Cadence products go hand-in-hand to provide the needed talent for the future," said Ray Bingham, president and CEO at Cadence. "We are very pleased and excited that our products will be used at the Cornell Broadband Communications Research Laboratory and that graduates will have the opportunity to gain experience with Cadence tools."
Kornegay initially will use the laboratory to teach a new hands-on course in RF integrated circuit design. The course will target the new Bluetooth standard, an industry standard that allows cell phones, computers, personal digital assistants and other appliances to communicate with one another. "With Bluetooth devices," Kornegay said, "you'll be able to have your cell phone call your computer and have it start the coffee maker."
Students enrolled in the course will use the comprehensive set of Cadence design software tools to create a circuit, simulate its operation and produce the final chip layout.
The design work will take up the fall semester of the course. Chips designed by the students will be manufactured over semester break. In the spring, students will test and evaluate their chips, deliver oral presentations and produce written reports to further enhance their technical communication skills.
Kornegay also will use the new facilities for research in wireless communications system design. The goal, he said, is to reduce size and power requirement by more ingenious system architecture and circuit design. One approach, he said, is incorporating 'smart circuits' into key components to minimize power consumption. While Bluetooth devices operate in the 2.4 GHz range, Kornegay plans to develop new devices for applications in the 10 to 20 GHz range.
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