IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2018 - 46

Another trend in biomedical systems at ISSCC
2018 is the design of wireless communication
circuits that operate extremely efficiently in
the presence of biological tissue.
circuits that operate extremely efficiently in the presence of biological tissue. Examples include innovations in
body-coupled communication systems
that operate in the gastrointestinal
tract as part of a multicamera capsule
endoscope and transcranial links that
operate at up to 200 Mb/s.
Beyond sensing physical and
electrophysiological parameters, an
emerging trend in biomedical systems
is to measure physiochemical parameters. Biosensors that respond to glucose, electrolytes, or gases can offer
new views into the dynamic behavior
of freely behaving biological subjects.
In wearable and implantable applications, trends include enabling such
functionality at nW-level power consumption or via bioenergy harvesting that exploits the energy naturally
present in many of the metabolites
being sensed. In very small systems, it
may be possible to forgo conventional
dc-dc converters if the voltage of the
biofuel cell energy harvesters is sufficiently large or circuits are specifically
designed to operate at low supplies
(such as 0.3 V). In stationary applications, trends include increasing the
resolution and dynamic range of correction circuitry to support long-term
accurate operation.

Mixed-Signal and In-Memory
Computing for Machine-Learning
Applications
Machine-learning applications have
ever-broader and more substantial impacts on increasing facets of society. In
many cases, the applicability of such
systems is limited by the energy they
require and the performance they can
achieve. Addressing these limitations
has become a critical trend in technology directions. To overcome the limita-

W I n t E r 2 0 18

tions faced by traditional architectures,
researchers in this area are taking
advantage of innovations in unconventional architectures and emerging
technologies. This has driven renewed
interest in and perspectives on mixedsignal computation.
Unlike in previous years, when
mixed-signal computation was primarily driven by its energy efficiency in
the regime of low-resolution computation, now motivations at the architectural level are raising even greater
promise for mixed-signal computation. This is particularly important in
the area of memory access, which has
posed one of the main limitations in
current machine-learning systems and
sensing: it represents a vital source of
data on which machine-learning systems are being applied. Consequently,
a key trend in technology directions
has been mixed-signal computation in
memory arrays and near sensors. This
requires a confluence of circuits, architectures, and algorithms, opening
new opportunities and perspectives
through which integrated systems will
impact society.
In line with these trends, ISSCC
2018 will feature two sessions representing the latest technological
innovations in biomedical systems.
One will include an invited presentation on the impact of sensors and
electronic systems for food production and agricultural applications,
while the other will emphasize inmemory computations for machinelearning applications.

Summary
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the industry generated
US$338 billion in sales in 2016! In this
environment, the ISSCC continues to

IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

be the premier technical forum for presenting advances and predicting trends
in solid-state circuits and systems, as
it has for the past 65 years. For more
information, see the "The Origins of the
ISSCC" by Dave Pricer on the early years
of ISSCC in this issue.
Beyond this article, a complete
trends document will be available
at www.isscc.org. These trends are
highlighted in papers that will be presented during the 65th ISSCC, held at
the San Francisco Marriott Marquis on
11-15 February 2018. Attendance at
ISSCC 2018 is expected to be around
3,000. Corporate attendees from the
semiconductor and system industries
typically represent about 60% of the
attendees. We look forward to seeing
you there!

Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the ISSCC
2018 Technical Program Committee
for providing original content for this
article and each of the 11 subcommittee chairs (as referenced in each of the
trends sections) for their leadership
role. Without their collective efforts, this
article would not have been possible.

About the Authors
Denis C. Daly (denis.daly@gmail
.com) is currently vice president of
Connected Sensors at Omni Design
Technologies and the press coordinator for ISSCC 2018.
Laura C. Fujino (lcfujino@aol.com),
ISSCC director of Publications and
Presentations, is currently associated
with the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, where she is
a member of the Board of Advisors for
Engineering Science.
Kenneth C. Smith is a professor
emeritus and serves as chair of the Board
of Advisors for the Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto,
Canada. Since 1975, he has volunteered
for ISSCC in various capacities including
as a member of the Program Committee,
in press-related roles, and, for 40 years,
as chair of the Awards Committee.

http://www.isscc.org

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