The FD-fAbrICS project aims to enable a new breed of always-on intelligent and connected energy-autonomous integrated systems, and accelerate the convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Examples of such applications are Industry 4.0, smart buildings/cities, mobility/connectivity, wearables and smart objects with natural-mode interfaces (e.g., voice-based). Such applications have uncommonly demanding requirements in terms of wide power-performance tradeoff with ultra-low consumption in the common case (signal monitoring), high peak performance upon event occurrence (data analytics), yet at reasonably low manufacturing cost and design effort for massive deployments.

The FDSOI technology (Fully-Depleted Silicon on Insulator) fits such requirements, in view of its ability to tune the transistor threshold voltage via dynamic back biasing (BB). BB enables ample power-performance scaling of power-performance, has desirable device characteristics for energy-efficient wireless communications, and is cost-effective in view of its planar nature. Although FDSOI manufacturing is well established, existing FDSOI techniques and design methodologies currently increase the design effort, the design team size, the development cost and/or time-to-market substantially, compared to mainstream CMOS bulk technologies.

The FD-fAbrICS project addresses the above challenges and introduces a new breed of techniques and methodologies to

• substantially widen the power-performance tradeoff of FDSOI via the creation of unique drop-in design IP with 10-100X lower power than state of the art (DIGITAL AND POWER MANAGEMENT CIRCUIT INNOVATION)
• drastically reduce the design and system integration effort down to bulk CMOS technologies via innovative immersed-in-logic BB generation/control/distribution that is automatically sized, deployed and integrated through conventional push-button digital design flows (DESIGN COMPLEXITY ABSTRACTION)
• leverage BB to enable ultra-energy efficient radios for tight connectivity with the cloud in short-range wireless networks (WIRELESS CIRCUIT INNOVATION)
• demonstrate the benefits of the above advances in neuromorphic integrated systems for always-on μW-power wakeword detection with highly-complex dictionary (100 words with hierarchical commands), enabling the embedment of voice user interfaces in smart objects (“SIRI EVERYWHERE”).

FD-fAbrICS will tackle the above challenges through the collaboration of NUS, the Singapore’s flagship university, with world industry leaders Soitec, NXP and Dolphin Design in FDSOI manufacturing and design. An FDSOI Industry Consortium  is being spurred for proliferation and fruition of the outcomes of the project in the form of prototypes and baseline design IP for further customization and differentiation across consortium members and the semiconductor value chain. The convergence of fundamental innovation and industrial engagement in FD-fAbrICS aims to position Singapore as worldwide design hub for FDSOI always-on intelligent/connected integrated systems, ultimately supporting the fast-rising global demand for AI/IoT systems.

Look forward to interacting with you on upstream research and downstream industrial engagement to further expand the intended impact of our activities, and share the outcomes on a broader scale!