Home > Research > Research Areas > Integrated Circuits and VLSI Research

Integrated Circuits and VLSI

Specialties

Analog Circuits
Data converters
Digital circuits
Energy harvesting
Hardware DSP implementation
Low power circuits
RF circuits
Sensing systems

ECE Faculty

Ehsan Afshari

WebsiteHigh frequency circuits and systems for imaging, bio-sensing, and high data rate communication.

David T. Blaauw

WebsiteLow power and high performance VLSI design; Low power wireless sensors and embedded systems.

Jiasi Chen

WebsiteComputer networks, mobile computing, multimedia systems, augmented/virtual reality.

Robert Dick

WebsiteEmbedded systems.

Michael P. Flynn

WebsiteAnalog circuits, analog-to-digital conversion, RF and wireless circuits. high-speed serial transceivers.

Seok-hyeon Jeong

WebsiteLow power sensor interface, clock generation, and system design.

Gyouho Kim

System-level design and integration of ultra-low power ICs in the context of next generation IoT wireless sensors.

Hun-Seok Kim

WebsiteDigital communication algorithm and systems; Ultra low power / ultra high performance VLSI SoC architecture; Computer vision and multimedia signal processing.

Mark J. Kushner

WebsiteComputational plasma science and engineering with applications to materials processing, microelectronics, photonics and lasers, biotechnology and medicine, and environment.

Pinaki Mazumder

WebsiteVLSI circuit design, VLSI testing, and VLSI layout tools

Amir Mortazawi

WebsiteRF and microwave circuits including: microwave and millimeter-wave power amplifiers, spatial power combining and thin film ferroelectric based frequency agile circuits.

Khalil Najafi

WebsiteSolid-state integrated sensors, Microactuators, Micromechanics, Analog and digital integrated circuits

Mehdi Saligane

WebsiteBio Sensors, Edge AI Acceleration, Hardware & Software co-design, Hardware Security, Nanofabrication, Sensors.

Dennis Sylvester

Website Mentoring PlanLow power integrated circuit design, computer-aided design for VLSI

Wei Tang

Multi-chiplet system design, algorithm, architecture, and implementations for MIMO communication, FEC, machine learning, and signal processing systems.

David D. Wentzloff

WebsiteRF circuits and systems; highly integrated energy- and volume-constrained wireless systems.

Euisik Yoon

WebsiteIntegrated circuits and microsystems; BioMEMS and lab-on-chips; implantable biomedical sensors; low-power mixed-mode circuits.

Pei Zhang

Website“Structures as Sensors,” which utilizes the physical properties of devices and structures (e.g. cars, buildings, rooms) as a sensor to discover physical information that surrounds them (e.g. people, roads, animals).

Zhengya Zhang

WebsiteVLSI architecture, digital systems, implementations of communication and signal processing systems.

Junyi Zhu

Website

Human-computer interaction, novel sensing devices, fabrication, embedded systems, personal health and medical devices, interaction techniques, prototyping

CSE Faculty

Ronald Dreslinski

Website Mentoring PlanNovel architectures and design technologies for energy-efficient computing, including near-threshold computer design and experimental 3D computer chips.

News Feed

Enabling stroke victims to “speak”: $19M toward brain implants to be built at U-M

Stroke victims may regain the ability to read, write and speak with the help of technology developed by David Blaauw and Cindy Chestek.

U-M awarded up to $7.5M to bring heat-tolerant semiconductors from lab to fab

Open-source effort led by Prof. Becky Peterson supports durable silicon carbide circuits that can operate at record high temperatures.

Solving computationally complex problems with Ising machines

A team led by Prof. Pinaki Mazumder is designing quantum-inspired architectures from silicon to solve difficult problems more efficiently than previously possible.

Boosting AI model size and training speed with lightwave-connected chips

AI growth is capped by data transfer rates between computing chips, but transferring data with light could remove the ceiling.

Developing StiMote, a wireless neural stimulator for restoring vision

The highly collaborative project will leverage many tiny sensing computers, called “motes,” to communicate with the visual cortex of the brain.

ECE faculty design chips for efficient and accessible AI

Faculty specializing in architecture, hardware, and software innovation accelerate machine learning across a range of applications.

ECE startup MemryX releases MX3 Edge AI Accelerator

MemryX has announced production availability of a new AI chip, enabled by U-M ECE research.

Hun-Seok Kim appointed as inaugural Samuel H. Fuller Early Career Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Prof. Kim is a world leader in efficient algorithm and VLSI design for wireless communication, signal processing, computer vision, and machine learning.

University of Michigan team partners with Semiwise to tackle cryogenic control electronics technology

Prof. Dennis Sylvester and PhD student Qirui Zhang are working with UK-based company Semiwise Ltd. to design cryogenic circuitry and improve the efficiency of quantum computing.

Joseph Costello awarded Rackham Predoc to support research on brain-machine interfaces

Costello is working to restore mobility to individuals by developing improved brain-machine interfaces.

Augmented reality system for accessible play, iGYM, goes international

Using iGYM’s computer vision module, the U-M team partnered with the University of Tsukuba’s FUTUREGYM Team to develop new interactive games that allow children of all abilities to play together.

U-Michigan a partner in two CHIPS Act Midwest microelectronics hubs

The latest DoD funding announcements bolster Michigan Engineering’s efforts to support revitalization of the U.S. semiconductor sector.

Kyumin Kwon’s research on automating analog circuit design earns Best Paper Award at SMACD23

Kwon combines a human knowledge-based model with an existing digital synthesis tool to significantly increase the speed of characterization and design for large scale analog circuits.

Six ECE faculty will help shape the future of semiconductors as part of the JUMP 2.0 program

Elaheh Ahmadi, David Blaauw, Michael Flynn, Hun-Seok Kim, Hessam Mahdavifar, and Zhengya Zhang bring their expertise and creativity to this nationwide undertaking in the area of semiconductors and information & communication technologies.

Open-source hardware: a growing movement to democratize IC design

Dr. Mehdi Saligane, a leader in the open-source chip design community, was among the first researchers to fabricate a successful chip as part of Google’s multi-project wafer program.

Best paper for a low-power ADC circuit for brain-machine interface applications

Euisik Yoon’s team, led by Sungjin Oh, developed a low-power neural recording front-end circuit to interface with state-of-the-art neural probes.

Mike Flynn named Fawwaz T. Ulaby Collegiate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Flynn is one of the world’s premier scholars of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits and systems, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), and other interface circuits.

David Blaauw inducted into MICRO Hall of Fame

Prof. Blaauw and his group are also recipients of numerous best paper awards and honors, including the MICRO Test of Time award

CHIPS and Science Act: Implications and Opportunities

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 promises to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry. Dennis Sylvester offers his perspective on what it means for ECE.

The ethical implications of tech, and why it matters for engineers

Through the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, ECE PhD student Trevor Odelberg is studying how engineers can take better responsibility for the way their research impacts society.

Batteryless next-generation cellular devices could empower a more sustainable future

PhD student Trevor Odelberg is looking to enable long range, highly reliable, and low-power cellular IoT devices that one day can run entirely on harvested energy, reducing battery waste and empowering devices to last for decades.

Snails carrying the world’s smallest computer help solve mass extinction survivor mystery

The study yields new insights into the survival of a native snail important to Tahitian culture and ecology and to biologists studying evolution, while proving the viability of similar studies of very small animals including insects

Research to advance low-power speech recognition highlighted by Intel

Michael Flynn and his group are applying their groundbreaking work in beamforming to the challenge of low-power on-chip speech recognition.

First digital single-chip millimeter-wave beamformer will exploit 5G capabilities

The digital beamforming chip offers significant advantages over current analog beamforming solutions.

Tracking Monarch Butterfly Migration with the World’s Smallest Computer

In a project funded by National Geographic, ECE researchers are teaming up with the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology to advance our understanding of monarch butterfly migration with the most ambitious iteration of the Michigan Micro Mote yet.

U-M startup SkyGig aims to take 5G to the next level

With new funding in the company, the hardtech startup is bringing revolutionary technologies to reshape mmWave wireless.

Trevor Odelberg receives NDSEG Fellowship to help run the world with low power batteryless circuits

PhD student Trevor Odelberg’s low power circuits help us make sense of our environment while reducing battery waste.

Matthew Belz receives NDSEG Fellowship to improve the safety of autonomous systems

PhD student Matthew Belz will work to develop jamming-resistant radar systems for autonomous vehicles.

Battery-free sensor startup takes aim at industrial efficiency

Part of the team that brought us the world’s smallest computer in 2015 brings the future of computing technology into the present.

“Ultra low-power receivers for IoT applications” wins Outstanding Invited Paper

Prof. David Wentzloff’s paper examining the trends and techniques to achieve ultra-low power receivers was honored by the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference

Best paper award for optimizing wireless power transfer

Prof. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz and PhD student Xin Zan were honored at the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition for their work improving the efficiency and reliability of wireless power transfer.

David Blaauw named Kensall D. Wise Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Blaauw’s innovations in low-power computing led to development of the Michigan Micro Mote, the world’s smallest computer.

Upgrading signal interfaces for better wearable devices

PhD student Hsiang-Wen Chen, who works to improve integrated circuits, was awarded the Chia-Lun Lo Fellowship.

Hun-Seok Kim receives CAREER Award to facilitate Internet of Things connectivity

Kim takes an interdisciplinary approach to tackle challenges in heterogeneous classes of energy-efficient and versatile communication systems.

Two ‘U’ researchers receive Distinguished University Innovator Award

The Michigan Daily profiles Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, who are this year’s recipients of the 2019 Distinguished University Innovator Award.

Blaauw, Sylvester are 2019 Distinguished University Innovators

Pioneering computer technology that is spurring innovation and disruption across industries has earned David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, professors of electrical engineering and computer science, this year’s Distinguished University Innovator Award.

First programmable memristor computer aims to bring AI processing down from the cloud

Circuit elements that store information in their electrical resistances enable a brain-like form of computing, storing and processing information in the same place.

Afshari group receives Best Invited Paper award at the 2019 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference

Terahertz and sub-terahertz imaging can provide superior results in some biomedical imaging, spectroscopy, and water saturation detection.

A high-efficiency GaAs solar cell to power the Internet of Tiny Things

The Michigan Micro Mote gets a new gallium arsenide solar cell for added power and adaptability.

SLAM-ming good hardware for drone navigation

Researchers built the first visual SLAM processor on a single chip that provides highly accurate, low-power, and real-time results.

U-M startup raises $6 million in venture funding

Movellus is a U-M startup founded by alumni Dr. Mo Faisal (now CEO) and Dr. Jeff Fredenburg (now VP of Engineering).

Communicating with the world’s smallest computers

Researchers built the first millimeter-scale transmitter and antenna that can talk Bluetooth Low Energy with ease.

Crafting better digital systems with ECE PhD student Jie-Fang Zhang

Zhang is recognized with the Chia-Lun Lo Fellowship for his work designing hardware solutions that could help support computer vision and machine learning.

Michigan chips will be first to test next-generation hardware design tools

U-M team will serve as model for nimble and innovative system-on-chip design.

A new hybrid chip that can change its own wiring

The speedy and efficient system-on-chip could unify wireless communication.

Enabling anyone to design hardware with a new open-source tool

Six-month hardware design process will be turned into 24-hour automated task.

Hun-Seok Kim receives DARPA Young Faculty Award to advance research in IoT networks

Kim’s research is expected to impact the future design and wireless operation of the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices

An even smaller world’s smallest ‘computer’

The latest from IBM and now the University of Michigan is redefining what counts as a computer at the microscale.

Seed-sized U-M computers pumped into oil wells featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Millimeter-sized computers log the temperature and pressure from deep within oil wells.

Fred Buhler builds better chips for “Aweslome” applications

Fred Buhler founded Aweslome to provide custom-build chips for a broad range of applications, including machine learning, neural networks, security, and circuits testing.

2017 ISCA Influential Paper Award for groundbreaking research in power-efficient computing

This award recognizes the paper published 15 years ago (2002) that has had the biggest impact on the field

Michigan’s millimeter-scale computers featured at ISSCC2017, and in IEEE Spectrum

Professors Blaauw and Sylvester showcase capabilities of tiny computing

CubeWorks: Solving problems with the world’s smallest and lowest-power computers

Cubeworks receives its first external funding to manufacture millimeter-scale computing devices

Alum startup wins $25,000 at Accelerate Michigan Competition

Movellus Circuits won $25,000 in the University Research Highlight and People’s Choice categories

Injectable computers can broadcast from inside the body

This platform has enabled a variety of sensors that can fit inside the human body, made possible by several breakthroughs in ultra-low power computing.

Injectable computers

With a radio specifically designed to communicate through tissue, researchers from the Electrical and Computer Engineering are adding another level to a computer platform small enough to fit inside a medical grade syringe.

Avish Kosari selected as Barbour Scholar for Research in low-power devices for the Internet of Things

Avish conducts research on ultra-low power and battery-less integrated circuits.

Googling the physical world

IoT applications are the next wave of computing and the next driving force of the semiconductor industry. The startup PsiKick [now Everactive] is helping shape this future.

Claude Gauthier and OmniPhy: Connecting to the ethernet revolution

Dr. Gauthier is co-founder and CTO of the semiconductor interface intellectual property (IP) company, OmniPhy.

3 ECE companies make the Silicon 60 List – again!

Ambiq Micro, Crossbar, Inc., and PsiKick, are leading the way in ultra-low power chip design, pioneering computer memory, and ultra-low power wireless sensor platforms.

David Wentzloff receives Joel and Ruth Spira Excellence in Teaching Award

This award is presented annually to a faculty member in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in acknowledgement of exceptional achievements in the education of our students.

Thomas Chen earns NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for research in artificial neural networks for computer vision

Thomas and his group are working to improve upon artificial neural network design through a process called sparse coding.

Elnaz Ansari earns Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement

Her research interests include analog, digital, and mixed-signal designs.

Michigan Micro Mote (M3) makes history as the world’s smallest computer

A brief history of what led to the technical feat known as the Michigan Micro Mote, a tiny speck of a computer that does it all.

Michael Flynn elected IEEE Fellow for contributions to analog-digital interfaces

Prof. Flynn has achieved important breakthroughs in the performance and energy efficiency of analog-digital interfaces.

Lynn Conway Receives 2015 IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal

The James Clerk Maxwell Medal is one of the highest awards presented by IEEE.

Leaders in ultra low power cicuits and systems presenting at VLSI Circuits Symposium

All of the research being presented focuses on getting the absolute best performance from the tiniest circuits, sensors, and electronic devices.

Thank Lynn Conway for your cell phone

Conway will be named a fellow at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Student Spotlight: Nathan Roberts – Enabling the Internet of Things

Instead of a battery, the chip Nathan is engineering uses two solar cells that look like they belong on a calculator.

PsiKick startup attracts financing for its Internet of Things technology

The chips’ extreme energy efficiency enables them to be powered without a battery from harvested energy sources like vibration, thermal gradients, and more.

Muhammad Faisal wins business competition with technology critical to the Internet of Things

Movellus Circuits’ product is a patent-pending clock generator technology that is smaller, cheaper, and faster than existing solutions.

Making the Internet of Things happen

Wentzloff aims to remove the necessity of a power outlet or even a battery to power miniature sensors.

Image processing 1,000 times faster is goal of new $5M contract

Lu plans to design and fabricate a computer chip based on so-called self-organizing, adaptive neural networks.

Zhengya Zhang receives Intel Early Career Award

Zhang’s research is in the area of low-power and high-performance VLSI circuits and systems.

2013 Design Automation Conference Anniversary Awards

Congratulations to the award-winning faculty members and to the DAC for 50 years!

Bharan Giridhar awarded Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship for research in circuit techniques for adaptive, reliable, high-performance computing

Giridhar’s research has an emphasis on developing circuit techniques for adaptive and reliable, high-performance computing.

David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester named Top Authors by ISSCC

Both research papers discuss ultra low-power chip design and millimeter-scale computing.

David Wentzloff receives CAREER Award for research in energy-autonomous systems

His research addresses critical needs in the area of wireless communication for the growing field of ubiquitous, energy-autonomous sensing devices.

Nathan Roberts earns Best Paper Award for research to assist in remote patient monitoring

Roberts is helping to develop low-power sensor nodes that will be worn on the body to detect certain medical conditions.

Developing the wireless component for personalized health devices

The program aims to create wearable systems that monitor a person’s environment and health in search of connections between pollutants and chronic diseases.

UG Research Spotlight: Fred Buhler spends his summer improving circuit testing

The project involved designing new boards and writing test software, as well as writing software to control instruments and some integrated circuit design.

Student teams earn prizes for their analog/digital interface circuit designs in EECS 511

The students, lead by Prof. Michael Flynn, competed for cash prizes—the two winners were chosen by Analog Devices.

Michael McCorquodale named 2012 UBM Electronics ACE Innovator of the Year

“Without McCorquodale’s vision, unwavering persistence, and leadership in the face of decades of thinking to the contrary, CMOS oscillators would not exist today.”

David Blaauw Elected Fellow of the IEEE

Prof. Blaauw was a core member of the Michigan team that developed the award-winning circuit known as Razor in 2003.

Laura Freyman awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Freyman is studying Electrical Engineering and is a member of the Michigan Integrated Circuits Laboratory.

Powering breakthrough technologies

Ambiq Micro could revolutionize ubiquitous computing, with energy-efficient microcontrollers that are 10 times more energy efficient than conventional microprocessors.

Toward computers that fit on a pen tip: New technologies usher in the millimeter-scale computing era

U-M faculty have developed what is believed to be the first complete millimeter-scale computing system, with applications in radio communication and wireless sensing.

Three EECS Teams are winners in 2011 DAC/ISSCC Student Design Contest

The contest is highly competitive and features the best student projects from the largest and most prestigious conferences in their respective fields.

Zhengya Zhang receives NSF CAREER Award

The proposed research addresses the frontiers of error-correction coding and very-large-scale integration by advancing algorithms and circuit techniques.

Paving the way for ubiquitous computing

Until now, ubiquitous computing has been hampered by the size of necessary batteries—but Ambiq Micro is changing that, with their energy-efficient micro-controllers.

Dennis Sylvester elected Fellow of the IEEE

According to IEEE, “the grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments.”

Meeting the challenges for low-power System-on-Chip (SoC) Design

As designs become more complex and functional, power consumption is becoming the major design consideration and bottleneck in many portable applications.

Zhengya Zhang earns Best Paper Award at Symposium on VLSI Circuits

The resulting 65nm CMOS test chip achieved an energy efficiency of 21 pJ/bit making it a promising candidate for low-power, high-performance applications.

Ambiq Micro: Taking a startup to the next level

“Imagine a microprocessor so tiny and long lasting that it can be implanted in the eye of a glaucoma sufferer to measure the progress of the disease.”

Millimeter-scale, energy-harvesting sensor system developed

The system could enable new biomedical implants as well as home-, building- and bridge-monitoring devices.

EECS professors receive research grants from Google

The research funded by Google involves redesigning servers and data centers to improve their energy efficiency.

David Wentzloff awarded Young Faculty Award (YFA) by DARPA

Prof. Wentzloff is working to develop a wireless 3D interconnection fabric that can provide communication channels and crossbar routing.

Sensing Sensors: NSF Funding News Ways to Monitor Infrastructure for Safety

The program aims to develop revolutionary wireless sensor node, optimized for infrastructure monitoring.

EECS researchers receive Best Paper Award at ISLPED

The paper explores logic and memory circuit topologies for a new type of transistor in development at IBM.

Microchip sets low-power record with extreme sleep mode

The Phoenix Processor uses 30,000 times less power in sleep mode and 10 times less in active mode than comparable chips now on the market.

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Integrated Circuits and VLSI

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