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VLSI/CAD Group
The main focus of researches in the VLSI/CAD group is on VLSI circuit designs and tests. According to the trend of SOC (system-on-a-chip), we contribute to the related application system integrations, SIP (Silicon Intellectual Property) licenses, and CAD (Computer-aided Design) tool developments. The research directions cover both the parts of software and hardware. They include: (a) system design methodologies for high-level circuit syntheses, system testing methodology, circuit layout auto-placement and auto-routing methods; (b) Image and Voice signal processing, which can be applied to the fields of smart home electronics, digital TV, Wireless LAN (WLAN), digital communication systems, and medical image processing; and (c) IC designs for variable applications like power management, A/D and D/A converters, low-power systems, advanced memory architectures, RFIC front-ends, green electronics, and bio-medical electronics. In brief, in the researches of our group, the part of “Software” and “firmware” bases is to learn about writing the C-language or any other related program languages (e.g., System-C or Matlab) running in the FPGA modules or the related simulators to solve the problems of the system tests, IC auto-placement and auto-routing, or signal processing. The part of “hardware”base is to learn of those IC design skills for various kinds of applications and their function verifications. The graduate students from our group will usually have good opportunities in continuous advanced study or in personal career. Most of our graduate students have been hired by either famous domestic companies (for examples, Media Tek, TSMC, RichTek, and NovaTek etc.) or famous foreign companies (like, Apple, Qualcomm, and Analog Devices etc.). Many master students are persuiting their Ph.D. program in wordwide top-10 universities, as MIT, Stanford, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, etc..
WICS Lab was established in 2012, led by Prof. Kuang-Wei Cheng. One of our passions is exploring the techniques to enhance the energy efficiency of RF/analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits. The research direction focuses on the development of energy-efficient RF front-end and wireless sensor interface circuit and systems, including (I) Energy self-sufficient ultra-low power transceiver, (II) RF front-end circuit, (II) RF energy harvester, and (IV) Low power analog-to-digital converter. Any members who join us should gain background knowledge about circuit design and communication principles, and also be familiar with the use of tools such as Cadence, ADS, MATLAB, etc. You would be able to do researches independently and accomplish the chip design, tape-out, and measurement before graduation. After graduation, most of the members join famous IC companies and serve as RF/analog IC design engineers.
