The reasons why I finally come to IC research is that, of all technologies now available in the world, IC technologies are playing the single most important role in human development now, and for the foreseeable days. Without it, we will return back to the mechnical times.
But I don't have the necessary prerequisites and capacity to conduct IC research, such as an expensive lab or a great team, therefore I have to satisfy myself with some mathematical studies in connection with IC technologies.
Of course, almost all math branches are useful in IC technologies, but what I am interested in mostly is the design stage, and particularly the physical design stage, and over there graph theory has been playing a big role, as such I have spent quite some time on graph theory for IC design.
My first topic was graph theory for channel routing, which is the last phase of the physical design and hence also the last phase of the entire chip design process. I have explored a great number of routing algorithms, particularly for FPGA based logic, but finally I decided not to pursue it further because I consider it a waste of time to focus on traditional, silicon based IC technologies, as it is approaching a scaling limit, that is, there is no way to improve the computing power after the CMOS scale reaches nanometer. In other words, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to produce more powerful processors based on the current silicon chips. Therefore one has to find new materials, new physics and new technologies.
And then I have tried a number of new generations of IC technologies, among them, quantum circuits, graphene based circuits, superconducting chips, resonant tunneling circuits, 3D ICs, spintronics based chips, to name a few. But I found that none of them are able to replace the current IC technologies, at least for the near future.
Nevertheless, I have studied somewhat intensively about the graph theory for quantum computing, and at that time I was particularly interested in the socalled Chimera graph applications to quantum computer, which was devloped by D-Wave, a Canadian quantum computer pioneer. In connection with Chimera graph was my indepth review of graph embedding and related branches of graph theory.
But this study was stopped about end 2017, when I determined to shift my focus from graph theory to really IC technologies.
After my studies of graph theory for IC technology was cancelled, I've decided to move on with my real IC technologies, and this time it is divided again into two parts: the new generations of IT technologies and the traditional, silicon based computer chips.
It is mentioned before that it seems no breakthrough will be achieved in the near future, however, whatever new generations of IC technologies are going to emerge, they must have something to do with quantum physics, because at the microscopic level, it is always quantum phenomenum which is playing a vital role in the working of the systems. Therefore, I decided to focus on quantum theory and quantum chips as the leading futuristic IC research direction. I plan to write an indepth review of quantum chips in the years to come, beginning with qubits - quantum bits over the next year or two.
On the other hand, I don't want to forget my expertise in silicon IC technologies, therefore since August 2017 I have been working on a design project, first for a hardware monitoring chip, and then recently for a satellite broadband Internet chip. I think satellite Internet will eventually replace the current cable and optical Internet, at least in long run, it will be a scene to come, just as the radio broadcasting has replaced the wired broadcasting many years ago.
For this design project, I have to learn a lot, incl. satellite communication, radio (wireless) communications, and radio frequency modulation and demodulation. My current design project is titled "Chip Design for Satellite Broadband Internet (Satnet). Part I: Modulator and Demodulator (Modem) IP Core". I am currently preparing for a document with the same title, and I hope in a couple of months, the design specifications and design entry will be completed, along with decision about technology of choice (FPGA based, ASIC or others) as well as design tools availability.
For more information about this design project, see 000terminals_indoorunits_modems_chips_toc.txt for details.
The above studies, both quantum chips and satellite broadband Internet related chip design, will remain to be my future orientation of research and design, at least for a decade or so. I will try to write something in these topics, and design some chips or at least some IP cores, as it is a popular fashion now in the industry.
Of course, there are tremendous hurdles and difficulty ahead of my plans, but whatelse has no difficulty if you want to do something?
All the above studies, researches and designs are only my hobby, and I have no intention to commercialize my research and design, and no timetable for these activities and no time-to-market pressure. The only aim is to keep me, my knowledge, and my expertise updated with the development of one of the most important technologies of our age.
I am also well aware that I am far from being specialized in this field. There are a great number of people who are real specialists, both young and experienced. Nevertheless, I will continue my journey on this road and see if I can enjoy my studies someday, somehow.
I am doing all of my above researches on my spare time, because I have to earn a living for myself and as such I can only allocate very limited time to these researches and studies.