Columbia University and Semiconductor Research Corporation Integrate Voltage Regulators Directly onto ICs

Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) together with Columbia University recently announced the research results that show that the industry is going back to voltage regulators as a solution for continued processor scalability. SRC is one of the leading global university-research consortiums for semiconductors and related technologies.

The team through their research have clearly showed that a new breed of integrated voltage regulator (IVR) have higher levels of energy densities that are over ten times that of present state-of-art inductors available on computer chips. The team will now focus their efforts on preparing to test a second round of prototypes.

In a release, Professor Ken Shepard, lead researcher for the team at Columbia said "A key to further scaling is the ability to scale the energy storage elements required for these voltage regulators. By developing power converters that are small enough to be integrated on the same chip or in the same package as microprocessors, we can significantly improve computational performance per watt of power consumed."

IBM (News - Alert) also an SRC member is collaborating with the team as they look to develop an integrated inductor that assists in high-efficiency power conversion. The research team has showcased all of the usual advantages of a switched-inductor converter in a form factor that is tiny enough to integrate on-chip. To provide further assistance and support, Intel (News - Alert) Corporation, an SRC member, has also committed to this project.

The team from Columbia University who receives financial support from SRC introduced an unprecedented combination of magnetic materials, chip-stacking design and a 2.5-Dimension (2.5-D) packaging process. They went on to demonstrate an innovative IVR solution in partnership with a research team from IBM, a member of SRC.

Betsy Weitzman, SRC executive vice president said, "This technology is nearing industry adoption and can significantly benefit society while helping semiconductor companies to improve performance-per-watt for their products. End users will want products such as smartphones, laptops and servers to employ this technology because it will deliver reduced system power consumption and the potential for improved computational performance."