Conference Highlights
22 years of excellence
For more than twenty years, IEEE SOC Conference has been providing a premier forum for the ASIC and SoC community for sharing the latest advances in technologies and applications in that area. Founded in 1987 by the IEEE chapter of Rochester, NY, USA as a local ASIC Seminar, the conference rapidly grew into a well respected international ASIC conference. As ASICs grew in complexity over the years, the IEEE ASIC Conference was one of the first conferences to pick up the trend towards System-on-Chip integration - back in 1999. Since then, the conference - first renamed IEEE ASIC/SOC and later IEEE SOCC - has emerged as the premier technical conference focusing specifically on the field of SoC development and related areas.
In 2007, the conference was held outside of the USA for the very first time, successfully celebrating its 20th anniversary in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Consequently promoting the international character of this conference, our goal is to hold the conference outside of the USA every other year.
Venue
For its European premiere, SOCC 2009 will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. The venue at Wellington Park Hotel is conveniently located adjacent to Queen’s University and only few minutes from City Centre, historical buildings and world famous pubs.
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board about Belfast:
“City break or longer stay, Belfast offers the buzz and vibrancy of a capital city whilst being a gateway to the rural retreat of Northern Ireland.
At the head of Belfast Lough, the city is compact
and easy to get around, whether by car or on foot. Like all capital cities, Belfast offers a wide range of accommodation to suit all
pockets, from cosy B&Bs around the University, to well appointed riverside self-catering establishments, to city centre boutique hotels.
Belfast is teeming with a multitude of stylish bars, gourmet restaurants, trendy clubs and some of the
best shopping in the UK. Visitors can enjoy traditional Irish music in a local pub or dance the night away to the latest vibes - the choice is theirs!
The birthplace of the Titanic, Belfast's industrial heritage has shaped a city steeped in culture, portrayed at its best at the Ulster Museum, City Hall, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museumand the city's many preserved historic buildings. Also, the city's many parks, gardens and
galleries offer a perfect haven to relax.
Within a couple of hours of Belfast, visitors can marvel at the Giant's Causeway, walk the Mountains of Mourne, fish in Fermanagh or visit the many picturesque villages that abound - all
perfect locations form which to discover the rest of Northern Ireland!”
You can find more information about Belfast and how to get there on our Location page.
The Conference
In its tradition of continuing quality, SOCC 2009 will offer three days of technical papers and embedded tutorials. Please watch this site for updates on distinguished speakers and the technical program. While we are finalizing the program for 2009, you may as well want to take a look at our previous conferences.
Distinguished Speakers
SOCC has a long tradition of inviting high-ranking invited Speakers from Industry and Academia to give Keynote, Plenary, and Luncheon talks.
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A list of our speakers from 1990-2008 can be found here.
Panel Discussion
Containing complexity: Keeping the costs of SoC design under control
The increase in design complexity of state-of-the-art SoCs is inflating the design and verification cost of new products. 500 man-years of design effort is now the norm rather than the exception.
“The cost spiral of SoC is constraining fundraising for the classical fables semiconductor start-up model. New SoC fables design start-ups are falling year-on-year to rise essential as costs rise.
What can be done?
- Better tools?
- Programmable devices?
The panel discussion will address these emerging design complexity issues from an academic and industrial research perspective.
Best Paper Award
The authors of the best technical paper will receive a Best Paper Award
Corporate Sponsors and Exhibitors:
Corporate sponsors of our conference may be present with tabletop displays. For more information on corporate sponsorship, please see our sponsorship page
Social and Spouse Program
Northern Ireland has many beautiful sights you will find interesting to explore while you are here. Please follow this link for further information on special activities offered by the conference.
Tutorial Workshops:
Like at our previous conferences, there will be several embedded tutorials during the technical program. For tutorial proposals, please contact the Tutorial Chair.
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul
Member of the Management Board,
Executive VP Sales, Marketing, Technology and R&D,
Infineon
“The future of mobile broadband internet – powered by the semiconductor
industry”
Until 1999 Professor Dr. Hermann Eul was General Manager of the Digital
TeleCom and Data Com ICs operations at Siemens.
When Infineon was formed, he took over the Wireless Baseband and Systems Business Group as Vice President and General Manager. From 2001 to 2002
he was responsible for Security & Chip Card ICs operations as Chief Executive Officer.
In 2003 he was appointed as full Professor and Head of Faculty Chair for RF
Technology and Radio-Systems at the Hanover University. In 2004 he returned to Infineon where he first managed the Wireline Communications business group
as Senior Vice President and General Manager and then, following the reorganization, he became the Group Vice President and General Manager of the Communication Solutions business group.
Professor Eul studied electrical engineering and has a doctorate and professorate in engineering.
Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul became a member of the Management Board in July 2005. He is
responsible for Sales, Marketing, Technology and Reasearch & Development.
Abstract:
While voice still makes up the majority of mobile traffic around the world, the shift in killer applications to data and multimedia is already underway. Mobile Internet is becoming the key future revenue engine, with a strong demand among business users, who want to access information anywhere and anytime, as well as in emerging markets, where customers increasingly turn to mobile phones to connect to the internet due to the lack of fixed lines. Whereas the success of mobile internet in emerging countries primarily depends on affordable solutions enabling basic internet browsing, business activities require above all higher date rates, driving usage of new standards such as HSDPA, HSUPA, EDGE evolution and the upcoming standards LTE and Wimax.
In its introduction, the presentation will give a short summary of the changes in the mobile paradigm and the current situation in the renascent mobile ecosystem. Over the last 25 years the mobile phone has fundamentally changed function – from a voice telephone to a text platform and now to a device that more and more resembles a multimedia computer, with mobile Internet being the key driving force. The entry of powerful Internet and consumer brands and now even luxury designer brands into the mobile handset arena marks the start of a new era which changes the dynamics and results in a stronger battle than ever to control the wireless value chain. The pressure is high to offer new services and features while at the same time streamlining and cost reducing solutions.
For ultra-low-cost handsets, three key success drivers have been defined – power consumption, features and total cost. As far as the features are concerned, just offering voice, SMS and a black and white screen nowadays is not enough; adding an FM tuner, MP3 or even data services would be a means for the operator to make additional revenues. Color displays combined with a smart Internet browsing engine will build the basis for convenient world wide web access.
With regards to high-end phones, the challenges are myriad: the ability to seamlessly support multiple different air interfaces, the increasing amount of processing requirements due to the multimedia content and last but not least, power consumption. Due to the fast evolution of mobile standards, devices with high computational power are necessary to keep pace with this trend. The inner receiver complexity doubles every 2.5 years calling for VSLI horsepower from 0.1 GIPS for GSM to 2 GIPS for UMTS and beyond 10 GIPS for LTE. Accordingly, the necessary silicon area for these systems will increase and has to be considered when choosing the right technology for cost effective solutions.
The presentation will finally show what the semiconductor industry can offer to respond to the challenges mentioned above. Thus, it will show how for the ultra-low-cost segment, hardware integration capabilities – that is to say the monolithic integration of radio frequency, baseband, power management and selected multimedia – can be a viable solution.
Plenary Speakers
James O’Riordan
Chief Technology Officer & VP Corporate Development,
Silicon & Software Systems Ltd.
“What are the Real Innovations that Fabless Companies should be looking at?”
James O'Riordan is S3's Chief Technology Officer and VP of Corporate Development. James's role involves driving the strategic technical direction of S3, the Mergers and Acquisitions, Intellectual Property, New Business Model
Development, managing critical engagements with key technology suppliers and developing long-term relationships with Government bodies and Universities globally.
James joined the company in 1987 and has held a number of positions in S3
including Section Manager, Division Director and Business Unit General Manager before being appointed as CTO in 2001. James has worked with some of the company' largest and most
significant customers over this 20 year period including Philips, Texas Instruments, Motorola, IBM
and Ericsson amongst others.
James brings considerable experience and expertise in the areas of General Management, Strategy,
Mergers & Acquisitions, Operations, Business Development, People & Project Management, Technology, IC design and DSP and is a key member of the senior management team. James is also
one of the initiating founders of the Microelectronics Industry Association in Ireland (MIDAS).
James graduated from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1985 with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.
Eng.) and also holds a Masters in Engineering (M.Eng.Sc.) from University College Dublin.
Abstract:
With the on-going improvement of semiconductor technology, and the consequent new applications that are permitted, the complexity of SoCs continues. While technical innovations have been used to address some of the issues, there is also a reliance on putting more design engineers and more money at these SoCs to tackle this continued complexity. But are the Fabless companies really innovative? What should be the primary focus of a Fabless company? Are there things that Fabless companies should be doing? In what areas should Fabless companies focus their innovation?
The talk will address these issues and suggest answers.
Liang-Gee Chen
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering,
Deputy Dean, Office of Research and Development,
National Taiwan University
“Toward neocortical computing with tera-scale SOC”
Prof. Liang-Gee Chen (S’84–M’86–SM’94–F’01) received the B.S., M.S.,
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C. in 1979, 1981, and 1986, respectively. In 1988, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan
University. During 1993–1994, he was a Visiting Consultant in the DSP Research Department, AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ. During 2004-2006,
he was the executive Vice President and General Director of the Electronics Research and Service Organization (ERSO) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan. Since 2007,
he serves as a Co-Director General of National SoC Program. Currently, he is the Deputy Dean of office of Research and Development and the Distinguished Professor of Department of Electrical
Engineering at National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. He is the IEEE Fellow from 2001. His research interests are DSP architecture design, video processor design, and video coding systems.
Dr. Chen has served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology in 1996-2008, as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems
in 1999-2001, and as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions Circuits and Systems II in 2000-2001. During 2001–2002, he served as a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE CAS Society. He has been the
program committee member of IEEE ISSCC in 2004-2007. He served as the TPC chair of 2009 IEEE ICASSP and will be the TPC Co-chair of ISCAS 2012.
Abstract:
Due to the continue driving of the Moore’s law, semiconductor technology make the tera-scale integration become possible. With so many transistors in a single chip, many dream applications become possible. Designers are eager to use those tremendous capacity of the integration circuits to bring more intelligent, more smart functions. One of the challenge target is can we design the circuits to make the SOC perform tasks that humans do quickly and easily? Can we make the computer to recognize images, understand language, learn knowledge, and control robots? In this presentation, the concept of Bio-inspiring computing which takes the advantages of neural science will be described. Some previous studies tried to explain the behavior of the human neocortex and provide a framework for building models that could be implemented and executed with Tera-scale SOC. Research suggested that the structure of the neocortex is hierarchical, and that the emulation of 6 levels of hierarchy is sufficient to achieve sophisticated recognition and analysis of visual images. Some experimental results will be presented to demo the possibility. It could be the dawn of the age of intelligence machines and neocortical computing. There will be many opportunities that Tera-scale SOC could create.