+33372743714
ICECS2024@ul-propuls.fr
The ICECS 2024 conference will feature 5 tutorials, spread over 6 sessions.
Title: The ins & outs of power-supply rejection (PSR) in low-dropout (LDO) regulators
Instructor: Gabriel A. Rincón‐Mora, Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), USA
Date : November 18th
Time : 9:00-10:30
Duration: 1:30 (1 session)
Abstract:
Electronics today usually incorporate switching power supplies because they lose a small fraction of the power they draw. Unfortunately, they also generate switching noise that sensitive analog systems, like precision low-noise amplifiers, data converters, voltage-controlled oscillators, phase-locked loops, voltage references, bias generators, and the like cannot tolerate. This is why linear regulators are so pervasive today, because they filter and suppress the noise that the switching power supplies that feed them generate. But suppressing power-supply noise while at the same time regulating the output, supplying a dynamic load, and consuming little power is not only challenging but also involved and difficult to understand and evaluate. This tutorial uses insight to show how linear regulators suppress power-supply noise and how different design strategies can enhance this suppression.
Title: Wireless Power Transfer for Active Capsule Endoscopy: unlocking new possibilities
Instructor: Alessandro Catania, Assistant Professor at University of Pisa, Department of Information Engineering
Date : November 18th
Time : 9:00-10:30
Duration: 1:30 (1 session)
Abstract:
In the last years, implantable and ingestible medical devices have grown in the market and keep helping the life of billions of patients. Among them, active devices allow more and more functions, thanks to the presence of electronic monitoring and actuating systems powered by an electrical source. For example, capsule endoscopy for the gastro-intestinal tract represents a painless alternative to traditional endoscopy procedures and could provide more useful data for diagnosis. In this context, the Autocapsule Project (funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovative programme) aims at developing an untethered autonomous capsule that can be implanted in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract for an extended period of time to monitor a specific area. Additionally, the capsule can be maneuvered through the GI tract for endoscopy using magnetic manipulation with an external robotic arm, requiring minimal expertise from the operator. The capsule has the ability to do multimodal sensing, which includes micro-ultrasound imaging, white light imaging, pH monitoring, and inflammation monitoring.
Inductive wireless power transfer (WPT) represents a promising alternative to batteries, extending the lifetime of active capsules and avoiding safety considerations related to the battery chemistry. However, considering the Specific Absorption (SAR) limitations concerning wireless emissions, and the limited volume available, transmitting the sufficient amount of power to operate capsule endoscopy is a real challenge. In particular, the design of the WPT receiver represents the most critical part, since it needs to be miniaturized and extremely efficient in all the possible operating conditions, which can be very different.
Several techniques can be implemented to maximize the efficiency in loose coupling conditions, even under misalignment and varying distances between transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) coils. In this tutorial, we will survey the state-of-the-art of these techniques and we will focus on some novel approaches developed during the Autocapsule project, including but not limited to 3d WPT receiver for misalignment robustness, microelectronic design of active AC-DC converters, adaptive matching networks and load modulation feedback circuits.
Title: Modelling, Simulation, and Analysis of Modular Multilevel Converters
Instructor:
Dr. Davide del Giudice, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Prof. Federico Bizzarri, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Date : November 18th
Time : 9:00-10:30 for session 1, 11:00-12:30 for session 2
Duration: 2 x 1:30 (2 sessions)
Abstract:
This tutorial deals with Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs), an emerging converter technology in High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems that is garnering increasing attention from academia and industry. These systems allow connecting asynchronous grids and efficiently transmitting power over large distances, thus favoring the integration of remoted renewable-based production sites such as wind farms.
Each phase leg of an MMC comprises a cascading stack of up to several hundreds of identical submodules (SMs), which include semiconductor devices and a voltage source. Despite granting low switching losses and easy scalability to high voltage and power ratings, the modular structure of MMCs implies that a multitude of SMs (and, thus, semiconductor devices) must be considered for their simulation, thus leading to a high computational burden. The above feature ultimately poses significant challenges to the efficient execution of conventional power-system simulator tasks, such as power flow, electromagnetic transient simulation, initialization, and small-signal analysis.
Simulation is an essential step for understanding and mitigating the issues caused by the increasing penetration of non-linear power electronic converters in power systems. In this context, developing computationally efficient models of converters such as MMCs is extremely important. This aspect is the cornerstone of this tutorial: after describing the main features of an MMC, we discuss the main approaches available in the literature for its modelling, simulation, and analysis — by also adding the latest one presented by the instructors of this tutorial. These approaches are compared in terms of operating principles, simplifying assumptions, fields of applicability, and simulation efficiency. Simulation results of an HVDC benchmark system are included to support the discussion.
This tutorial is a useful guide for newcomers who want to get up to speed on the topic of MMCs, as well as experienced researchers and engineers from academia and industry seeking innovative solutions for MMC simulation.
Title: Design and simulation on analog/RF circuits with the single-piece ACM2 mosfet model
Instructor:
Carlos Galup Montoro, Professor, (UFSC) Brazil.
Deni Alves, Ph.D Student, TIMA Laboratory, Grenoble, France
Sylvain Bourdel, Professor, TIMA Laboratory, Grenoble, France
Date : November 18th
Time : 11:00-12:30
Duration: 1:30 (1 session)
Abstract:
Textbooks for integrated circuits (IC) design present oversimplified MOSFET models valid only in specific regions of operation. On the other hand, the accurate BSIM models, available with most of the process design kits (PDKs), are extremely complex and need hundreds of parameters. Recent studies aim to bridge the gap between the oversimplified design models and the extremely complex simulation ones. In effect, a design-oriented transistor model, valid in all the operating regions of the device, with a few, but meaningful electrical parameters, is of great help for properly sizing transistors in the pre-simulation phase of a design flow. Furthermore, jointly with the open-source PDKs and tools, simple and accurate compact models in open-source simulators will also help the entrance of new engineers in the integrated circuit design domain.
This tutorial will present a minimalist 5-parameter model running on proprietary simulators, such as SPECTRE, and open-source simulators, such as Ngspice. The model, denoted ACM2, includes velocity saturation and drain-induced barrier lowering. Employing the proposed model, all the DC characteristics (currents and charges) and the small-signal equations can be expressed as single-piece expressions valid in all inversion (weak, moderate, and strong) regions. When applied to bulk technology, ACM2 has 5 DC parameters, and an extra parameter is included for SOI technologies to account for back gate bias. Straightforward procedures will be detailed for extracting the main electrical parameters, as well as the short-channel and SOI parameters.
Finally, several design examples especially a low frequency amplifier and a RF LNA will be presented. Design method based on ACM2 will be presented to emphasis how powerful ACM2 is to explore design spaces.
Title: 50 Shades of Delta Sigma
Instructor:
Chadi Jabbour, Telecom Paris, France
Antoine Frappé, IEMN Lab, Lille, France
Nicolas Schlegel, Nokia Bell Labs/Telecom Paris, France
Date : November 18th
Time : 11:00-12:30
Duration: 1:30 (1 session)
Abstract:
Delta Sigma modulators (DSM) have been around for more than 60 years. In 1962, Inose and his colleagues introduced one of the first implementations of DSM for a code modulation communication for a telemetering system. Since, during more than 6 decades, this remarkable architecture was employed to design most of the building blocks of audio systems, sensors or wireless transceivers. When we talk about DSM, we think first about Analogue to Digital Converters (ADC) but DSM are also excellent candidates to build high precision classical Digital to Analogue Converters (DAC) and also RF DACs with the signal directly centered at the LO frequency. DSM are also more and more used in hybrid ADC (SAR DSM or noise shaping SAR) or hybrid DACs (combination of Nyquist DAC and DSM DACs). Other innovative uses of DSM were also proposed such as building RF to digital receivers based on Band Pass DSM or Direct Delta Sigma Receivers. DSM principles are also used for massive MIMO systems to perform Noise Shaping with respect to transmission angles instead of frequency. Despite the diversity of these applications, their design methodologies share many aspects. In this tutorial, we will present the latest trends with Delta Sigma Modulators from the design methodology that was not spared by Artificial Intelligence, to system innovations, performance of the latest implementations and future applications. All along the presentation, we will share our experience with this architecture, we will share our success and also the mistakes we have made and problems we have faced. We will present our current and future projects in the field as well to the expected trends.