Oct 7, 2007

ICCAD'07

The 2007 IEEE International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD) is coming...
It will take place in San Jose, California on November 5-8. The venue will be the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose..

ICCAD is one of the top conferences in electronic design conference. This year it will be its 25th anniversary.

The program of the 25th Edition of ICCAD is truly interesting. On Monday 5 there will be 4 half-day tutorials and 1 full-day tutorial, all of them conducted by very prestigeous researchers. The selected papers are all of high quality. ICCAD is a very competitive conference, which carries out a careful selection of the papers submitted. Less than one third of the submissions are accepted.

Besides, there are there are 4 embedded tutorials addressing topics from nano-photonic circuits over physical synthesis and formal verification to compact device modeling for 45 nm and below.

The program will also be complemented with with 2 top-notch plenary keynote speakers: Jeff Welser, Director of the SRC National Nanoelectronics Research Initiative, and John Kibarian, CEO of PDF Solutions.

Modeling is one of the topics of ICCAD. One of the embedded tutorials will address compact device modeling for 45 nm and below, and it will be presented by Kevin Cao and Colin McAndrew. But in ICCAD other modeling issues are emphasized: power modeling, reliability modeling, interconnect modeling , variability modeling, and timing modeling.

In fact, one of the tutorials is entitled Modeling Deterministic Timing and Reliability Effects in Sub-65 nm Flows, and will be conducted by S. Pullela, C. Kashyap and B. McGaughy.

Certainly ICCAD will be a very interesting place to learn and discover the latest new research developments in electronic design technology, and to exchange ideas about the challenges and solutions for the design nanoscale integrated circuits.

And Happy Birthday to ICCAD!

2008 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology

The 2008 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology will take place in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 17-19.

The IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology is one of the most prestigeous conferences on VLSI devices and processes. It is also a very competitive and tough conference. Papers should always be innovative enough regarding VLSI devices. Some of the topics explicitly mentioned in the Call for Papers are "process/device modeling" and "theories and fundamentals" related to VLSI devices. Therefore, researchers in device modeling (including compact modeling) can submit papers to the IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology, but it should be remarked that these models or theories should be real breakthroughs.

The Chairman is Professor Jason Woo, from UCLA, an outstanding researcher in semiconductor devices, with a lot of experience in device modeling.

The deadline is January 7.

There will be a Best Student Paper Award. The Symposium will cover the travel mexpenses and registration fee for the award recipient to attend the 2009 Symposium.

The IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology will be held in conjunction with the IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, which is one of the top conferences in the field of integrated circuits. This Symopisum is also very demanding and competitive. Papers should be really breakthroughs to be accepted.

Well, despite the symposium is so demanding, it is worthy to work hard to make a suitable paper for this Symposium. And it is also a good opportunity to enjoy some days in Honolulu!

RFIC'08

The 2008 IEEE RFIC (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits) Symposium will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 15-17 in conjunction with the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS), as part of the Microwave Week 2008.

The IEEE RFIC Symposium is one of the most important IEEE conferences dedicated to the latest innovations in RF and microwave integrated circuits.

The technical areas of RFIC 2008 include RFIC design, RFIC circuits, design methodology, system engineering, RF testing and packaging... And I wish to hightlight that one of the topics explicitly mentioned in the Call for Papers is "Modeling and CAD: RFIC Modeling, Characterization of Active and Passive Devices".

Certainly, RFIC'08, as well as IEEE MTT-S IMS, will allow an easy interaction between high-frequency compact model developers and their potential users.

The deadline for paper submission is January 3 2008.

IMS 2008

The IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium 2008 (IMS 2008) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from June 15 to June 20 2008.

IMS is the largest conference in the field of RF and microwave theory and techniques.

IMS'08 will include workshops, to be held on Sunday June 15, Monday June 16 and Friday June 20 2008. The IMS 2008 Technical Sessions will take place from Tuesday June 17 to Thursday June 18.

In such a large conference, there are many parallel sessions. The scope of IMS is large, and papers on compact modeling of semiconductor devices in the RF and microwave regime can be presented at IMS. In fact, IMS is a very adequate forum for that, because of the presence of the potential users of the device models (designers of RF and microwave circuits).

IMS will be part of the Microwave Week 2008, which will also include a microwave exhibition, the RFIC Symposium and the ARFTG Conference.

The deadline for paper submission is December 7 2007.

Last but not least, IMS'08 includes a very interesting social programme, and a guest tour roster.
Certainly Atlanta is an exciting city that offers many places and activities to enjoy!

Oct 5, 2007

EUROSOI'08

The 2008 EUROSOI Workshop will be held in Cork, Ireland, on January 23-25 2008.

The EUROSOI Workshop started as an event related to a former Coordination Action funded by the European Commission. EUROSOI was a Thematic Network which included most of the European teams working on SOI technology. Actually, this network will be funded again for three years more.

The EUROSOI Workshop has become an international forum to discuss the recent advances on all aspects of SOI technology: materials, devices, modeling, simulation and circuits.

EUROSOI 2008 will be organized by the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. The Chairman is Prof Jean-Pierre Colinge, a recognized pioneer in SOI technology.

The deadline for abstract submission is November 16 2007

Oct 3, 2007

European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2007

European Microwave Week provides the opportunity to attend four conferences and various workshops and short courses given by leading experts in their field. Moreover, the European Microwave Exhibition constitutes the largest trade show on RF and microwaves in Europe.

Following the pattern established in Paris in 2005, European Microwave Week now consists of four conferences:

The event focuses on the needs of engineers and researchers and seeks to serve both academia and industry. The week provides an opportunity for both communities to consider the latest trends and developments that are widening the field of application of microwaves.


European Microwave Week 2007 continues the series of successful microwave events and is set to return to Munich, Germany. By the, way, I cannot stand but recommending you to take this opportunity, and have a try with the Oktoberfest... It is actually worth it!

2008 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium

For over 40 years, IRPS has been the premier conference for engineers and scientists to present new and original work in the area of microelectronic device reliability. Originally started in the early 1960’s by the military and aerospace community, IRPS is now co-sponsored by the IEEE Reliability Society and the IEEE Electron Devices Society. This co-sponsored event has drawn participants from the United States, Europe, Asia and all other parts of the world. IRPS 2008 promotes the reliability and performance of integrated circuits and microelectronic assemblies through an improved understanding of failure mechanisms in the user’s environment, while demonstrating the latest state-of-the-art developments in electronic reliability.

The focus of the symposium is the 3-day plenary/parallel sessions (at the Phoenix Convention Center) featuring original work that identifies new microelectronic failure or degradation mechanisms, improves understanding of known failure mechanisms, demonstrates new or innovative analytical techniques, or demonstrates ways to build-in reliability. Specific areas to be addressed during the 2008 IRPS are reliability concerns associated with silicon (integrated circuits, discrete devices, MEMS), non-silicon (GaAs, LEDs and diode lasers, optical fiber and flat panel displays), and emerging technologies including organic electronics and nanotechnology:

  • Product Reliability and Burn-In
  • Non-Volatile Memory
  • Qualification Strategies
  • Circuits and Systems
  • Soft Error Effects
  • Assembly and Packaging
  • Failure Analysis
  • Transistors
  • High Power Devices
  • Devices and Processing
  • Interconnects
  • Device Dielectrics
  • ESD and Latch-Up
  • Process Induced Damage
  • MEMS
  • Nanoelectronics Device Reliability
  • Organic Electronics

Other opportunities at the symposium include:

  • A 2-day Tutorial Program featuring a set of bound notes from all tutorials. Attendees have the opportunity to learn a new area in some technical depth from an industry expert or brush up on the fundamentals with introductory tutorials. There are typically about 20 tutorials that are offered on topics ranging from back-end reliability to gate dielectric and transistor reliability to circuit/product reliability to assembly/ packaging reliability.
  • Reliability Year-In-Review Seminar. This seminar provides a summary of important work published from the previous year in key reliability areas. Industry experts serve as the “tour guide” and save you time by collecting and summarizing this information to bring you up to date in a particular area as efficiently as possible.
  • Evening Session Workshops enhance the synergy of the symposium by affording the attendees an opportunity to meet in informal groups to discuss key reliability physics topics with the guidance of experienced moderators. Some of the workshop topics are directly coupled to the tutorial program to allow more discussion on a particular topic.
  • Equipment Demonstrations held in parallel with tutorials and technical sessions are a unique aspect of this symposium. Manufacturers of state-of-the-art analytical and test and stress equipment are on hand to demonstrate their products and systems to individuals and small groups. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples or questions for onsite analysis and discussion.
  • An Evening Poster Session has become an important part of the IRPS for authors and attendees to discuss recent research and results in a very interactive environment.

    There are lots of opportunities to be involved in increasing your understanding of this technically important field. We look forward to seeing you in Phoenix!