New Microchip – The Wave of the Future

Are you ready for the next generation of microchips? Well, it is here thanks to researchers in Germany who received their funding from the EU (European Union). Cars, robots, and phones may all be sporting this new chip in the future.

The SUCCESS Consortium is responsible for the design of this innovative new chip. It is believed to be the smallest SoC chip that can operate at over 100 GHz and is silicon based. The professor in charge of the project believes that all other chips functioning at this level do not reach the same degree of integration.

The chip has a surface area of a mere 64 mm (or about .9 inches) and has an operating speed of 120 Ghz. It uses various methods to calculate the location of moving objects, and can detect the location of a stationary object that is nearby very precisely.

What sort of problems needed to be conquered to create such a tiny radar? Weather has always been a major problem for such systems. Electromagnetic forces can also throw them off. A lot of testing had to be done to find the right antennae for the job, especially in a project this size. Researchers developed a way for the chip to periodically check its own performance to assist them in reaching this goal.

Since the chip itself cost only a little over 1 USD to produce, it can have many applications in the technology field, being used in things ranging from cars to phones. It took nine different organizations a total of three years to complete this project. Due to its success, they are now taking on a silicon chip manufacturer to mass produce their design. You can expect to see this radar chip appearing in many different products from here on out.