Lecture

A novel processor architecture for reliable, ultra-low-power biomedical implants - The SiMS concept

Speaker:	Christos Strydis, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Date:	Thursday, 12 November 2009
Time:	10:00-11:00
Location:	"Mediterranean Studies" Seminar Room, FORTH. Heraklion, Crete
Host:	Christoforos Kachris

Abstract:

Within the interdisciplinary SiMS project (http://ce.et.tudelft.nl/SiMS), we are focusing on the development of novel implantable, microelectronic devices. We are working toward the specification and design of a new system-level architecture that will enable the structured and standardized generation of different microelectronic implants, spanning a wide range of biomedical applications. Thus, the architecture shall be generic in nature, while exhibiting crucial traits such as ultralow-power consumption, highly fault-tolerant operation and small form factor. Core system > components are a processor architecture and assorted C compiler, biosensors and bioactuators for interfacing to the living tissue, a wireless transceiver unit and a power source, each addressed by one or more of the SiMS partners. In this presentation, we will start by discussing interesting findings from an extensive implant survey. The goal is to pinpoint crucial technological and medical trends in the field, motivating SiMS. We will, then, present specification details of the (so-called) SiMS processor as well as novel profiling benchmarks and design-space exploration tools employed. We will also provide preliminary synthesis results of a SiMS-processor prototype and we will conclude our talk with the contributions of this work, its current limitations and the intriguing challenges it creates for the future.

Bio:

Christos Strydis is a 4th-year Ph.D. candidate with the Computer Engineering Laboratory, EEMCS Dept., of the Delft University of Technology. In 2005, he received a M.Sc. (cum laude) in Computer Engineering (major) and Biomedical Engineering (minor) from the same university. His M.Sc. thesis work focused on an extensive survey of biomedical, microelectronic implants. Since 2003, he holds a Diploma (honors) in Electronic and Computer Engineering, from the Technical University of Crete. For his undergraduate thesis work on Bluetooth-enabled, portable, embedded systems, he has been awarded the 3rd place in the annual "Ericsson Awards of Excellence", Hellas. Along with, Prof. S. Vassiliadis and Asst. Prof. G. N. Gaydadjiev he has kickstarted and is currently in charge of the SiMS project, related to novel medical-implant design. His current research interests include ultra-low-power, fault-tolerant and reconfigurable computer architectures and embedded systems; design-space exploration tools; cortical and deep-brain, neural implants.