IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2022 - 72

ones. Harnessing such innovations
for solving tangible real-world problems
requires novel system-level solutions.
With a focus on envisioning the
future, emerging trends in technology
directions at ISSCC 2022 cover a
wide range of topics, including quantum
engineering, low-power secure
circuits for the IoT, and biomedical
sensing, stimulation, and harvesting.
ISSCC 2022 features two sessions representing
the latest technological innovations
in the following areas:
■ Quantum engineering: By exploiting
phenomena such as superposition
and entanglement, quantum
technologies promise disruptive
improvements in several fields, including
computing, communication,
and sensing. In current quantum
systems, devices must often be operated
at cryogenic temperatures,
while they are mostly controlled by
a room-temperature electronic interface.
While a few wires can bridge
such a temperature gap for today's
small-scale systems, full scalability
can be ensured only by adopting a
cryogenic control interface, enabling
compact and reliable implementations.
At ISSCC 2022, the trend continues
in integrating larger cryogenic
SoCs in advanced nanometer CMOS
processes for the control of multiple
qubits, with two papers reporting a
qubit driver in a 14-nm FinFET and a
combined driver/Rx in 40-nm CMOS,
respectively, both for superconducting
qubits. Next to that, researchers
are focusing on designing more circuit
building blocks aimed at cryogenic
operation, also exploring other
technologies and comparing them to
cryo-CMOS, such as for the SiGe bipolar
CMOS VCO presented this year.
■ Low-power circuits for the IoT:
The papers from ISSCC 2022 in
this area push the frontiers of
low-power communication and AI
for applications in the IoT. One
paper presents the design of a
low-power Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo
backscatter chip that enables longer-distance
operation via a beam
scattering approach. Three papers
focused on AI suggest shifting pro72
WINTER 2022
cessing to the time domain, demonstrating
voice activity detection
and keyword spotting using time
domain convolutional neural networks
and feature extraction and
by changing AI processing from
synchronous digital logic to asynchronous,
event-driven circuitry
with mixed-signal CIM techniques.
■ Biomedical devices, circuits, and systems:
ISSCC 2022 includes innovative
and emerging biomedical systems
that traverse device, circuit, and
system-level design. This year, the
developing trends encompass advances
in implantable electrocorticography
recording, multielectrode
arrays for cell/tissue interfacing,
biomolecular sensing, and bioenergy
harvesting. The demonstrated
technologies have potential to advance
the diagnosis of neurological
disorders; prosthetic devices; singlecell
resolution, in vitro analytics and
diagnosis; label-free, single-molecule
sensors for diagnostics; drug
discovery; deoxyribonucleic acid
sequencing and proteomics; and soil
acidity monitoring.
Summary
According to the Semiconductor Industry
Association, global semiconductor
sales have increased from
US$204.4 billion in 2000 to US$440.4
billion in 2020, which translates into
a compound annual growth rate of
3.91%. Based on the World Semiconductor
Trade Statistics forecast,
global semiconductor industry sales
are expected to reach US$469 billion
in 2021 and US$496 billion in 2022.
The year-on-year growth rate in 2021
is expected to reach 19.7%. In this environment,
ISSCC continues to be the
premier technical forum for presenting
advances and predicting trends in
solid-state circuits and systems. Semiconductors
are crucial components of
electronic devices, and the industry
is highly competitive. Beyond this article,
a complete trends document will
be available at www.isscc.org. These
trends will be highlighted in papers
presented at the 69th ISSCC, at the San
Francisco Marriott Marquis from 20 to
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE
24 February 2022. Attendance is expected
to be around 3,000. Corporate
attendees from the semiconductor
and system industries typically represent
about 60% of the participants. We
look forward to seeing you there!
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the
ISSCC 2022 Technical Program Committee
for providing original content
for this article and each of the 12 subcommittee
chairs, as referenced in
each of the trend sections, for their
leadership role. We would also like to
thank Brad Phillips (and Mira Smart
Conferencing), Stephen Bonney (and
S3 iPublishing), and the ISSCC technical
editors for their help in collecting
and editing the material. Without their
collective efforts, this article would
not have been possible.
Reference
[1] G. W. Burr, S. Lim, B. Murmann, R. Venkatesan,
and M. Verhelst, " Fair and comprehensive
benchmarking
of
machine
learning processing chips, " IEEE Des. Test,
early access, Mar. 2020, doi: 10.1109/
MDAT.2021.3063366.
About the Authors
Shahriar Mirabbasi (shahriar@ece
.ubc.ca) is a professor in the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, V6T 1Z4 Canada, and the
press coordinator for ISSCC 2022.
Laura C. Fujino (lcfujino@aol.com),
ISSCC director of publications and presentations,
is associated with the Department
of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto,
M4L 6S9, Canada, where she is
a member of the Board of Advisors for
the Division of Engineering Science.
Kenneth C. Smith is a professor
emeritus and serves as chair of the
Board of Advisors for the Division
of Engineering Science, University of
Toronto, Toronto, M4L 6S9, Canada.
Since 1975, he has volunteered for
the ISSCC in various capacities, including
as a member of the Program
Committee, in press-related roles,
and for 40-plus years, as chair of the
Awards and Recognition Committee.
http://www.isscc.org
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