IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Spring 2017 - 6

a ssoc iate editor's vie w

Marcel Pelgrom

Cross-Fertilization

Some people claim that the only real
invention made by mankind was the
wheel. This somewhat pessimistic view
on human intelligence assumes that
all other subsequent innovative steps
are, in a sense, linked to the specific
properties of circular motion. There is
a point in that, as nearly every idea in
mechanical engineering or electronics
requires a description based on trigonometric functions or relies on the
analysis in the frequency domain.
The audio compact-disc system is an
easy target for the proponents of this
thesis. The real progress in the design
of this system is not determined by the
shape of the disc, the miniature optical system, the many breakthroughs in
micro-electronic circuits, the high-volume, low-cost production of discs with
1-μm features, or the data processing-
it's in the teamwork among all these
disciplines. The compact-disc system
is an extreme example of cross-fertilization. Many trade-offs had to be made
among various aspects of all engineering domains involved.
The mechanical tolerances of the
disc and the optical read-out system
are electronically corrected to yield
the lowest bit-error rate. The entire
recording process had to be reengineered based on limitations and possibilities of the digital mastering. A
multidiode optical sensor captured
the wiggling of the disc due to asymmetry of the central hole. Even the
Dutch treasury had a contribution:
the size of the CD's hole equals the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSSC.2017.2688640
Date of publication: 21 June 2017

S p r i n g 2 0 17

diameter of a Dutch ten-cent coin.
obsession of some deans of education
These and more examples show how,
with software and tooling has caused
for even inexpensive consumer prodmany cross-linking topics to disapucts, challenges in one domain are
pear from the B.E.E. curricula. And
effectively addressed through actions
that is curious, as any observer of the
in another.
trade will acknowledge that there is
The ability to cross the borders of
nothing more volatile than software
various domains and build upon solumethodology. Programming lantions, opportunities, and
guages come and go,
challenges from a differbut the essence of the
ent one is perhaps the
laws of thermodynamInsights
most important innovaics will stay forever.
gained in one
tion mechanism of the
Even inside the exdomain foster
last decades. Technitended field of microinnovations
cal and scientific evoluelectronics, there is need
in the other.
tion takes place inside
for further cross-fertilizaa scientific field, but
tion. Analog designers
revolution takes place
start discovering the
on the intersection of different fields.
benefits of digital calibration techA really interesting example of
niques, digital designers run into the
present-day cross-fertilization is the
physical limits of a limited number of
interaction between neural brain
atoms, and the link between high-speed
scientists and efforts to solve probdata streams and RF techniques is oblems by deep-learning techniques
vious. Exploiting these opportunities
on huge computers. Insights gained
requires an open mind and a willingin one domain foster innovations in
ness to learn even by experienced engithe other. This cross-fertilization will
neers. The professional institutes play
have a societal impact comparable to
an important role in providing lowthe compact disc.
threshold access to new developments
The critical success factor for crossin neighboring domains. However, much
fertilization is a basic understanding
of these efforts are reminiscent of 1960s
of each other's language. And that's
view on society, where the main diswhere a proper academic education
traction is a newspaper. The attention
can really make a difference. Already
span of modern engineers must handle
in pursuing the bachelor's electrimultiple priority conflicts, continuous
cal engineering (B.E.E.) degree, some
time pressures, and partners with simexposure to optics, mechanical engiilar ambitions.
neering, material science, quanAdvanced ways of communication
tum mechanics, and even selected
and original styles of providing access
topics in biology/medicine is crucial
to information is crucial for enabling
for successfully designing multidofuture cross-fertilization.
main systems in a future career. The

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