8bit a/d converter handles 1billion conversions/sec

"Most of the a/d converters on the market today weren't designed to handle the massive Big Data applications we are dealing with today – it's the equivalent of funnelling water through a straw from a fire hose," explains Dr Martin Schmatz, systems department manager at IBM Research. "This is IBM's first attempt at designing a new a/d converter that leverages a standard cmos logic process, not only resulting in the most efficient a/d converter in its class, which but also opens the possibility to add massive computation power for signal analysis on the same chip." The converter design has been developed at IBM Research in Zurich, in collaboration with the EPFL's microelectronic systems laboratory (MSL). "The new design has several key advantages over similar designs proposed earlier: in terms of speed, power dissipation, and silicon area" said MSL director Professor Yusuf Leblebici. "It is a perfect example of successful industry-university cooperation, having produced world class results." The prototype a/d converter was manufactured at IBM's 300mm fab in East Fishkill using a 32nm silicon on insulator cmos process. The 8bit device, which can handle 1billion a/d conversions per second, operates from a 1V supply and consumes 3.1mW. According to IBM, the a/d converter could be available next year.