CONTACTLESS METAL-TO-METAL ELECTRONIC CONNECTIONS

The performance of future electronic systems is limited by interconnect bandwidth, power, performance, and other fundamental physical limitations (such as mechanical reliability, thermal constraints, and overall system form factor). In particular, the interconnects in an embedded chip limits the overall system performance in consumer electronics, high-speed connector, high-speed memory interface, and future network-on-chip. Therefore, the interconnect system should possess ultrahigh-data rates, a reliable interconnect fabric, be scalable, re-configurable, and highly compact.
Based on emerging 60GHz EHF technology, California-based WaveConnex leverages a decade of research using deep submicron complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) to make millimeter-wave technology a practical and cost-effective reality. The company has developed its products to serve as replacements for metal-to-metal interconnections currently used in nearly all electronic systems. These new products will have the potential to overcome the limitations of current connectors in terms of performance, reliability, and size.
Spun out from the University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Engineering Institute for Technology Advancement, and incorporated in 2009, WaveConnex has licensed its millimeter wave radio technology from the university.
Built to function like a connector with bandwidth exceeding 10 Gb/s, a tiny silicon chip replaces the function of a connector in a new yet familiar form. Smaller than the connector it replaces and assembled like any other surface-mount component, the company’s product eliminates the need for direct contact typical of a conventional connector and the liabilities associated with such a connector. Since contactless connections allow data to be exchanged between electronic devices without them being in actual physical contact with one other, the technology being developed by WaveConnex will potentially enable wide-ranging applications in the areas of database transfer, internet infrastructure and entertainment electronics, among others.
One of the potential applications being envisoned are pocket-sized "smart cards" that contain embedded integrated circuits which store and process large amounts of data without ever coming into direct contact with another device. The smart card can contain information such as medical history and records in encrypted form, including medications, X-rays, and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) results. Subsequently, it enables a doctor to access an accurate medical profile, giving them detailed information for the prescription of treatments and also enabling them to update a profile.
While such applications are feasible today through means of alternate technologies, they remain highly impractical due to the limitations in speed and size of these technologies. The new technology being developed by WaveConnex will help make this practical by enabling substantially faster transfer of large databases. WaveConnex received initial sponsorship from the Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (HSSEAS).