Computer Chips Shrink, Become More Powerful

Mark Bocko and Zeljko Ignjatovic are developing smaller, faster, more powerful chips for digital devices.

Smaller, faster, more powerful chip technology—recent breakthrough designs by electrical and computer engineering researchers at the University mean that soon digital cameras may shrink to the size of a shirt button and use less power, yet increase in capacity far beyond any technology currently available.

Professor Mark Bocko and Assistant Professor Zeljko Ignjatovic have designed a prototype chip that can digitize an image at each pixel, and they are working on a second technology that will compress the image more efficiently. They plan to integrate the chip into wireless security cameras first, incorporating both technologies into a single unit.

In addition, Professor Hui Wu has created a wireless chip that uses a 10th as much battery power as current designs. He also is working on other power-saving designs that he hopes can be used to stretch battery life in wireless devices even further.