ICT
JULY 2011 THE ECONOMIC UPDATE
ICT… A Hardware Perspective
Dr. Owen Casha B. Eng. (Hons) Ph.D. M.I.E.E.E.
The emergence of ICT as one of the most important modern economic pillars is due to confluence of computing, digital
processing, miniaturisation, and telecommunications that form its remit.
in which we all live. The following is
EDITOR’S NOTE Dr. Owen
a brief introduction to some of these
Casha is a Lecturer at the Department
systems:
of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics
ASIC Systems - An Applicationwithin the Faculty of ICT at the
Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)
University of Malta. He also currently
is an integrated circuit customised
holds the position of Secretary on the
for a particular use. For example,
IEEE Malta Section Committee.
a chip designed solely to run a
From August 2004 till June 2008, he
mobile phone is an ASIC. As
was involved in research collaboration
feature sizes have shrunk and design
with ST Microelectronics, Catania,
Dr. Owen Casha
tools improved over the years, the
Italy and CEA LETI, Grenoble,
maximum complexity and related
France. His research interests are low
voltage low phase noise radio frequency oscillators functionality achievable in an ASIC has grown
and synthesizers, design of high speed integrated from 5,000 components to over 100 million.
Modern ASICs often include entire 32-bit
circuits, RF MEMS design and embedded systems.
high performance processors, memory modules,
The term Information and Communication similar to the ones found on regular desktop
Technology (ICT) was used for the first time PCs, and other interfacing devices. This type of
back in 1997, in a report compiled by Dennis ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Stevenson for the UK Government. Since then it
This as a branch of ICT that provides
evolved into an extensive multidisciplinary field a tangible interface between the abstract
driven by the rapidly growing communication
world of software and the real world in
systems market.
which we all live
A common impression is that ICT only
involves the development of software systems, but ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
in reality, this is only one of many aspects in ICT. ASIC is often referred to as a System-on-a-Chip
In fact, ICT also deals with the development of (SoC).
MEMS - Micro-Electro-Mechanical
hardware platforms on which software systems
can then be implemented in the real world. For Systems (MEMS) is a technology that in its
instance, if one considers your standard Personal most general form can be defined as miniaturised
Computer (PC) one can readily note that it is mechanical and electro-mechanical devices
an amalgamation of development in hardware that are developed using the techniques of
architecture, including components such as the microfabrication.The critical physical dimensions
processing unit, memory, peripheral devices, of MEMS devices can vary from well below one
and so on, together with the development micron (which is one millionth of a metre) on the
in operating systems and applications to be lower end all the way up to several millimetres.
subsequently executed on the hardware. It The availability of MEMS technology enables
naturally follows, that the work involved in the the design of innovative microstructures such
construction of a PC needs to be undertaken by as capacitive sensors, electrostatic actuators (an
different ICT specialists. This ICT area concerns actuator is an electromechanical device used to
itself with the study and development of very control a real world object), energy scavengers
large scale integrated circuits, related effects, and microfluidic test structures. MEMS are
and even autonomous devices used for sensing also particularly useful in multi-standard radioand measurement as well as for embedding frequency and microwave applications which
into larger devices one tends to find in modern require the tuning of circuitry in order to suit
everyday use. One can see this as a branch of different frequency bands. This is very important
ICT that provides a tangible interface between in the design of modern communication systems
the abstract world of software and the real world which need to have varying functionality whilst
using the same hardware. This would drastically
reduce the development cost as well as the size of
such devices.
Embedded Systems - An embedded system
is a computer system designed to do one or a
few dedicated and/or specific functions often
with real-time computing constraints, meaning
that the computerised system must work at the
exact same rate at which the controlled process is
running. This naturally stems from the fact that
such systems are located on the real world object
that they are meant to control or monitor – hence
the term “embedded”. It is embedded within a
complete device often including hardware and
mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose
computer, such as a PC, is designed to be
flexible and to meet an unlimited range of enduser needs. Embedded systems control many
devices in common use today and are focused
by definition. Embedded systems are controlled
by one or more main processing cores that are
typically either microcontrollers, digital signal
processors or programmable logic devices.
By taking a look at the various programmes
of study offered by the Faculty of ICT at the
University of Malta, one can note that this
holistic view so characteristic of ICT, including
both hardware and software considerations,
is definitely being given prominence. In
particular, as part of the continuous curriculum
restructuring taking place within the faculty,
this coming October the Department of
Micro and Nanoelectronics, together with the
Department of Communications and Computer
Engineering, both in the Faculty of ICT, will
be launching a new undergraduate three-year
degree programme entitled “Microelectronics
and Embedded Systems”, which can then be
specialised by a two-year Masters taught course in
the field of Microelectronics and Microsystems.
These programmes of study will address the
need of producing qualified specialists in these
fields, a need substantiated by evident major
growth over the past few years, particularly with
the emergence of mobile devices, biomedical
portable devices, gaming and embedded systems.
These are undoubtedly important fields for a
forward-looking knowledge based economy.
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