Pushing the limits

Recognising the pervasive nature of electronics and the importance of the consumer electronics sector, the theme for this year’s ISSCC is System Integration for Life and Style. Increased integration, says the organiser, is enabling new and exciting systems which alter our lives and our lifestyles in endless ways. It highlights ultra low power sensor and wireless techniques, entertainment and computing and mobile phones as areas where our lifestyles are changing in ways previously unimagined. The key to these advances, says ISSCC, is the integration of functions into sophisticated systems, allowing more processing to fit into tiny packages, and reducing power consumption to the point that everything can be battery powered in a hand held device.