Emerging Technology Panel

Title: CMOS Systems-on-Chip for NASA Millimeter-Wave & THz Space Instruments
Presenting Author: Adrian Tang
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory & University of California Los Angeles

Abstract:
In this talk we will describe the latest advances in system-on-chip (SoC) technology and its key differences from conventional ASIC technology (ability to integrate RF, Mixed-Signal & Memory). We will discuss how advanced SoC architectures and approaches are being leveraged by our JPL/UCLA team for several NASA efforts in order to reduce the size, weight and power of instrumentation electronics. Several examples discussed will be a wideband SoC spectrometer processor being developed for next generation space-borne astronomy telescopes, the SoC-based spectrometer-on-a-chip for in-situ exploration of primitive planetary bodies, SoC-based radiometer/spectrometer receivers at 20-180 GHz for atmospheric humidity soundings and a Ku/Ka band SoC-based radar system for sensing ice and snow on Mars and here on Earth.

Bio: Adrian Tang has over 17 years of CMOS/SiGe IC chip design experience in both research and commercial wireless environments with projects ranging from the design of commercial Bluetooth and WLAN chipsets to mm-wave and THz chipsets for communication, radar and spectrometer systems. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Adrian directs the space-system-on-chip laboratory and is currently leading development of a wide range of CMOS SoC chipsets for planetary, Earth science and Astrophysics space instruments including sub-millimeter-wave fractional carrier generators and spectrometer processors for sub-mm-wave remote sensing instruments, as well as waveform generation and processing for in-situ and orbital mm-wave radar systems. Adrian's CMOS SoC design team was the first to demonstrate centimeter accurate mm-wave radar for sensing snow and precipitation with silicon technology, the first to demonstrate CMOS spectrometers sensitive enough to detect trace gasses, and the first to demonstrate CMOS radiometers with enough sensitivity to support atmospheric humidity and temperature soundings. Adrian completed his PhD at the University of California Los Angeles in 2012 before joining JPL in 2013 as a strategic researcher. Adrian was recently awarded the SPIE society’s rising researcher award in 2016 for his work on mm-wave radiometers, as well as the 2016 JPL Explorer award, and 2016 NASA JPL R&TD research award, both for his work on CMOS-based gamma radiation sensors. In 2017, he was awarded the NASA innovation medal for his work on self-calibrating CMOS frequency synthesizers for deep space planetary science missions. Adrian is a senior member of the IEEE.