The
Integrated Systems Group (ISG) was created by an influential group
of digital and analogue VLSI pioneers in the early 1980s (John
Mavor, Peter Denyer and Mervyn Jack). It has evolved into a group
with strong analogue and digital VLSI interests alongside wider
interests in novel computing paradigms, image processing and CMOS
image sensing.
The
group's work ranges from "blue-sky" software and hardware
activity to design research with a direct commercial focus, particularly
in imaging (led by David Renshaw), programmable pulse-based signal
processing chips (led by Alister Hamilton) and evolvable digital
hardware for low-power processing (led by Tughrul Arslan). Alan
Murray heads up the broad area of neural computing - with projects
in analogue, pulse-based neural hardware, neural applications
and neural-based sensor fusion using unsupervised training. Activity
in the important area of System Level Integration (SLI) is led
by Tughrul Arslan, although projects with an SLI component are
undertaken by all members of the ISG. The research of this group
has been supported continuously since 1981 from various sources
including EPSRC, ESPRIT, Alvey and direct industrial funding and
between four and five different integrated circuit designs have
been fabricated successfully every year, leading to an annual
output of between fifteen and twenty papers. In future, the group's
work will move towards developing new architectures, algorithms
and computational techniques for Systems on Chip implemented in
Deep-Sub-Micron
(transistors
of dimensions <0.1micron) technology for applications in medical,
signal processing and other domains. Most immediately, a new collaborative
project recently funded by SHEFC will develop an ingestible chip,
to perform diagnosis remotely and raising many major research
questions with respect to power, sensor-fusion, integrated RF
communications and lab-on-chip technology. The project is collaborative
with the University of Glasgow, the Institute for System-Level
Integration, medical, veterinary and environmental-modeling researchers.
Looking further into the future, part of the ISG's work aims to
connect live nerve cells to silicon substrates,.working with colleagues
in the Silicon Technology
Group and in Biomedical
Sciences.