EMC2 stands for “Embedded Multi-Core Systems for Mixed Criticality Applications in Dynamic and Changeable Real-Time Environments”. The project is meanwhile running for two years. This paper provides recent progress on technical work in the different workpackages and use cases. Major progress in the research on system architecture, design methodology, platform and operating systems, and in qualification and certification are reported. Application cases in the fields of automotive, space, and industry are presented exploiting the technical results achieved. Keywords—Mixed criticality, dynamic application, real-time applications, multitasking, multicore, embedded microcontroller, open system, integrated toolchain

Since April 2014 the Artemis/ECSEL project EMC2 is running and provides significant results. EMC2 stands for "Embedded Multi-Core Systems for Mixed Criticality Applications in Dynamic and Changeable Real-Time Environments". In this paper we report recent progress on technical work in the different workpackages and use cases. We highlight progress in the research on system architecture, design methodology, platform and operating systems, and in qualification and certification. Application cases in the fields of automotive, avionics, health care, and industry are presented exploiting the technical results achieved.

EMC2 stands for "Embedded Multi-Core Systems for Mixed Criticality Applications in Dynamic and Changeable Real-Time Environments". The goals of this 'Artemis' R&D project are to find solutions for dynamic adaptability in open systems, provide handling of mixed criticality applications under real-time conditions, scalability and utmost flexibility, full scale deployment and management of integrated tool chains, through the entire lifecycle. The project has started on April 1st 2014 and will run for three years.

While the semiconductor industry develops into the mature state, growth rates are decreasing and a decreasing percentage of the industry uses the most recent feature sizes of Moore's law. In parallel, specific smart developments become increasingly important, often summarized as More-than-Moore. 3D integration is one of them. The paper summarizes different 3D technologies and provides details of a specific European project on this subject which uses some of them. Two economically relevant use cases are presented and the challenges and chances of 3D chip stacking are discussed.

Currently, 3D integration of semiconductor chips is introduced into high-volume products. While memory and communication will be leading fields of application, automotive will require specific non-standard solutions some of which are in research or development whereas others have already been introduced to production. This paper elaborates on the different opportunities and constraints of automotive applications, presents different technological options and discusses specific solutions considered in research or found in already existing products.

This work presents an advanced sensor node for direct tire pressure monitoring with an overall size below 1 cm3, where the applied components are arranged in a 3D integrated stack for high compactness, improved thermal behavior, and enhanced robustness for pressure, inertia, and temperature sensing. The utilized through silicon via (TSV) technology is introduced and the wide range of resulting issues for the design of a sensor node are considered. In particular, the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of TSVs are investigated in detail focusing on their electrical efficiency. Finally an optimized TSV design is presented, which allows the connection of a Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) resonator with an impedance of 2 kΩ at 2.1 GHz. Thus, all required types of interconnections within the sensor node can be realized by means of the TSV technology.

Attaching a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) on the inner liner of a tire allows sensing of important additional technical parameters, such as vehicle load or tire wearout. The maximum weight of the sensor is limited to 5 grams including package, power supply, and antenna. Robustness is required against extreme levels of acceleration. The node size is limited to about 1 cm3 to avoid high force-gradients due to device-deformation and finally, a long power supply lifetime must be achieved. In this paper a low-power FSK transceiver is presented. Exploiting BAW resonators the use of a bulky and shock-sensitive crystal and a PLL can be avoided. This makes the system more robust and radically reduces the start-up time to 2 ¿s from few ms as in state-of-the-art crystal oscillator based systems. The current consumption of the transceiver is 6 mA in transmit mode with a transmit output power of 1 dBm and 8 mA in receive mode with a sensitivity of -90 dBm at a data rate of 50 kBit/s and a bit error rate of 10-2. The transceiver ASIC and a microcontroller ASIC, a MEMS sensor, and a BAW die are arranged in a 3-D chip stack for best compactness, lowest volume, and highest robustness. The sensor node allows sensing of pressure, acceleration, supply voltage and temperature.

We present a new method to manufacture solidly mounted bulk acoustic wave resonators. This new process introduces the use of wafer bonding techniques and sacrificial surface removal to manufacture solidly mounted resonators having special properties. With the proposed process, Aluminum Nitride (AlN) thin films are obtained having exceptional c-axis crystal orientation with XRD rocking curve FWHM of 1.36° and material electromechanical coupling constant of 6.8% exceeding that of the epitaxial AlN electromechanical coupling constant. Fully functional single-mask resonators were successfully fabricated with this process working around 2.35GHz and enjoying Q-values as high as 1300.

We propose a new way to temperature compensate solidly mounted bulk acoustic wave resonators (SMRs). With the proposed process high Q, high electromechanical coupling coefficient, fully temperature compensated resonators have been successfully fabricated with TCF less than 1ppm/degrees C and total thermal drift of less than 35 ppm across the temperature range from 0-100 degrees C.

In the field of wireless sensor node design a wide range of new potentials are opened by means of emerging 3D integration technologies. These technologies enable the design of highly integrated sensor nodes, but the designers face novel challenges, which specialized communications engineers are not familiar with. This work presents an advanced direct tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) with an overall size below 1 cm3 applying through silicon vias (TSV) and points out two selected design issues arising due to this high level of integration. At first design issues caused by temperature gradients within the 3D integrated chip stack are presented. Multi physics simulations show that a systematical temperature measurement error is introduced by self heating, which would affect the communication performance if unconsidered. Furthermore the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of TSVs, focusing on their electrical efficiency, are investigated. In particular the behavior of TSVs for connecting a bulk acoustic wave resonator with an impedance of 2 kΩ at 2.1 GHz is evaluated in detail.

3D integration of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) is expected to reduce the foot print of existing MEMS products and enable production of miniaturized sensor nodes on a large scale. However, 3D integration of MEMS is in general different from 3D integration of planar integrated circuits (ICs) due to additional mechanical requirements. Specifications regarding properties like stiffness, volume, and mass must be taken into consideration when selecting stacking technologies for MEMS. A demonstrator with a 3D integrated MEMS and the ideas behind the selection of stacking technologies are presented in this paper.

This session is integrating two topics. We start with three papers on biosensors and continue with three papers on 3D integration. The first paper by Shoma Kuga from Waseda University is about a detection method for single mismatched DNA on functionalized diamond. It provides a method to detect biomolecules in contact with electrolytic solutions. The second paper by Anuj Dhawan from a collaboration of Duke University and Appalachian University, is about a field enhancement method to achieve an amplified Raman scattering signal in chemical and biological sensing. The bio-part of the session concludes with a simulation study on screening-induced performance limits of nanowire biosensors by Yang Liu of Stanford University. The 3D integration part of the session starts with an invited presentation by Eric Beyne from IMEC and provides progress in different 3D stacking technologies for heterogeneous integration of different application architectures. Both a face-to-face method with microbumps and a 3D stacking method using through-Silicon-via technology are discussed in detail. The fifth paper by Takafumi Fukushima from Tohoku University reports on a self-assembly method for highly parallel 3D integration in heterogeneous applications. The final paper of this session by Fei Fang from Shangai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology presents a vertically integrated and highly parallel probe card to solve the important wafer-level test problem important in modern heterogeneous integration technologies.