July 25, 2001

NC State’s Planned Center for Embedded Systems Research Explores Applications for Electronics Advances

Appliances, cellphones, electronic organizers, televisions, automobiles, airplanes — many of the essentials of modern life utilize embedded systems, the computer within these electronic devices.  Making these unseen computers smaller and more efficient has been a continuing challenge for researchers in computer engineering for many years.

Now a new program at NC State University is addressing this challenge.  The planned Center for Embedded Systems Research (CESR) — will provide a vehicle for researchers and students to use their expertise to explore various aspects of embedded systems function and application. 

Dr. Thomas M. Conte, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, along with assistant professors of electrical and computer engineering Dr. Alexander G. Dean, Dr. Eric Rotenberg and Dr. Gregory T. Byrd, are spearheading the project.  With their graduate and undergraduate students, these researchers are focusing on solving several constraints on embedded systems advancement.  These include requirements for safety, small size, low weight, low power consumption, limited cooling capacity, resistance to harsh environments and physical abuse, capacity for short bursts of high power and low cost.

All these requirements create a challenge for researchers.  According to Conte, “We have been trying to adapt technology invented for desktop computers to miniature devices but keep hitting a wall when we try to solve these challenges.  We must learn to rethink computer design — to think out of the box rather than to focus on adapting existing technology.” 

This level of innovation requires teamwork and field testing so center researchers are encouraging industrial as well as academic connections.  For example, Ericsson, a Research Triangle company that manufactures cellphones, is a CESR member.  Indeed, according to Dean, “The Research Triangle contains many active embedded systems groups, and encouraging them to become CESR members is a natural way to grow the program.”

NC State’s Centennial Campus is a logical place for CESR, an excellent example of industry–academic collaboration in a mutually beneficial situation.  NC State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, located on Centennial Campus, has experienced great growth and strong industry ties in the past few years.  “Seventy percent of our undergraduate majors designate themselves as computer engineering,” said Conte.  “Many of these students go on to work for companies that produce or use embedded systems.”

Curriculum changes within the electrical and computer engineering department reflect this trend.  These changes include greater course focus on embedded systems, acquisition of more faculty with expertise in embedded systems and formation of CESR.

CESR is more than just a collaboration between academia and industry, however.  Its mission is “to develop advanced embedded systems technology that benefits the state of North Carolina, the nation and the member companies who contribute to support CESR.”  Thus the ultimate beneficiaries of CESR research are people — those who use electronics to make their lives easier and more productive.

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Media Contacts:  Dr. Thomas M. Conte, 919/515-5067, conte@ncsu.edu, Dr. Alexander G. Dean, 919/513-4021, agdean@eos.ncsu.edu, Linda E. Rudd, 919/515-3848, linda_rudd@ncsu.edu