Technology, circuits, systems and applications

Baden-Baden, W. Germany, 3rd-5th April 1979

This regional topical conference was arranged by the'Nachrichtentechnische Gesellschaft' (NTG), the GermanSociety for Electronic Engineering. The NTG periodicallyorganises conferences of this type whenever a topic deservesincreased attention. The scope of the conference was toinform a broader group of engineers, not necessarily highlyspecialised in the field, about the emerging technical andcommercial aspects of v.l.s.i. Therefore, the conference wasin major parts of tutorial character.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Hugo Riichardt, Munich,stated the following four goals of the conference, which areconsistent with the above-mentioned intentions: review ofthe 'state of the art'; emphasis on invited papers surveyingmajor subfields; opportunity for informal informationexchange; and parallel sessions with a limited number ofsubmitted papers.

The 15 carefully selected and well prepared invitedpapers conveyed a comprehensive and balanced informationabout the present 'state of the art'. The tremendoustechnical and commercial potential of v.l.s.i. was reflectedby practically every paper, albeit from different viewpoints.It would exceed by far the purpose of this brief report evenonly to mention all the aspects and trends presented. A fewselected samples must suffice here:

(a) Technology: Further miniaturisation into theminimal dimension range of 1/im and below will requireelectron-beam or X-ray lithography. At least one Germancompany (Siemens) is eagerly working to bring a 1/xmtechnology to bear by 1985. A government-sponsoredlithography center will be installed in Berlin featuring anaccelerator ring emitting X-ray synchrotron radiation. Itis generally expected that the integration density of v.l.s.i.can be increased by at least one further order of magnitudeduring the next decade or so. This evolution will spur manynew applications, only some of them already 'visible on thehorizon'.

(b) Microprocessor: This field is virtually 'exploding';new designs emerge in rapid progression. Microprocessorsare being used or proposed for an astonishing large varietyof traditional and nontraditional applications. By 1985,full-scale 32-bit computers on a chip will probably becomeon-the-shelf items.

(c) Multipurpose home electronics: New 'boxes' hookedup via a bus to a sophisticated home television set willprovide new functions, such as videotex, home computing,versatile television games, slide and movie display, videorecording, print-outs for text, graphics, pictures etc. Par-ticularly active in this field is Valvo in Hamburg. A mostchallenging technical, commercial and regulatory near-termproblem is the link between the public telephone networkand the multipurpose home set.

(d) Digital audio: The sound quality, noise surpressionand sound manipulation of home and mobile audio sets will

be substantially improved with the introduction of digitaltechniques into this so far essentially analogue area. Low-cost and high-performance a.d. and d.a. converters areprerequisites for commercially viable products.

On its way to ever-high integration levels and ever-lowercost per function, v.l.s.i. will pave the way for these andmany other innovations.

Lately, microelectronics receives increasing publicattention. The notion of the microprocessor as a iob killer,for example, is spreading. In view of this growing publicity,the conference organisers arranged a panel discussion on'the chances and the risks of microelectronics'. In additionto involved academic and industrial experts, representativesfrom federal and regional governmental institutions and theGerman labour union federation participated in the dis-cussion. Naturally, the panel concentrated mainly onthe major social aspect of microelectronics; namely therevolutionary effect it has and will continue to have on therapidly changing working conditions in certain professions,such as administration, banking, printing and publishing,and probably many others. The panel addressed theproblem with due seriousness and sincerity. Despite somecontroversial and conflicting positions, practically allspeakers (panel members and discussants from the audience)stressed the common responsibility of all persons andgroupings involved to avoid or circumvent major socialunrest, which could emerge, for example, in the wake of aspreading unemployment owing to increased automation.

The approximately 50 contributed papers might beregarded as a representative cross-section of present activitiesin Germany. The few contributions from technicallyoriented academic institutions blended remarkably wellwith the majority of the contributions originated fromindustrial companies. Compared with USA and Japan, the'state of the art' in Germany may trail somewhat, but thereis certainly no major gap. In some specific areas, such asanalogue v.l.s.i. and consumer electronics, some westernEuropean companies may even have some lead.

Considering the regional character of the conference(with the exception of two invited papers, all other papersare given in German), the number of participants was fairlyhigh (over 400), exceeding by far the expectations of theorganisers. The general mood during the conference wasthat of a 'realistic optimism', as one of the panel membersput it. This positive atmosphere might be considered as agood omen for the next major electronic conference to beheld in southern Germany; namely, EUROCON '80, thefourth European conference on electronics, Stuttgart,24th-28th March 1980. EUROCON, of course, will have aninternational flavour (conference language is English) andwill certainly surpass the here discussed Baden-Baden con-ference in size and significance.

O.G. FOLBERTH

144 COMPUTERS AND DIGITAL TECHNIQUES, JUNE 1979, Vol. 2, No. 3