“We are delighted to have been recognised at these prestigious, pan European awards particularly as the judges were focused not just on a company’s commercial success but also on other criteria such as the use of funding resources and the originality of the product,” said Geoff Harvey, chief technology officer of Adiabatic Logic. “We believe that our IOD power saving technology has huge potential and this latest award, coupled with our recent 500k funding boost from the DTI, makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Adiabatic Logic was spun out of the Cambridge Technology Group in June 2002 to further develop its low power Intelligent Output Driver (IOD). IOD replaces the conventional pad drivers in an integrated circuit and delivers up to 75% dynamic power savings in chip I/O for portable devices such as laptops, smartphones, PDAs, digital cameras and MP3 players.
In September 2004, Adiabatic Logic received an Exceptional Research and Development Grant of 500,000 UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and is now looking to raise an additional 1.2 million, which will enable Adiabatic Logic to further commercialise its technology. Earlier this year, Adiabatic Logic signed a co-operation agreement with IMEC, Europe’s largest independent microelectronics and nanotechnology research center, which will
result in IOD being incorporated into IMEC’s library of radiation hardened 180nm technology, for use in space, medical and scientific applications.
Adiabatic Logic’s IOD IP cell uses a patented energy recycling technique which exploits the principle of adiabatic or reversible computing. IOD recycles energy normally wasted each time a digital I/O pad driver makes a switching transition. In addition to its power saving potential, Adiabatic Logic’s IOD solution offers a multitude of other potential benefits to IC
and system developers. For example, it can reduce the overall component count and bill of material (BOM) cost by minimising battery size, cutting DC-DC converter/thermal management costs and eliminating the requirement for terminating resistors.
About Adiabatic Logic Limited (www.adiabaticlogic.com)
Founded in 2002, Adiabatic Logic Limited is part of the Cambridge Technology Group and was set up to exploit a portfolio of secured patents in the low power technology arena. Adiabatic Logic has a patented technique with the potential to significantly reduce the power consumption of digital computer chips, such as those found in today’s laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones. The design team’s focus is on creating and applying intellectual property (IP) to exploit the concept of ‘loss-less’ processes. An adiabatic process is one in which no heat is gained or lost. It is a concept normally associated with the behaviour of gases but can be applied in other physical domains, such as electronics. The company is based at Dry Drayton, on the outskirts of Cambridge, England.
About the Cambridge Technology Group (www.cambridgetechgroup.com)
Cambridge Technology Group is a holding company with three wholly owned subsidiaries – Adiabatic Logic Limited, Cambridge Technology Consultants Limited and XJTAG Limited. Cambridge Technology Consultants (www.camtechconsultants.com) offers its clients a broad range of services from high-end applications to innovative product development and technical consultancy skills. For ten years, its multi disciplinary team of hardware and software engineers have provided cost-effective solutions from concept through to pre-production. XJTAG Limited (www.xjtag.com) is a specialist design and test tool developer. Its JTAG (Joint Test Action Group) development system offers a competitive solution for designers and developers of electronic circuits.