A Playstation 3 vs. The Origin of the Universe

Maybe I'm just not as ambitious as I used to be -- or, according to the boss, as I should be. After all, while I've been looking forward to a getting a Playstation 3, engineers at IBM and ASTRON (an astronomy research organization) will be researching the origins of the universe.

Working collaboratively, engineers will work in IBM's Burlington, Vermont, facility to design, engineer, and manufacture customized high-performance analog and mixed-signal processing chips. The high-performance, low-power chips will be used as part of ASTRON's project to build a prototype radio telescope called SKADS/EMBRACE, a precursor to the world’s largest radio astronomy telescope, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope. This telescope will have millions of antennas collecting radio signals, forming the equivalent of a 1 sq Km collecting area, and spread 3000 Kms -- about the size of the continental United States. The goal of the SKA radio telescope is to peer deep into space and look at evolving galaxies, dark matter and perhaps even the very origins of the universe –- dating back more than 13 billion years.

The Netherlands, France, Italy, and Germany are involved in the design and development of SKADS/EMBRACE antenna tiles; additional countries which are or will be involved in the engineering and scientific testing of the SKADS/EMBRACE demonstrator.

"A large project such as SKA also requires a close collaboration with major industrial companies such as IBM and with their commitment to this project, they will contribute significantly to a successful outcome," said Dr. Marco de Vos, ASTRON Research and Development Director.

The customized chips will feature very low-power consumption, low-noise production based on IBM’s SiGe 8HP technology having an FT (typical peak frequency) of more than 200 GHz, and 0.13 micron design rules. The initial idea for the chip has been agreed upon. It will be a Silicon Germanium (SiGe) technology which combines analog radio frequency (RF) circuits onto the chip -- which can produce low-noise, low-power consumption and result in a lower cost per unit. The first chip design and prototypes delivery is targeted for the first half of 2007. The chips will be deployed in pilot antenna tiles to filter useful information from the radio signals. The SKADS/EMBRACE antenna tiles will be deployed in the North of The Netherlands at the site of the famous Westerbork Radio Synthesis Telescope (WSRT) and in France near Nançay, South of Paris.

Decisions on the final location for the SKA radio astronomy telescope are still to be finalized. Australia and South Africa are the two remaining location options, capable of installing the millions of antennas required for receiving the very weak signals from the universe.

And to think I was impressed by the Cell processor IBM helped develop for the Playstation 3.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 10:49 AM  Permalink