Research Areas:

· Radio frequency integrated circuits for communications

· Biomedical imaging: Electromagnetic-Acoustics, Photoacoustics imaging, 3D microscopic/spectroscopic imaging and display

· Bio-sensor circuit and system: Low power wearable, implant, and therapy sensors

· SAW/BAW/MEMS oscillator, acoustic sensor, and transceiver design

· System-on-chip architecture and transceiver system

· Low voltage low power analog, mixed-signal and ADC/DAC integrated circuits design

· Radar System

Selected Research Projects and Grants

• DIRP: An Innovative Non-invasive and Continuous Personal Heat Strain Monitoring System by Photoacoustics Sensing (2014-2017): The Personal Heat Strain Monitor is a device that measures core temperature continuously and wirelessly during physical activities and at rest. This project is to develop a highly portable personal heat strain monitor which require the small sensor to be wearable/patchable and can provide accurate temperature measurement. The target device is to design a photoacoustic based sensor to meet the stringent requirements, including low power, ruggedized design, high accuracy and good penetration depth, which are not met by the current available sensors.

• NRF – CRP: TOWARDS THE REALITY OF 3D IMAGING AND DISPLAY: Development of the world’s first viable glasses-free television: Continuous Parallax Displays (2014-2019): In the future the majority of display devices are likely to be 3D. We have colour vision and in the latter part of the twentieth century, displays changed from monochrome to colour. We have two eyes so it is highly likely that displays will change from monoscopic to 3D as there is a well-established user preference for this. This has been promised for many years, but viewers dislike wearing special glasses to view television. 3D television will not be widely adopted until it becomes glasses-free (autostereoscopic). Another objection to 3D, whether glasses type or autostereoscopic, is the effect on viewer comfort with a high proportion reporting adverse effects; headaches, nausea etc. These effects are generally avoidable; in the hardware by ensuring correct alignment and by reducing crosstalk (ghosting, where an image is partially seen that is not intended for that particular eye), and in the content, for example by ensuring that the images do not in general appear too far in front of, or behind the screen and also by avoiding excessive jumps in depth between successive scenes. Autostereoscopic displays are currently available but these all suffer from various limitations including; viewer discomfort, loss of resolution, restricted viewing region, limited depth of field, loss of brightness, and crosstalk. Currently there are a small number of possible approaches that have the potential to provide a commercially-viable contender for glasses-free 3D television and these will be investigated in parallel in this project.

• DRTech: Low Power Radar System On Chip (2012-2015). In small airborne platforms with limited power, careful management of size, weight, power and cooling (SWaP-C) is critical for radar implementations. In a low-power radar system on chip (SOC) capable of pulsed de-chirp or FMCW operation, the incorporation of a waveform exciter capable of direct RF generation, receive LNA, filter, mixer and ADC directly on a chip significantly reduces the power requirements as opposed to integrating discrete components as well as reducing the size dramatically. The project is to development of a low-power radar system on chip capable of pulsed de-chirp or FMCW operation and MIMO IC-based transceiver system with coded chirp waveform generation.

o NMRC: Non-invasive Transdermal Electrical and Magnetic Stimulators for Pain Management (2011-2014). The project aims at studying a novel non-invasive transdermal pulsed RF and magnetic stimulator capable of relieving pain. This stimulator is potential for helping patients treat themselves at their homes. Through the project, the effects of transdermal magnetic stimulation and transdermal electrical stimulation can be monitored, and a preferable dosage, frequency, duration and current strength can be suggested.

o NMRC: Photo/Microwave Acoustic Imaging for Cancer Diagnosis (2011-2014). It is to develop a novel photo/microwave acoustic imaging modality and device which can offer both high contrast and high resolution imaging for non-invasive diagnosis. Potentially it can be employed as an alternative diagnostic tool for earlier cancer detection, with an underlying capability to characterize the benign and malignant tissues. The developed prototype will be applied for earlier stage breast cancer and other cancers detection.

o DRTech: Design of Novel SAW Correlators and Processors for Advanced Radar Systems (2010-2013). A novel SAW correlator will be designed for wideband radar pulse compression and expansion. Simulation in both system level and device level will be conducted to verify the SAW processor performance feasibility study of a delay locked loop (DLL) for wideband radar beamforming. The SAW device will be fabricated and tested for advanced radar systems.

o AcRF: Intelligent CMOS Cognitive Radio Transceiver for Medical Sensor Networks (2009-2013). The aim of the project is to research and explore the possible solution of cognitive radio. This work includes the system and circuit design of a cognitive radio. The target applications could be a low power sensor transceiver which co-exists with wireless transceivers which work mostly at 1.8 GHz-6GHz range. All the circuits will be implemented in a standard CMOS technology (e.g. 0.18µm) to verify the feasible of the proposed system. To meet the stringent requirement of switching and wide band operating among different wireless standards, several new techniques will be developed.

o MEDTECH National Research Programme: Wireless Ingestible Capsule: High Resolution Optical Imaging and Real-Time High Rate Image Transmission (2008-2012). The objective of the project is to develop key components for a wireless ingestible capsule application. The components to be developed will include a high resolution Optical Imaging Module (OIM) and a high data rate low power CMOS RF Transceiver IC Chip (RFTRX). The developed components will be integrated with other modules such as data processing ASIC, Antenna, packaging etc. from partners to form a complete wireless ingestible capsule device, and functionally demonstrated in the laboratory environment. For the integrated circuit design part, we propose a new RF system architecture for thro-body communication. A CMOS low power transceiver IC chip will be designed according to the architecture. A complete Pill cameral will be integrated to demonstrate a real-time image/video transmission inside body.  Collaborator: NTU, I2R

o National Thematic Strategy Research Program (TSRP) Embedded and Hybrid System (EHS) II: WBAN: Low power IC platform and baseband, (March 2006-march 2009). The project works on low voltage low power analog/mixed-signal, digital circuit and system design for wireless body area networks and wearable biomedical applications. The ultra-low power (few tens of µWs) IC blocks like chopper instrumentation amplifier, log-domain subtheshould AGC, delta sigma ADC etc. are designed. A low voltage low power digital ASIC chip including SPI and transceiver PHY algorithm is realized. The analog blocks and digital ASIC will be integrated into a bandband chip in 0.18-µm CMOS which will be further integrated with the RF transceiver chip (from partner) to build a complete low power radio chipset. Collaborator: NTU Circuit and System Division, NUS: ECE, ASTAR: I2R.

o National Thematic Strategy Research Program (TSRP) Ultra Wideband and Sentient Computing:  Scalable and Wearable UWB-enabled Device: Reconfigurable RF Transceiver IC Platform for Communication and Localization, (May 2006-may 2009). The project works on low power transceiver circuit and system design for wireless personal area networks and wearable/potable biomedical applications. The building blocks such as LNA/mixer/PA/VGA/LPF/ADC etc. are designed and integrated in 0.18-µm CMOS. A complete transceiver chip including transmitter, receiver, and frequency synthesizer will be integrated and consumes power in few hundred µWs.  Collaborator: NTU: PWTC, NUS: ECE, ASTAR: I2R/IHPC.

o HOME2015 National Research Programme:  Low Power UWB Transceiver for Low Rate to Mid Rate Wireless Personnel Area Networks, (April 2007-April 2009). The project works on low voltage (1V) low power (µWs) transceiver circuit and system design for wireless sensor networks. The building blocks such as LNA/detector/DLL/VGA/LPF/ADC etc. are designed and integrated in 0.13-µm CMOS technology. A complete transceiver chip including transmitter, receiver, and multi-tone frequency generator will be integrated and demonstrated. Collaborator: ASTAR: I2R/SIMTEC.

o HOME2015 National Research Programme: CROP: Data Communication and Distribution System Within Smart Home Using Powerline With Cognitive Intelligence,  (April 2007-April 2009). The project works on analog front-end IC for next generation power-line communication system based on OFDM cognitive radio technique. Collaborator: ASTAR: I2R.

o Collaborated with NTU PWTC center working on three UWB projects founded by A*STAR Thematic Strategic Research Program (TSRP). Collaborated with NUS ECE Department working on UWB healthcare projects funded by A*STAR TSRP (2004-2005).

Awards and Recognition

· Award

- Best Paper Award, ISCAS Biomedical and Life Sceinece Track, 2018

– Elsaify Memorial Award for Best Paper at BSN: IEEE International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, Singapore, 2010.

– Best paper nomination: IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications, London, 2014.

– 2016 National President Technology Award Nomination, Singapore.

– Invited conference paper (ICEAA 2016), Invited journal paper (Journal of optics, v.18, no. 7, 2016), Invited tutorial (ISOCC 2016), Invited demo at flagship conference (ISCAS 2016).

– 2016 Nanyang Award Nomination (Innovation and Entrepreneurship).

– Design and Innovation Program (DIP) Competition Championship, School of EEE, NTU (two times).

– IEE TSS design competition merit award from 64 shortlist entries.

· Recognition

– Associate Editors

o Journal of Circuits, Systems & Signal Processing (2013-now)

o Journal of X-Acoustics: Sensing and Imaging (2014-now)

o IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Circuit and Systems (2015-now)

– ISSCC publications

o Invited to present at the premier ISSCC Forum on “Emerging Electromagnetic-Acoustic Sensing and Imaging beyond Radar and Ultrasound” on Feb. 15, 2018.

o Consistently published at ISSCC (the world top conference and land marker in the area of solid state circuits), keeping the record of the first and most ISSCC papers (7) published in Singapore (2 with press release).

– Press Release: Our Innovative Radar microchip has been reported firstly in NTU news on Feb 23, 2016, and then gotten wide media coverage: The Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia, Channel 8, Channel U, Lianhe Zaobao, 938 Live, Shin Min Daily News, MyPaper, Berita Harian, The Stack, Nanowerk, Inside Unmanned Systems, The Economic Times, The Siasat Daily, Deccan Chronicle, ECN magazine, Science Codex etc.

– Press Release: A breakthrough demonstration of low power integrated circuit chip for the wireless multichannel (>100) recording of brain activity has been featured by local media, BioSpace, EE Times-Asia etc on Feb, 2013.

– Guess Editors

o Lead Guest Editor: Special Issue in Active and Passive Electronic Components, 2016

o Guest Editor: Special Issue for Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2016

o Guest Editor: Special issue of Current Smart Materials (CSM), 2016

o Guest Editor: Special issue of Journal: Applied Sciences: Biomedical Photoacoustic and Thermoacoustic Imaging

– Membership

o IEEE Senior Member, SID Member, SPIE Member

o TPC chairs/Session chairs, Invited talks

Invited Keynotes/talks

1) Invited book chapter under the editorship of Dr. Khan Maaz "Raman Spectroscopy”, 2016.

2) Invited speaker of EMN Meeting on Smart and Multifunctional Material (SMM 2016) in Berlin, Germany, 2016.

3) Invited speaker of 5th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology (ICBEB 2016) to talk about "Multiple functional ECG signal is processing for wearable applications of long-term cardiac monitoring".

4) Invited talk at UCL, ‘Glasses-free 3D Display Research at NTU Advanced Display Laboratory’, invited talk at UCL, 29 Jun. 2016.

5) Invited speaker to attend the 2nd International Conference on Smart Materials & Structures held during Feb. 29-Mar. 02, 2016 at Philadelphia, USA.

6) Invited to speak at the collaborative conference on 3D and Materials Research (CC3DMR) 2016 at Incheon/Seoul, South Korea.

7) Invited to be a speaker of Session 401: Micro-Nanoelectronics and Molecular Electronics for the Annual World Congress of Nano Science & Technology - 2016 (Nano S&T-2016) Singapore.

8) Invited to be Keynote Speaker in 2016 International Conference on Advanced Electronic Science and Technology (AEST2016), Shenzhen, China.

9) Invited special session on 2016 International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA 2016) in Cairns, Australia.

10) Invited speaker of 4th International Congress on Energy Efficiency and Energy Related Materials (ENEFM 2016) in Oludeniz, Fethiye /Turkey.

11) Invited to speak at the IEEE MTT-S IMWS-Bio2015 on Sep. 21-23, 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan.

12) Invited to present a seminar on An Overview of Electromagnetic Acoustic Imaging paper at IEEE RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications (IMWS-Bio), Singapore, 2014.

13) Invited to present a seminar on Electromagnetic Acoustic Imaging at University Queen Mary London, Singapore, 2014.

14) Invited to present a talk on Advanced CMOS Compatible Circuit and Device Design by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Taiwan, 2012.

15) Invited by A*STAR- NUH MedTech Forum to present 'Emerging Non-Invasive Medical Devices For Rapid And Reliable Sensing, Imaging And Therapy', Singapore Jul., 2012.

16) Invited by Prof. Wang Chua Chin to present a tutorial: Integrated RF Transceiver Circuit and System for Communication, Sensing and Biomedical Applications at International Conference on IC Design & Technology (ICICDT), Taiwan, 2011.

17) Invited to present an overview paper: Advance on Pulse-Based UWB Integrated Transceiver Circuits and Systems at IEEE International Conference at Ultra-WideBand (ICUWB), Nanjin, 2010.

18) Invited to give a seminar on high speed low power transceiver IC by MediaTech Inc., Singapore, Sep. 2009.

19) Invited to organize a special session: Low-voltage Low-power RF CMOS Integrated Circuits and De-embedding Techniques at IEEE International SoC Design Conference (ISOCC), Korea, 2009.

20) Invited to give a lecture on advanced CMOS UWB transceiver chip design for wireless high speed communication and precision localization by IEEE Circuit and System Society, Singapore, Aug. 2007.

21) Invited to present a seminar on UWB transceiver chipset design by IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, New York, USA, Jun. 2005.

22) Invited to present a seminar on low RF image rejection transceiver by Prof. Frank Chang, UCLA, Los Angeles, 2005.

23) Invited to give a keynote presentation on adaptive integrated RF transceivers for wireless communications at WSEAS multi-conference (MMACTEE-NOLASC-WAMUS 2003) in Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, Dec. 29-31, 2003.

Public/National/Industry Activities

– Joint appointment with Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR, Singapore as a principle investigator, 2009-2011.

– Committee member for Science and Technology Plan 2010, Ministry of trade and Industry Singapore, 2006, Singapore.

– Supervise two IA students participating in the first IEE TSS design challenge competition, and win the merit prize among 64 entry teams, 2005.

– Committee member for Infocomm Technology Roadmap, Singapore Infocomm Foresight 2015, 2005, Singapore.

– A key member in Singapore UWB community http://uwb.tech.org.sg/devResIme.html.

– Demo the first UWB IC chipset prototyping at Singapore UWB exhibition organized by IDA (Inforcomm Development Authority), 2004.

– Miscellaneous industrial demonstrations and project activities.

Professional Activities

§ Program Committees

– Session chair for IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials for RF and millimeter wave (IMWS-AMR), Chendu, 2016.

– Invited Tutorial, ISOCC 2016 13^th International SoC Design Conference, Ramada Plaza Jeju Hotel, Jeju Island, S.Korea, Wearable and Patchable Integrated Sensors for Real-time Continuous Monitoring of Vital Physiological Signals, 2016.

– Session chair for IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications (IMWS-Bio), London, 2014.

– Session chair for IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications (IMWS-Bio), Singapore, 2013.

– Session chair for IEEE International Symposium on Radio Frequency Integration Technology, Singapore, 2012.

– Session chair for ‘Analog IC Module’ at the IEEE International Conference on UWB, Singapore, 2007.

– Session chair for the 8^th IEEE International Conference on Communication Systems, Singapore, 2002.

§ Organizing Committees

– TPC member for 2016 International Conference on Environment, Energy and Materials, Zhangjiajie, China & December 23rd-25th, 2016.

– TPC member for International Conference on Mechanism, Electronics and Automation 2016, Shenzhen, China.

– TPC (Tutorial Chair) for IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Circuits 2016, Singapore.

– TPC member for IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials for RF and millimeter wave (IMWS-AMR), Chengdu, 2016.

– TPC member of 2016 International Conference on Biological Information and Biomedical Engineering (BIBE2016), September 24-26, 2016 Qingdao, China.

– TPC member of The International Conference on Geo-Informatics in Resource Management & Sustainable Ecosystem （GRMSE2016）in Hongkong, China.

– TPC member of 2016 International Conference on Medicine Sciences in Guangzhou, China.

– TPC member of International Conference on Material Engineering and Mechanical Engineering (MEME 2016) in Wuhan, Hubei, China.

– TPC member for EDSSC'2016.

– TPC member for IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on RF and Wireless Technologies for Biomedical and Healthcare Applications (IMWS-Bio), Taipei, 2015.

– TPC member for 2015 IEEE Conference on Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits (EDSSC’2015), Singapore.

– TPC committee member for the 6th International Symposium on Microchemistry and Microsystems, 2014, Singapore.

– TPC member for IEEE Asian Solid Circuit Conference, 2013, Singapore.

– TPC Co-chair for IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Circuits 2011, Singapore.

– TPC member for IEEE International Conference on UWB, 2010, China.

– TPC member for IEEE International Conference on UWB, 2008, Germany.

– TPC member for IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Circuits, 2007, Singapore. TPC member for IEEE International Conference on UWB, 2007, Singapore.

– Committee member for World Science, Engineering and Academic Society (WSEAS) Organization, (2003-2004), Greece.

§ Conference Paper Reviewer: IEEE ISCAS, SPIE, ICASP, RFIC, ICUWB, EDSSC

§ Journal Paper Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (2001), IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (2002), IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2003-2004), IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters (2004-2005), IEEE Transactions on Circuit and Systems (2003-2012), IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technology (2005-2012), IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits (2009-2012), Apply Physics Letter (2012-present), Journal of Biomedical Optics (2013-present), IEEE Transaction on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (2015-present), Nanoscale (2015-present), Scientific Report (2015-presnet).

§ Miscellaneous Activities: IEEE MTT, CAS, SSC community of Singapore section.