Camgian Microsystems enables a new generation of electronic systems

Launched three years ago as a spinoff from Mississippi State University (MSU), Camgian is developing next generation defense electronic systems that could potentially operate at 20 times lower power than existing military technologies.

“Through our research activities with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), we have demonstrated that 80 percent of military systems could achieve between seven to 20 times lower energy use with our ultra low power digital circuit technology, Null Convention Logic (NCL),” said Dr. Gary Butler, president and CEO of Camgian Microsystems. “For military applications, many electronic systems require operations in highly remote areas that don't have access to traditional sources of power. Reductions in power consumption and mass for such systems are critical to improving operational effectiveness and enabling greater mobility for the warfighter.”

Currently, the company is developing NCL based System- on-a-Chip (SoC) platforms that will enable a new class of ultra low-power radar and thermal imaging systems for a range of military applications. The company's business model is focused on leveraging NCL to build best of breed electronic sensing and communication systems in market segments with very demanding requirements for Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP). For the military, these markets primarily include electronic ground and airborne surveillance systems.

“Our approach to SoC design using NCL supports high levels of integration at the chip scale and significantly reduces the SWaP of the products that we are developing for our customers, ” Butler said. “In many cases, the complexity of SoC designs (i.e. the amount of functions integrated at the chip scale) is limited by conventional integrated circuit design approaches. Our technology helps overcome those barriers by enabling higher levels of integration with precision control of the on-chip functions for reducing power consumption.”

In addition to their military efforts, Camgian is also engaged in a new commercial venture aimed at transitioning NCL into the mainstream semiconductor industry. In December, Camgian announced a technology transfer agreement with San Jose, Calif., based Wave Semiconductor, a recently formed semiconductor company funded by Tallwood Venture Capital and Southern Cross Venture Partners.

“We are thrilled to support this new venture and excited about the impact NCL will make on the electronics industry by providing a superior approach for solving key power and concurrency challenges,” Butler said.

“NCL provides the foundation for the integrated circuit and related IP products that Wave is developing,” said Pete Foley, Wave's CEO. “Current systemic power and concurrency challenges call for unconventional solutions, and we believe the time is right for asynchronous approaches. NCL dramatically reduces power consumption and is a delay and voltage insensitive technology that offers tremendous process independence.”

Foley said that unlike previous asynchronous design approaches, NCL is the most robust asynchronous technology available, and enables chip and even system-wide fully asynchronous implementations.

“NCL provides the capability to design truly logically determined systems, and Wave will build upon NCL to deliver a family of programmable low power products,” Foley said.

At the heart of Camgian's business model is advanced research. Over the next 12 months, the company's goal is to aggressively grow its base of government-sponsored semiconductor and microelectronics research programs, which ultimately feed their product development activities. “At Camgian, we place a high premium on research as it drives our competitive position in the market and enables us to introduce highly innovative products to our customers,” Butler said. “Therefore, we are moving aggressively to grow our 'innovation engine' and align those efforts with our short- and long-term product development roadmaps. Moreover, in 2010, we are aiming to successfully launch our first electronic surveillance product and establish solid beachheads in both the military and commercial market segments.”

To support its future growth, Camgian is currently constructing a new headquarters facility in the Thad Cochran Research and Economic Development Park adjacent to MSU. The new headquarters will house both the corporate administrative functions and the company's advanced microelectronics division. Included will be 11,000 square feet of state-of-the-art engineering facilities and laboratory space that will support advanced semiconductor and microelectronics research, integrated circuit design and electronic systems integration and testing.

“Our new facility will significantly increase our ability to serve the needs of our customers, recruit new engineers and perform cutting edge research and development,” Butler said. “We are very excited about what this facility will bring to our company and the state of Mississippi.”

The projected completion date of construction is late 2010. With their new facility and building from their current base of customers, Camgian is focused on growth over the next five years. This includes building solid sales channels for their key electronic products, significantly growing their research and production engineering staff in Mississippi and creating a nationally recognized brand for delivering highly innovative electronic systems and technologies.

Camgian currently employs 26 people, 22 of whom are engineers—primarily electrical engineers. The company is headquartered in Starkville with a division office in Maitland, Fla.