IEEE Releases the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems

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IEEE today announced the release of the 2017 edition of the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS), building upon 15 years of projecting technology needs for evolving the semiconductor and computer industries. The IRDS is an IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Industry Connections (IC) Program sponsored by the IEEE Rebooting Computing (IEEE RC) Initiative, which has taken a lead in building a comprehensive view of the devices, components, systems, architecture, and software that comprise the global computing ecosystem.

According to Paolo A. Gargini, IEEE and Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) Fellow, and Chairman of IRDS, “Over the past decade the structure and requirements of the electronics industry have evolved well beyond the semiconductor’s industry requirements. In line with the changes in the new electronics ecosystem, the 2017 IRDS has integrated system requirements with device requirements and identified some new powerful solutions that will support and revolutionize the electronics industry for the next 15 years.”

According to William Tonti, IEEE Fellow and IEEE Future Directions Sr. Director, “The IRDS presents an end-to-end continuum of computing as requirements evolve into multiple platforms.”

IRDS work first began in 2016, followed by the release of nine whitepapers that outlined the roadmap’s scope and descriptions in March 2017. As the computing ecosystem moves to accommodate a new industrial revolution driven by an ever-increasing digitized and connected society, IRDS efforts have expanded to produce an extended overview and 12 focused reports.

"This is the first comprehensive roadmap of the electronics industry that starts by addressing applications needs, and then drills down all the way to identifying materials, device and manufacturing needs. At a time when the industry is at an historic inflection point, the IRDS 2017 roadmap points the way to the future,” said IEEE Fellow Thomas M. Conte, co-chair, IEEE Rebooting Computing Initiative, Vice-Chair of IRDS, and Professor, Schools of Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology.

IRDS International Focus Teams (IFTs) use a bottoms-up and tops-down approach to react to industry indicators and trends, as well as to review current and future projections of quantified targets for a variety of critical technologies and domains. These include system attributes for mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and IoT edge, cyber-physical systems, and cloud computing.

In 2017, IEEE formalized IRDS partnerships with regional roadmaps in Europe and Japan. As part of the evolution of the NanoElectronics Roadmap for Europe: Identification and Dissemination (NEREID, Horizon 2020), memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed with the SiNANO Institute in Europe, and with the Systems and Devices Roadmap committee of Japan (SDRJ), the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP).

“It is important that we come together to build a comprehensive roadmap for computing devices and systems that takes into account a wide range of domains and input from global stakeholders committed to advancing the computing ecosystem with IoT edge and CPS devices,” said Yoshihiro Hayashi, IRC and Chairman of SDRJ. “In doing so, we can better ensure that computing meets the technology demands from a rapidly evolving, digitized world economy.”

“The IRDS represents a global effort to ensure the continued evolution of computing is fully aligned with industry needs and is prepared to meet the technological challenges as we move towards an even greater connected digital world,” said Francis Balestra, NEREID Coordinator. “We are encouraged that our cooperation with the IRDS will lend perspectives to assist in its overall mission,” said Enrico Sangiorgi, Director of SiNANO.

“As the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, SEMI is pleased to continue to partner with IEEE to provide what we see as critical industry validation for this and future technology roadmaps,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO, SEMI.

IRDS roadmap reports are freely available for download. Feedback from industry and the public is encouraged and subject matter experts across the roadmap domains are invited to contribute to the next edition of the IRDS. IEEE plans to release an interactive version of the roadmaps on IEEE Xplore soon, with the goal of enabling information and fresh perspective to flow back to the IRDS roadmap teams, informing ongoing roadmap work. Join the IRDS team for further discussion at the Fall IRDS Conference – in partnership with the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Rebooting Computing (ICRC) and as part of the 2018 IEEE Rebooting Computing Week – scheduled for 5-6 November 2018 in Tysons, Virginia.

IEEE RC is a program of IEEE Future Directions, designed to develop and share educational tools, events and content for emerging technologies.

IEEE-SA’s Industry Connections Program helps incubate new standards and related products and services, by facilitating collaboration among organizations and individuals as they hone and refine their thinking on rapidly changing technologies.

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