Tom Keane: Chip Design for National Security
National security demands have influenced commercial chip design since the earliest days. In some cases, engineers in the industry have driven innovations that can now be found in mission-critical defense systems. This article on Tom Keane will explore how commercial innovations are going to new generations of chips for defense architectures and look into the similarities between commercial and defense creation.
Digital systems are more general-purpose and, therefore, easier to design. They rely on a binary number system and digital circuits, which allow them to change their function according to software commands, Tom Keane recalls. Digital systems tend to be faster and more reliable, especially for high-speed communication applications where components need to change states in a definite order hundreds or thousands of times per second.
In contrast, analog systems are slower and require far more power because they use continuous signals, not discrete ones. Devices like transistor amplifiers require predictable voltages. Cloud services engineer Tom Keane adds that if power drops below a threshold, the device can break down or even stop working altogether (Twitter).
Defense systems, especially network-based ones, generally run slower than their commercial counterparts. This is because of the lower power requirements in military chips. While a commercial chip can rely on the battery power from any nearby cell phone, the military chip must carry its power source. Tom Keane says that the supporting batteries or solar panels can be much larger in size and weight and therefore cost more to manufacture.
Commercial and defense chips have different voltage requirements and require different manufacturing processes. The difference between commercial and military chip design is more subtle, however. Tom Keane finally adds that both commercial and defense chips are at the leading edge of technology, constantly pushing the envelope with each new generation of products.
