JUMP: Joint University Microelectronics Program

Due to engineering limitations and cost constraints, the dynamics of the electronic industry are continually changing. Commercial companies increasingly recognize the need to differentiate their products through research in areas other than device scaling, such as new circuit architectures and computing algorithms. 

At the same time, the DoD has increasing computation needs in autonomous and distributed systems that will require advances beyond the current Moore’s Law roadmap. Cognitive electronics warfare (EW), secure communications, and advanced imaging will all need computation performance at power that will require the most advanced fabrication processes, but also new architectures and computing algorithms. 

Without these advances, the promise of new algorithms and capabilities for the warfighter will not be realized.

DARPA, along with companies from the semiconductor and defense industries—Intel, IBM, Micron, Analog Devices, EMD Performance Materials, ARM, Samsung, TSMC, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin—have initiated the Joint University Microelectronics Program (JUMP) with six research centers to undertake high-risk, high-payoff research that addresses existing and emerging challenges in microelectronic technologies. 

JUMP comes at an inflection point in the history of the semiconductor industry where application and system research is critical to enabling the development of superior electronic systems to meet both DoD and commercial needs.

Under JUMP, the challenges of the “application-centric” research centers focus on accomplishing application-oriented goals and spurring the development of complex systems with capabilities well beyond those available today. Diving deep into cognitive computing, intelligent memory and storage, distributed computing and networking, and radio frequency (RF) to terahertz (THz) sensor and communications systems, among other areas, these research centers will strive to develop systems that will be transferable to military and industry in a five year timeframe and ready for field deployment in 10.

The four application-centric JUMP centers are:

• The Center for Brain-inspired Computing Enabling Autonomous Intelligence (C-BRIC) aims to deliver major advances in cognitive computing, with the goal of enabling a new generation of autonomous intelligent systems.
• The Center for Converged TeraHertz Communications and Sensing (ComSenTer) seeks to develop technologies for a future cellular infrastructure designed to support the autonomous vehicle revolution and the emergence of intelligent highways.
• The Computing On Network Infrastructure for Pervasive Perception, Cognition, and Action (CONIX) center is striving to develop an architecture for networked computing that lies between edge devices and the cloud.
• The Center for Research on Intelligent Storage and Processing-in-memory (CRISP) is working to topple the “memory wall”–a 70-year-old technical bottleneck in computer systems that is hindering the use of big data for technical discovery.

In addition, two “disciplinary” research centers will take on the challenge of driving foundational developments around specific disciplines with the goal of creating disruptive breakthroughs in areas relevant to JUMP sponsors, including advanced architectures and algorithms, and advanced devices, packaging, and materials. The two disciplinary JUMP centers are:

• The Applications Driving Architectures (ADA) Center is researching new areas that reduce the cost, complexity, and energy required to develop advanced computing systems by democratizing the design and manufacturing process.
• The Applications and Systems driven Center for Energy-Efficient Integrated Nanotechnologies (ASCENT) focuses on material and device innovations to transcend the anticipated limits of current CMOS technology in order to increase the performance, efficiency, and capabilities of future computing systems.