Texas Instruments Announces New Collaborative University Network

Texas Instruments Announces New Collaborative University Network

RICE NEWS

April 1, 1999

Recognizing Rice’s strength in digital signal processing, Texas Instruments Inc. has selected Rice to participate in a new pilot program for university and industry collaboration in research.

Texas Instruments (TI) this week announced the establishment of a collaborative university network to pioneer advanced digital signal processing (DSP) research, called the DSP Leadership Universities Program.

TI announced the selection of three leading universities in the DSP field–Rice, Georgia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology–as inaugural members of the pilot program. Each institution will receive a $1 million grant over three years to fund DSP research.

“This unique collaboration with TI and other university members will help to advance Rice University as a leader in science and technology,” said Rice University President Malcolm Gillis. “The working relationship between Rice and TI continues to grow, thereby strengthening the field of DSP research as an integral part of the world’s technical community.”

Bob Hewes, vice president, TI, and director, Digital Signal Processing Solutions Research and Development Center, said, “By establishing this collaborative network of university partners, TI is seeking to develop a unique synergy among leading DSP researchers, accelerating progress in areas of DSP applications and algorithms development. These collaborations allow TI and these universities to align on long-range DSP vision and research.”

DSP chips are the engines driving the digitization of electronics; they are key components of such products as digital cellular telephones, voice recognition systems, intelligent telephones, short distance wireless, network switches, imaging and vision systems, medical electronics, digital audio, and sonar and radar systems.

DSP chips are many times more powerful than computer central processing units (CPUs) in handling math-intensive tasks. These chips are found in cars’ anti-lock brakes, global positioning systems, adaptive suspension and audio systems. DSP is also being used to dramatically accelerate and enhance the availability of detailed information through personal computers via online access to databases, video games and libraries via high-speed and digital modems.

Rice and TI intend to build upon their established, mutually beneficial relationship with one another, adding several research elements. Researchers at Rice will focus on development of a wireless network of sensors, multimedia networks and DSP algorithms. TI will also help support the development of a state-of-the-art DSP Laboratory to help meet the educational needs of Rice students into the 21st century.

“The future of DSP technology is limitless, and this continued partnership with TI helps to further enrich our research capabilities,” said Sidney Burrus, dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering. “It allows for the exploration of new ways for the world of applied applications and business to interact effectively with the world of university research and education, benefiting both.”

Hewes added, “Program partners will benefit from TI’s insights into market needs for DSP solutions, while TI will gain insight into new signal processing algorithms and theory.”

DSP at Rice began 30 years ago, when Burrus and former faculty member Thomas Parks jointly taught the first course in DSP. Rice was one of only two or three universities to offer such a course at the time. The founding group of faculty built one of the longest-running successful research and education programs at the university.

During the last decade, joint research teams from Rice and TI have collaborated on projects that resulted in improved technologies and applications in the telecommunications field. These include books on DSP by Burrus and Parks that have been used to train students around the world about digital signal processing.

Rice professors Behnaam Aazhang and Joe Cavallaro collaborated with TI engineers on the next generation of cellular phones. The current generation of DSP compilers that TI sells uses algorithms developed at Rice. Rice professors Richard Baraniuk and Edward Knightly are also conducting key research in DSP.

More than 150 Rice graduates in science and engineering are currently part of TI’s work force, with many leading the way in furthering TI’s history of innovation and excellence. At TI’s Stafford location–just southwest of Houston–are 35 employees who hold advanced Rice degrees. Also, since 1985, 40 TI employees have received advanced degrees from Rice through a television distance learning program.

According to Leon Adams, TI manager of DSP Strategic Marketing, “Many of the students working in these programs will eventually be hired by TI, either as summer interns or as permanent employees. Others will undoubtedly go to work for our customers with a deeper knowledge of TI DSP and application possibilities.”

As this cooperative partnership matures, both parties will reap additional benefits. University partners will have the right to own project patents and benefit from royalty incomes. All parties will benefit from public recognition awarded to universities and professors for accomplishments growing out of university research funded by TI.