Scientific Journey

Contribution

Throughout his scientific career, José Epifânio da Franca contributed to the advancement of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuit design, particularly in the areas of Switched-Capacitor (SC) circuits and systems, multirate signal processing, data-conversion architectures and design automation methodologies and tools. He was an avid contributor to the development of SC technology, particularly in CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), driven by the need to achieve the ultimate levels of electronic integration for large scale semiconductor manufacturing. His work brought together original research, research-group building, international collaboration, industrial R&D, and technology transfer, contributing to both advanced academic knowledge and practical engineering applications.

Dr. Franca scientific journey was marked not only by extensive scientific publications, but also by the creation of research capacity, collaboration with leading European and US companies, participation in major European collaborative programs, patented semiconductor innovations, and the training and mentoring of new generations of researchers and engineers in semiconductor integrated circuit design.

The enduring legacy of Dr. Franca scientific journey culminated in the creation of the leading-edge semiconductor startup (Chipidea) that pioneered the semiconductor intellectual property industry at a global level. Headquartered in Portugal, he
established the necessary home grown professional conditions to tame and then reverse the (unacceptable) brain drain of talented semiconductor engineers his university-based group was producing.

Impact

200+ Scientific Publications

Books, book chapters, journal papers, refereed international conference publications, and technical reports in microelectronics and signal processing.

International Research Leadership

The creation of Chipidea laid down the foundations for the development of a talent-driven semiconductor industry in Portugal that is today home to 1,000+ design engineers and 10+ semiconductor companies, national and multinational.

Major International Research Programs

Leadership and participation in collaborative initiatives including ESPRIT, EUREKA, EUCLID, CERN, and multiple industry-funded semiconductor research projects.

Patented Semiconductor Innovations

Co-inventor of patented integrated circuit architectures and signal processing systems developed through academic and industrial research collaborations.

Doctoral Training and Academic Mentorship

Supervision, co-supervision, and examination of numerous Ph.D. and Master’s researchers in microelectronics and signal processing, many of whom later pursued careers in academia and the global semiconductor industry.

Home Grown Talent-driven Semiconductor Industry

Early Research

In 1979, José Franca was awarded a part-time research studentship funded by INIC (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica), focused on the design of high-quality RC-active filters for implementation using hybrid integrated circuit technology.

Subsequently, until 1982, he deepened and expanded his research on high-quality RC-active filters. Notable contributions include a filter design for the 28–32 kHz channel in FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) transmission systems then under development at CET-Aveiro (Centro de Estudos de Telecomunicações). It was also based on this research work that he submitted a Thesis for the Scientific Capacity Examination at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), giving him access to pursue higher- level academic studies conducting to the Ph.D. degree.

In the summer of 1981, José Franca completed a research internship at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, where he designed a preliminary switched-capacitor filter for PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) transmission systems. This internship and subsequent work at Imperial College laid down the foundations for his enrolment as a Ph.D. student with the sponsorship of British Telecom, from 1983 to 1985.

Late 1982, just before the beginning of his Ph.D. program, José Franca engaged in a short research project for the Admiralty Underwater Research Establishment, UK, focusing on the design of monolithic integrated filters using bipolar technology. The outcome of this project led to his first international publication at IEEE ISCAS’83 (International Symposium on Circuits and Systems), Newport Beach, California, USA.. It was an unforgettable experience that shaped for ever his international mindset and global participation, in academia and in industry.

The Ph.D. Years

From January 1983 to June 1985, with the sponsorship of British Telecom, José Epifânio da Franca enrolled at Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, as a Ph.D. Research Student in a research group specialising in microelectronic filters. For his outstanding academic performance and research contributions, he was awarded the prestigious ORS (Overseas Research Student) Award in both academic years, 1983/84 and 1984/85.

His work explored the theoretical framework of digital signal processing for the implementation of highly efficient ultra narrowband analog switched-capacitor bandpass filter systems to be deployed in submarine cable repeaters. His proposal of frequency- translated sub-sampled analog systems, which was awarded a USA Patent, established the framework for the development of fully integrated mobile front-ends.

In the summer of 1986, while back at Imperial College for a short post doctoral assignment, he served as a consultant to British Telecom Research Laboratories and conducted a feasibility study for the implementation a 16-channel spectral analyser in monolithic Integrated Circuit (IC) technology for speech recognition systems.

In that same period, he also undertook a short-term consultancy project with the UK Admiralty Underwater Research Establishment consisting in the investigation of a new generation of analog sampled-data decimation circuits using switched- capacitor techniques for PCM system interfaces.

Scientific Leadership and Research Group Founding

Upon his late 1985 appointment as Assistant Professor at IST, he independently founded, early 1986, what would become the Integrated Circuits and Systems Group at IST. The group’s mission was to build scientific and technological capacity in analog–digital integrated circuits and systems, primarily in silicon technologies. The focus research areas included the design, manufacturing and testing of analog and digital circuits and systems, including the basic circuit components, and also methodologies for the implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) tools.

The group’s strategic direction was articulated early on, notably in the invited lecture “From Circuits to Systems – A View of the Role and Needs of Analogue Signal Processing Now and in the Future”, presented in September 1986 at the 8th CAVE (CAD for VLSI in Europe) Workshop, Grassau, Germany.

The stated Strategic Objectives were:

Support advanced undergraduate education in electrical and computer engineering.
Strengthen postgraduate programs, particularly Master’s-level research projects.
Enable doctoral research activities in advanced IC design and signal processing.
Equip laboratories and computing infrastructures with high-quality resources and access to advanced IC fabrication technologies.
Foster collaboration with national electronics industry, through joint R&D initiatives and professional development programs.
Establish a diversified base for European research funding, leveraging both European Framework Programmes and direct partnerships withinternational companies.
Build an international research and exchange network across Europe and the U.S., facilitating placements of IST researchers in top universities, laboratories, and companies.

In 1992, he was a leading proponent of the successful application to the national CIÊNCIA Programme of Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), of which the Integrated Circuits and Systems Group that he had created in 1986 became a core unit.By 1996, following the international evaluation of Portuguese research units, his Integrated Circuits and Systems Group earned a 5/5 (Excellent) rating from all reviewers — the only group within IT to receive the top score across the board.

International University Cooperation

To support the internationalisation of his Integrated Circuits and Systems (ICS) Group and to offer early-career opportunities for internships in leading international scientific and technological centres, a global academic collaboration network was cultivated with top universities and research institutes across Europe and the United States. Some of those partnerships included:

University of Pavia (Italy)

Through a close cooperation with the Microelectronics Group under the leadership of Professor Franco Maloberti, IST’s ICS Group established a scientific and technological cooperation agreement facilitating research internships and access to monolithic integrated circuit design infrastructure.

Portland State University (USA)

Underpinned by a close relationship with Professor Rolf Schaumann (former President of IEEE Circuits and Systems Society), IST’s ICS Group established a research program for the development of integrated MOS systems for continuous-time and sampled analog signal processing, targeting very high-frequency filtering applications.

Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)

Collaboration between the Circuits Research Group of Dr. Elena Poionnen and IST’s Integrated Circuits Design Group to study and develop high-speed D/A converters based on quasi-passive, ultra-low-power architectures.

Oregon State University (USA)

Research partnership with Professor Gabor Temes focused on oversampled delta-sigma modulation circuits for high-resolution signal conversion

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Cooperation program with Professor Henry Baltes, in sensor system integration, including research on monolithic technologies and circuits for sensor interfacing.

Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium)

In close cooperation with Professor Georges Gielen, developed research activities in automated design of analog–digital circuits and systems, with emphasis on signal conversion architectures.

University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)

Collaboration with Professor Sanjit Mitra, on multi-rate analog and digital circuit and system design, particularly in the context of signal conversion and processing applications.

Instituto de Microelectrónica de Sevilla (IMSE, Spain)

Long-term collaborations with Professor José Luiz Huertas, Professor Adoration Rueda Rueda and Professor Angel Rodriguez Vasquez on multiple areas of analog and analog-digital IC design and specialised computer aided design tools.