New microchip may boost talk time

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. research team has developed a new energy-efficient microchip that could lead to longer battery life for cellphones and medical devices.

The design by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Texas Instruments, presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, is 10 times more efficient than current chips, MIT said Monday in a news release.

MIT Professor Anantha Chandrakasan said the circuits on the chip work at much lower voltage levels. While current chips operate at about one volt, the new design works at just 0.3 volts. He said the key to the new chip is a high-efficiency DC-to-DC converter that reduces the voltage on the same chip, reducing the number of separate components.

Possible commercial applications include portable and implantable medical devices, portable communications devices and networking devices, and even military applications.