Yonsei master's student Lee Jeong-hyeon wins Presidential Award at semiconductor design contest

[Financial News] Yonsei University announced on the 27th that master's student Lee Jeong-hyeon, on the research team led by Professor Park Gwan-seo of the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering, had won the top prize, the Presidential Award, at the 27th Korea Semiconductor Design Contest held on the 15th for a key chip technology for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors that Lee developed.
The technology that won the Presidential Award is a receiver circuit design that increases the data-processing speed of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI semiconductors while sharply reducing power consumption. It processes 14 billion bits of data per second for each pin, a data transmission channel, while lowering energy consumption to around 0.163 picojoules (pJ) per bit.
As AI technology has advanced in recent years, the importance of HBM, which processes large volumes of data quickly, has grown. However, existing technologies had limitations: correcting internal circuit errors that occur when data is accurately transmitted and received required temporarily halting data transmission or adding extra circuits, increasing power consumption and chip size.
The research team solved this problem by developing a technology that automatically detects internal circuit errors without stopping data transmission. Designed to correct errors using only simple signal information and no complex devices, it ensures both stable data reception and energy efficiency.
After winning the Prime Minister's Award at the same contest last year, Professor Park's research team went on to claim this year's top prize, the Presidential Award, demonstrating its outstanding research capabilities in semiconductor design. Under Professor Park's guidance, student Lee Jeong-hyeon led the design of the award-winning technology.

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter