IoT and Communications Engineering
The evolution of semiconductor technologies has enabled the design of energy-efficient, compact and connected electronic systems that can be deployed in massive numbers to create the Internet of Things (IoT). This domain in EE lays the foundations for IoT systems by covering, in a transversal way, the key technologies to co-design and optimize computing and communication systems that can deliver networks of smart and edge computing IoT objects, as well as energy-efficient high performance architectures for cloud computing and central processing.
Activities in the EE Institute in this domain cover embedded software mapping flows, energy management methodologies, low-power communication including electromagnetics and wave engineering for IoT devices and machine-to-machine interaction, as well as optics and computer architecture for the IoT infrastructure. Building on these foundational technologies, this domain is strategically positioned to cover the requirements of connectivity, energy efficiency and autonomous operation of IoT systems to enhance processes and enable new services in established industries, creating smart cities, e-health businesses, or industry 4.0.
Key research themes
- Systems for telecommunications : energy efficient and reliable signal processing and VLSI design and optimization methods for wireless and wired communications.
- Embedded systems : thermal modelling of planar and 3D integrated circuits, memory system optimizations, software mapping techniques.
- Low-power : approximate computing, wearable and wireless sensor networks, adaptive power management, low-power IC design.
- Co-design methods and tools : analysis and simulation of IoT systems, Planar and 3D system integration methodologies, machine-learning based system design exploration, application-specific memory design and management.
- Computing architectures : edge computing and multi-processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC), smart architectures and fog computing, cloud and many-core computing, cyber-physical systems, machine learning and application-specific accelerators.
- Wearable systems : biomedical signal processing, sport performances, instrumentation, inertial sensors, sensors fusion, biomechanics.
- Photonics and Wave Engineering : Optical fibers, lightwave communication, optical signal processing and storage, non-linear optics, acoustics, metamaterials.