Press Releases

In today’s world, more and more devices are being wirelessly connected to one another with the aid of intelligent sensors. As this Internet of Things keeps growing, however, it is consuming more and more power. To address this issue, Fraunhofer’s ZEPOWEL lighthouse project has prompted the development of hardware that not only makes the sensors energy-efficient, but even enables them to save energy. As a starting point, the project is focusing on two sensor nodes – one to control machines and one to measure the air quality in the city. Fraunhofer IPMS is developing technologies for energy harvesting and energy storage.

In order to use electronic devices securely and reliably, it is important to know where they were manufactured, how they operate and how they are constructed. Although there are currently a number of tech-nical solutions for trusted electronics, there is still no consistent meth-odology for trustworthiness that adequately covers the entire value chain. This is where the research project “Velektronik”, which started in March 2021, comes in. Fraunhofer IPMS is working on trusted manufac-turing processes of electronic devices.

Together with Globalfoundries Dresden, a network of Fraunhofer institutes in Saxony has developed a sensor platform that can be used to create individually configurable IoT and edge computing solutions. This means that, for the first time, small and medium-sized suppliers now have the opportunity to produce particularly powerful, energy-efficient and highly integrated systems at low cost. In contrast to independent development, the time required and development costs are significantly reduced.

Together with European partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is developing a scalable technology for silicon qubits for quantum computers. The QLSI project – "Quantum Large-Scale Integration with Silicon" – will develop a 16-qubit chip within four years, thus laying the foundation for industrial-scale implementation of semiconductor quantum processors. The EU is funding the project with a total of 14.6 million euros.

Increasing digitalization is constantly driving the demands on electronic hardware. Speed, performance, miniaturization and energy efficiency are becoming increasingly important when it comes to enabling applications in the field of big data and artificial intelligence (AI). A promising solution approach is offered by so-called neuromorphic computing, which aims to emulate the self-organizing and self-learning nature of the brain. Fraunhofer IPMS is developing materials and hardware for this purpose and will present its developments at the Technology Unites Global Summit from February 15 – 19, 2021.

Digitalization is making its way into vehicles as well: more and more data from sensors, infotainment and safety systems must be prioritized in the on-board network and transmitted using various communication protocols. A high-performance vehicle network like automotive Ethernet, which offers advantages such as standardization, scalability and support for IP protocols, is essential for this. Fraunhofer IPMS is developing platform-independent IP core controllers with very low latencies for this purpose. At the Automotive Ethernet Congress from February 9 – 11, 2021, Fraunhofer IPMS will present its developments in a workshop featuring a live demonstration.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS offers access to its research infrastructure and technologies of micro- and nanoelectronics within the European project ASCENT+. This project enables researchers and companies to use high technologies, equipment and development services of leading European research institutions, corresponding to a total investment of 2.5 billion euros.

Dresden/Erfurt: M³Infekt, a Fraunhofer cluster project, aims to develop a moni-toring system that enables early intervention in the event that a patient’s condi-tion suddenly starts to deteriorate. It will be a modular, multimodal and mobile system, and will also be suitable for use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. By facilitating the required intervention at an early stage, the system helps to lessen the effects of disease, shorten the duration of therapy and make flexible use of intensive care wards.

Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) is an extension of the IEEE 802.1 standard and aims to create reliable, deterministic and convergent Ethernet networks. The Fraunhofer IPMS now completes its TSN IP Core family with a TSN Switch IP Core and will present the innovation at the TSN/A Conference from October 7-8, 2020.

From driver assistance systems to infotainment - more and more data is being transmitted in modern vehicles. In the on-board network, data streams must be prioritized differently and transmitted using various communication protocols. The Fraunhofer IPMS develops different IP Core designs for this purpose, which meet the functional safety requirements of the automotive sector and can be used independently of the platform. At the Bordnetz Congress on September 22, 2020, the experts of the Fraunhofer IPMS will present the IP Core designs for the automotive sector.

In modern industrial plants, machines, logistics and products talk directly to each other and require technology solutions for error-free and fast data transmission. The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems presents innovative solutions for industrial communication in the technology fields of Li-Fi, RFID sensors and Communication IP-Cores at the virtual industrial fair "INDUSTRIAL production + handling" from June 17th to July 3rd, 2020.

Fraunhofer IPMS founded the spin-off company Arioso Systems GmbH in October 2019. The aim of founding this company was to launch an innovative sound transducer principle for miniaturized headphones (also known as ‘hearables’) onto the market. These voice-operated, multi-talented devices are worn in the ear and will even be able to completely take over Internet communication in the future thanks to their unique Nanoscopic Electrostatic Drive (NED) technology from Fraunhofer IPMS. We spoke to Dr. Herrmann Schenk, Chief Operating Officer of the spin-off company, about the reasons behind this.

The Fraunhofer IPMS spin-off company Arioso Systems GmbH has successfully completed its first round of financing. The spin-off company is launching an innovative sound transducer principle for miniaturized headphones (also known as ‘hearables’) to the market. The revolutionary new micro loudspeaker technology made from 100% silicon, is based on the patented Nanoscopic Electrostatic Drive (NED) principle from the Fraunhofer IPMS. This can considerably extend the functional scope for miniaturized headphones, meaning that hearables may independently take over Internet communication in the future.

The corona pandemic has now reached Europe, and Germany in particular, and presents us with major challenges. Cases of infection are increasing exponentially and in recent days more and more countermeasures have been ordered by the authorities.

From lane departure warning to automatic emergency braking: numerous assistance systems are at work in modern vehicles. These driver assistance systems continuously send large amounts of data, processing more and more information that must be transmitted in real time and sorted according to priority. Fraunhofer IPMS has developed real-time capable IP cores, that meet the Ethernet time sensitive networking (TSN) standard, for the automotive sector.

With billions of minuscule components transmitting important information and signals to progressively smart devices housed on their surfaces, silicon chips are the nerves cells of artificial intelligence. Semiconductor chips are built into every smartphone and are becoming smaller, increasingly powerful and more efficient.

Optical microsystems are forging the path of light. Fraunhofer IPMS photonic systems modulate light via small deflectable mirrors to induce images and structures in a unique way. Expanding on this technique, the Dresden-based Fraunhofer research institute has developed spatial light modulators consisting of up to several million mirrors on a semiconductor chip. These micro mirror arrays are to be used in semiconductor production as well as in micro and laser projection. Fraunhofer IPMS is currently the world leader in this field. Adding to its already impressive list of technologies, Fraunhofer IPMS has now developed a CMOS-integrated micromirror array with two tilting axes per mirror as well as the associated technological platform.