Project | Paderborn University

Overview

Wireless communication is becoming more and more a key technology for many economic areas. While during the last 20 years mainly the communication industry itself profited from the stable growth increasingly also areas like e.g. embedded systems, industrial automation, automotive communication, medical technologies, environmental monitoring and interconnect technologies profit from the new wireless approaches. The most obvious advantage of wireless technologies is its high flexibility and enabling function for mobility. The importance of wireless communication will even more increase with the introduction of cloud computing and network attached storages since the network access must be insured at any time and with extreme low access latencies. The big economic importance of wireless technology brings it into the driving position of research and development in the areas of semiconductor circuits, microelectronics, signal processing, embedded systems design and communication technologies. Inventions and achievements in the area of wireless communication are the benchmark for other technology developments. The OFDM technologies, e.g., have been taken over from pure wireless communication to fiber based communication systems to increase the speed and quality there as well. This Priority Programme addresses a completely new speed-area of wireless communication of 100 Gb/s and beyond. Such communication speed was until now completely reserved for fiber based systems. To achieve such high data rates we have to investigate new paradigms for system architectures, find new algorithmic and technological methods and to realise new semiconductor components. The individual research project will investigate different approaches and methods based on fundamental basic research questions. The programme is highly interdisciplinary since a close cooperation between semiconductor physics, microelectronics, RF-engineering, signal processing, information theory and computer science will be necessary. Especially new paradigms for the overall system structure into HW- and SW-components as well as into digital and analog blocks are in the focus of research. Energy efficiency of the wireless transmission is of utmost importance. New, highly integrated semiconductor technologies and integration concepts will be necessary for any chance of successful system design. Several synergies with research areas of the architectures of embedded systems, electronic circuit design, systems interconnect, protocol design are to be expected. The Priority Programme also addresses the education and scientific qualification process. Especially, we want to support and qualify female academics and motivate to deliver top research results in the proposed research area. Family friendly offers in project conduction as well as special seminars shall support this. The interdisciplinary education shall be achieved by organising special seminars and summer schools. The Priority Programme will be conducted in individual projects and project-clusters. The overall programme management shall allow for efficient inter project communication and, if necessary, inter project coordination. Communication both within the programme as well as with other activities within the European and worldwide research will be organised. The leading role of the German research in the area of wireless communication will be ensured and strengthened by this programme. This will make Germany attractive for key-scientists from all over the world. Last but not least applications of ultra-high speed communication can be made understood by a broad publicity and will lead more young people to take up carriers in technical subjects. Especially the ambition of the programme to go beyond 100 Gb/s and to go new ways to achieve this will lead to a significant advantage for the German industry to regain the lead position in this high technology area.

DFG Programme Priority Programmes