Communication Systems

Computer architecture inspired by the human brain – to most people, this sounds rather abstract and removed from everyday life. Far from it: a research team from Fraunhofer IIS and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has developed neuromorphic hardware capable of detecting early signs of atrial fibrillation and considerably reducing the risk of stroke. In other words, this application has an entirely practical place in everyday life.

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Bringing intelligence to devices is an essential prerequisite for autonomous driving. After all, real-life traffic situations demand fast responses and leave no time to transmit sensor data to a cloud for intelligent analysis. In the KI-FLEX project, researchers are developing neuromorphic hardware that allows artificial intelligence (AI) to be integrated directly into a car – in the form of a flexible platform. Project coordinator Michael Rothe from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS offers his insights into the project.

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Analog or digital – two terms that will be quite familiar to most people. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, only the experts know that there’s something “in between.” They call this “in between” the spiking neural network (SNN). One of the main hopes for the SNN approach is that it will resolve how to integrate “intelligence” directly into devices. Cognitive scientist Johannes Leugering explains what’s involved.

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The purpose of Edge AI is to relocate artificial intelligence to where it is needed: end devices. For this to work, however, processing operations cannot be too energy-intensive. In the ECSEL projects ANDANTE and TEMPO, researchers at Fraunhofer IIS are paving the way for this emerging technology with the development of suitable chips, algorithms, and tools.

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Some challenges are best faced shoulder to shoulder – like developing the chips, algorithms, and the hardware needed to integrate artificial intelligence directly into end devices, a paradigm also known as “Edge AI”. Marco Breiling, chief scientist at the Fraunhofer IIS Communication Systems division and Dr. Loreto Mateu, group manager at the Fraunhofer IIS Smart Sensing and Electronics division, talk about why their collaboration on Edge AI is so fruitful, and the benefits of working in an international team.

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Space is teeming with satellites. They allow us to receive TV shows, give us Internet access on planes and ships, and keep communications going during disasters. We are working on a range of developments that will make this kind of communication more efficient, more flexible, and more stable in the future.

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The quality of cleverness is something we generally attribute to people. Now objects are set to become intelligent too – and not just individual smart objects considered in isolation, but as a networked whole. For ex- ample, objects will be able to determine their “condition” themselves and “talk” to each other. Researchers at Fraunhofer IIS are developing the basic technologies required for this Internet of Things – and are doing so for the entire chain of applications.

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As you approach our institute building in Erlangen-Tennenlohe, it's often the first thing to capture your attention: our 58-meter radio tower. It can be seen from afar, making it a Fraunhofer IIS landmark of sorts.

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