Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
2nd prize in innovation competition organized by German research ministry: “Electronics for Energy-Saving Information and Communications Technology”
In the joint “EdgeLimit” project, our experts are working together with Fraunhofer IAF and the University of Freiburg to evaluate and optimize power electronics in connection with modern edge cloud systems. In connected IoT systems, data is processed and analyzed not only in a central cloud structure, but increasingly at the edge of the network – that is, as close as possible to the application. This minimizes the time-consuming transfer of data between cloud and edge.
With a complete antenna system consisting of several sending and receiving units (MIMOs), the Fraunhofer scientists implement technologies for what are known as remote radio heads (RRHs), which enable energy-efficient sensor data transmission in the 5G millimeter wave band. As part of our work on GreenICT at Fraunhofer IIS, we are investigating the energy consumption of such massive MIMO antennas at our 5G Bavaria Industry 4.0 test bed in Nuremberg. Our team of experts also develops and tests AI solutions for edge computing that are designed to reduce energy consumption to a minimum right from the design process of connectivity solutions.
Meanwhile, intelligent and adaptive management in the mobile communications system ensures that energy is used only as required. In all our development work and considerations, we strongly prioritize energy efficiency without sacrificing the performance of the systems in the application.
Together with industrial partners, we are now launching a three-year research project to explore our findings in even greater depth and adapt them to new solutions.