A “Universal Sensor Platform” for medium-sized enterprises

Fraunhofer researchers and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Dresden intend to develop a modular technology for smaller system providers by 2019. This “Universal Sensor Platform” (USeP) will offer smaller companies without their own chip development department the ability to get involved in the Internet of Things. According to the modular principle, medium-sized companies can take advantage of several design variants in order to be able to make their ideas and visions a reality as simply as possible.

© MEV Verlag
New technology, individually customizable
© Fraunhofer IIS / EAS, Katharina Knaut
Example of a chip package.

Medium-sized enterprises must keep going

The pace of technological development in the area of microelectronics is constantly accelerating, which poses considerable challenges to mid-sized enterprises. Especially high-performance and highly specialized products are becoming the standard requirements of many customers. However, such “smart” and networked systems are often required only in small volumes and require highly integrated technical solutions. Moreover, the development costs of such modern technologies are frequently too high for many companies, and advances in this area also require employees with detailed expertise in specialized fields of electronics as well as expensive design software that smaller companies often lack. That is why the “Universal Sensor Platform” (USeP) project – funded by the Free State of Saxony and the European Union – was launched by several Fraunhofer institutes and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Dresden.

Modular-based system architecture

By 2019, a technological platform will have been designed that will allow even small and medium-sized enterprises to work with the latest technologies. In the future, and thanks to the modular principle, they should be able to select from a wide range of components according to their needs and then put them together to form an overall system. In addition to the system architecture with flexible building blocks, the easy-to-use platform also offers solutions for hardware and IT security. The aim is to use the sensor module and the various design variants to allow for hundreds of different usage cases. Interested firms can already contribute their ideas and requirements to the research network, help determine the content of demonstration models, and be among the first to test the models.

 

About USeP:

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Dresden is a worldwide semiconductor production company. It is working on the project alongside four Saxon institutes from within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. These are the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS and the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, as well as the institute divisions All Silicon System Integration ASSID of the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM and Engineering of Adaptive Systems EAS at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS. Their know-how is complemented by that of Erlangen- and Berlin-based colleagues. Overall project management is the responsibility of Fraunhofer IIS / EAS.

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