Ultra High-Speed Mobile Information and Communication (UMIC)
"Ultra High-Speed Mobile Information and Communication(UMIC)" is the only Cluster of Excellence approved under the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State governments in the areas of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science .
Mobile Information and Communication Systems of the Future
The focus of UMIC research is on mobile information and communication systems of the next decade. The service quality as perceived by the users must be at least an order of magnitude over that of today's systems at lower cost.
This goal can only be achieved by joint interdisciplinary research, taking all aspects into account from mobile applications to ultra-highly integrated implementation.
Key pillars of the cluster research are
- Mobile Application and Services,
- Wireless Transport Platforms, and
- RF Subsystems and SoC Design.
The close interdisciplinary cooperation of the participating teams is essential for the success of the cluster.
The close interdisciplinary cooperation of the participating teams is essential for the success of the cluster.
Wireless Transport Platform
Research targets of "Wireless Transport Platform" are smart, mobile, broadband and low-cost systems, which provide adaptive configuration and seamless connectivity, balancing between conflicting targets like data-rate, radio range and power consumption by continuous joint optimization.
Mobile Applications and Services
Matching requirements and features of applications and services on the one hand and of the wireless transport platform is a key approach of the research area "Mobile Applications and Services".
RF Subsystems and SoC Design
Design methodology and implementation are addressed by "RF Subsystems and SoC Design". Great challenges to be tackled are the nanometer-CMOS integration of flexible radio frequency subsystems required for cognitive terminals and "Multi-Processor-System-on-Chip" (MPSoC) platforms, designed for maximum performance and energy efficiency, taking into account the features and issues of future silicon technology generations.
Overarching Research: Cross-Disciplinary Methods and Tools
Research topics like performance and reliability of complex systems, privacy and security, energy efficiency, and software architecture affecting all pillars of the UMIC research are grouped within the research area "Cross-Disciplinary Methods and Tools".
The Center and its Contributing Instiutions
Nucleus of the cluster research is the UMIC Center, hosting the interdisciplinary research teams headed by Junior Professors and UMIC Distinguished Researchers, the prototyping labs and a demonstrator space.
More than 20 chairs and institutes from the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Faculty and the Computer Science Department of RWTH Aachen are active members of the UMIC research cluster.