Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOSThe Connected Things group gathers expertise in electronics, telecommunications, and software engineering to create hardware, firmware, and software solutions addressing the Internet of Things (IoT) challenges, considering identity, security, privacy, connectivity, interoperability and reliability related issues.
The Connected Things group focuses on four sub-areas:
/ Embedded Electronics
We create embedded electronics, to sense data from people and the surrounding environment, which can actuate, process data, and relay data to other devices.
When developing electronic devices, we also address privacy and data integrity. We explore scenarios of distributed and opportunistic computing, considering the devices’ processing capabilities and taking advantage of the number of devices on the network.
/ Communication & Networks
At AICOS, we create communication networking solutions that exploit the concept of social-aware opportunistic data exchange for cases where the users may be in disconnected areas. Opportunistic communication allows to save networking resources as data exchange happens among socially relevant users, providing a non-real-time, but effective way of transmitting information upon the lack of connectivity.
We also explore the concept of software-defined networks and radios that may serve a wide range of applications from body area network to communications backhaul spanning large areas, with different quality of service requirements (e.g., low latency, improved bandwidth).
/ Edge & Cloud Computing
We are working towards achieving seamless integration of things, edge, and cloud platforms. By exploiting different technologies, such as sensors, communication protocols, and interfaces, available in today's devices, we develop assistive solutions for people with different technology proficiency levels ranging from training purposes to complex task accomplishment.
We seek to create capable and resilient systems in harsh and adverse communication conditions, and balance between edge and cloud computing to find the optimum combination regarding energy, costs, quality, privacy, and user experience.
/ Quality Assurance & Regulatory Pre-Compliance
Quality assurance procedures are essential in maintaining a sustainable agile methodology for continuous delivery of results, aligned with customers’ expectations. That is why we consider quality metrics that guarantee that the testing results accurately reflect the quality of the deliverables.
We are committed to supporting our partners in smoothing the transition from proof-of-concept prototypes to production-ready products, by providing electronic development services, which follow a pre-compliance approach for the final device.