Business Units – Information and Communication Technology

The new era of increasing connectivity and digitalization creates new challenges for the design and construction of ICT systems:

The efficient sharing and storing of data needs ever larger data centers and the means to transmit electric and optical signals. Digitalization itself brings its own challenges: There is increasing demand for highly dynamic networks that can transport, process, and analyze data.

Fraunhofer IZM offers comprehensive solutions for these challenges with more than two decades of experience in the field of system integration.

This expertise has been used to develop e.g. a novel processor cooling method that includes micro-channels for integrated coolants in silicon interposers.

Be it the hybrid integration of electro-optical packaging technology with exacting standards for process accuracy or textile manufacturing technologies for Body Area Networks, Fraunhofer IZM is dedicated to enabling SMEs in particular to substantially reduce the cost and time needed for product development. With eco-design, intensive studies into the repairability and recyclability of consumer products like tablets, and research into technical obsolescence, Fraunhofer IZM fully includes the important question of sustainability in electronics development.

With core expertise in the development of application-oriented system designs, Fraunhofer IZM is perfectly placed to develop wireless sensor nodes and systems as well as high-frequency and high-speed communication applications with HQ components for miniaturized, reliable, and extremely energy-efficient wireless communication. Our laboratories are equipped with testing devices operating in frequency ranges from DC to 220 GHz, capable of handling current high-frequency systems e.g. for 5G applications.

In the field of optical communication technology, Fraunhofer IZM developed the concept of the electro-optical circuit board (EOCB) back in 1999. This is based on the combination of electrical and optical signal transmission on one circuit board, thus combining the advantages of both technologies. Optical waveguides integrated in glass are used as the optical layer. For their fabrication, Fraunhofer IZM has developed an ion exchange process for commercial equipment, achieving upscaling to large format thin glass (up to 457mm x 303mm). Further information on EOCB can be found under this link.

Our services:

  • Design of integrated, miniaturized, autonomous, and robust sensor systems and wireless networks
  • Construction of high-frequency systems and electro-optical components
  • Optimization of processes and transfer of construction technologies for highly integrated systems
  • Reliability testing and service life forecasting
  • Consulting and eco-design services for sustainable ICT products


 

Project

Green ICT @ FMD

In order to make information and communication technology (ICT) genuinely sustainable, environmental assessments are required that cover everything from the specific production processes to the design of entire future communication networks.

EU-Project PROMPT

Fraunhofer IZM leads EU project on premature obsolescence

In May 2019, the EU’s PROMPT project was launched to tackle e-waste: the aim is to establish an independent test program to evaluate the service life of consumer goods.  

News | Project CarriCool

Higher processor performance with microchannel cooler

One of the limiting factors for the computing power of processors is the operating temperature. As part of the CarriCool project under the aegis of IBM, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a new, effective cooling method.

News

Fewer bells and whistles, longer lifetime please

Online study finds that product features are not primary criterion in consumer purchases.

News | Project SERENA

EU project for innovative and cost-efficient 5G systems

Working with nine industry and research partners across Europe, the Fraunhofer Society has committed itself to developing economical and efficient high-performance HF platforms for next-generation mobile communications (5G).

News | Project USeP

A revolutionary sensor platform for next-generation IoT Systems

For small to medium-sized enterprises and makers of electronic solutions, the Internet of Things represents both a rich mine of opportunities and a minefield of risks and seemingly insurmountable challenges.

News | Project HyPOT

The world’s first hybrid integrated on-board transceiver using a glass interposer

Within the project HyPOT, Fraunhofer IZM, together with its industrial and academic partners, is developing a hybrid integrated glass-silicon based interposer for data 
communication at a wavelength of 850 nm.