The execution of software has a significant impact on various runtime characteristics of the hardware. Software critically influences energy consumption, thermal development, or the electromagnetic behavior of a CPU/MCU. While EMC analyses can be used for side-channel attacks, critical temperature patterns and LoadJumps or PowerPeaks can lead to malfuncitons. The new topic "Optimization of processor power characteristics in software" shall be dedicated to the avoidance of LoadJumps and PowerPeaks. More information

The goal of this project is to develop methods and toolchains that enable the training and deployment of AI/MI models for resource-constrained embedded devices to enable the future use of reliable embedded intelligence in cognitive products and production systems. Within the project, the developed methods and toolchains will be applied and demonstrated in the context of selected cognitive wireless sensing case studies. More information

Electronics-based systems (EBS) are becoming more and more prevalent in production, infrastructure and transport, but are only accepted if people trust these systems. Reliability is therefore becoming the cornerstone for the social acceptance of electronics-based systems. The researchers in the doctoral programme Dependable ElectroNIc-Based SystEms (DENISE) will explore concepts, methods and application-oriented tools to make EBS more reliable. The project deepens the very good relationship between FH Joanneum and Graz University of Technology through a joint doctoral programme. DENISE creates an integrated research framework across disciplinary boundaries and links reliability concepts of sensors with networked embedded devices. Existing strengths will be built upon and by pooling complementary expertise DENISE will lead to sustainable progress in the EBS sector. More information

The project OPEVA aims for innovation on aggregating information from the vehicle, not only from the battery but also from other internal sensors and behaviours, to create a model of performance and consumption specific to the individual vehicle and its driver (TD1). It aims to optimize the individual driving episode using the out-vehicle data such as state of the road, weather, charging station location and occupancy etc. that are collated from the back-end systems (TD2). OPEVA will further address the challenges associated with the communication between the vehicle and the infrastructure to gather data from the back-end systems (TD3). It aims for innovation in the use of recharging stations and related applications (TD4). It further aims to achieve better understanding on what the battery and its constituent cells are really doing during real world use for an improved battery management system (TD5). Finally, TD6 covers the driver-oriented human factors for optimizing the electrical vehicle usage. The TDs from the most deeply embedded in the vehicle to its support in the cloud, which need to interwork in an optimal fashion to deliver in one decade a better level of systemic optimisation for personal mobility that took ten decades to achieve with fossil fuels. On the other hand, economic factors (N-TD1), legal and ethical aspects (N-TD2), EV related development by the human (N-TD3), and societal and environmental factors (N-TD4) will be taken into consideration in the OPEVA methods for a higher acceptance and the awareness of the society regarding the these developments. More information.

The requirements for autonomous mobile robots in a warehouse are increasing with the high growth of digitalisation in the industry. In this context, it is of enormous importance to also advance the development of mobile robots, also known as shuttles. As an example, the efficiency in the processing of tasks can be mentioned here. In order to achieve this increase in efficiency, a certain intelligence must be introduced among the shuttles or in a swarm of any size. The range for this intelligence is broad and various aspects can be considered. More Information

Water supply and wastewater treatment plants are steadily transforming from traditional physical infrastructures to cyber-physical systems (CPS). Digitalization brings new vulnerabilities and attack surfaces for attacks from cyberspace. There has been an increase in reported cyberattacks on water management assets, demonstrating that working preventive measures are as necessary as early detection and location of attacked system components. Traditional mechanisms for detecting cyberattacks are becoming increasingly ineffective. At the same time, however, the use of new technologies is creating new legal and ethical risks. To address these new challenges, SeRWas will conduct research services towards a comprehensive cyber situational awareness solution for the water industry that already takes into account future legal, regulatory, and ethical requirements. Specifically, SeRWas will help the water industry to (1) reduce the attack surface for cyberattacks through methods and tools for detailed assessment and risk analysis, (2) counter the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks by developing advanced and robust algorithms as trusted artificial intelligence (AI) tools for early and ongoing attack detection and better situational and risk assessment; and (3) improve alignment with best practices and awareness of emerging security architectures through targeted innovative knowledge delivery methods.

The European Commission has set an ambitious goal to double the share of electronic component design and production done in Europe by 2030. As one significant contribution to achieve this goal, academic and industrial stakeholders focus on developing and expanding an open-source RISC-V ecosystem as a strategic investment for Europe. The industry-initiated TRISTAN project aims to extend, expand, and industrialise the European RISC-V ecosystem to compete with existing commercial alternatives. The project aims to leverage the Open-Source community to increase productivity and quality. In addition, the broad-based international consortium will expose a large number of engineers to RISC-V technology, which will further promote adoption and ensure that this ecosystem becomes a sovereign European alternative to existing industrial standards. The national consortium in Austria is making a significant contribution to TRISTAN, contributing to the ambition to establish Austria as “chip forge” in Europe. The diversity of the partners and their complementary position in the value chain ensure a strong Austrian footprint in TRISTAN and a high impact with regard to dissemination and exploitation. Furthermore, with the intensive cooperation between academic and industrial partners, the open-source aspects are brought into focus just as much as the exploitation interests of the industrial partners. TUG will focus on the development of HW/SW co-design solutions (with industrial partners) for RISC-V ISA custom extensions. TUG will provide solutions from the investigation of the ISA extension through simulation and design space exploration analysis targeting performance, timing and energy use optimizations. More information.