Research

Micro and Nano Technologies Group (MNT)

The Micro and Nanotechnology Research Group (MNT) is made up of members of the teaching staff, researchers, PhD students and technical staff that investigate how advanced devices work and how they can be improved. The MNT staff shares facilities where micro and nano technologies are available, as well as specialized equipment that allows simulation and modeling. The facilities include a white room with a computer for processing silicon, material deposition, photographic lithography and laser, and microprocessed in surfaces and volumes. The group also has many agreements with technology providers and research institutions to broaden the technology base available to achieve more ambitious goals in research projects. The annual expenses of the MNT are mainly subsidized by public research agencies at the national and European level. The MNT members also maintain a relationship with the industry that leads to very profitable alliances, and have been strongly involved in the efforts of the Technology Transfer.

High Performance Integrated Circuits and Systems (HIPICS)

Our group has the goal of developing impact research in the field of design of high performance circuits and systems integrated in advanced technologies, particularly CMOS. Its current activity is focused in the scenario that emerges with nanometer-scale technologies, which is characterized by circuits with a highly unpredictable behavior provoked by disturbances and a large variability of device characteristics, where very high complexity digital circuits (terascale) live along in the same silicon die with multi-standard communication transceivers, with signals well into the mm-wave bands (60 GHz), and with very stringent requirements concerning performance optimization and power consumption minimization. In this context, in the group we develop new architectures and circuits (both digital and analog - RF) tolerant to disturbances and to the manufacturing process variations; design of RF circuits with very low power consumption and little sensitive to interactions to other circuits; design techniques with imperfect components; test and characterization based on temperature measurements; power supply systems based on energy harvesting.

Advanced Hardware Architectures (AHA)

The research group activity is in the field of the specification and design of electronic systems architectures with enhanced features for the efficient information processing. The physical implementation is held using the most suitable technological solution (VLSI and Full Custom solutions, high density logic and programmable circuits,...). A main part of the group activity is centered on the development of intelligent electronic systems with adaptation and reconfiguration capabilities, MEMS circuits with CMOS compatible control solutions, analog systems, neural networks and bio-inspired systems.

Energy Processing and Integrated Circuits (EPIC)

Analog microelectronic design:

• Nonlinear controllers for switched power processors.
• Integración de conversores conmutado.s
• RF power amplifiers switched to 3G mobile communications.
• Analog filters in continuous time for tuning on chip (Tuning-on- chip) Communication circuits.
• Modeling, design and control (linear and nonlinear) of DC-DC and DC-AC power conversion systems.

Application in the distributed generation of renewable energies:

• Photovoltaic systems connected in grid.
• Modular power conversion architectures: series-parallel associations of power processors.
• Reconfigurable photovoltaic systems for the optimization of energy extraction.

Sensor Systems Group (GSS)

The group conducts research in sensors-based instrumentation and measurement systems. The activity of the group includes the design of systems, design of sensors, development of electronic circuitry and digital signal processing. Various methods of measurement are used, among which the most important are ultrasonic waves, infrared radiation, and electromagnetic fields. The main application of interest are tests and non-destructive evaluation, ultrasonic photography, infrared spectroscopy, sensors for the food industry, and thermoelectric cooling.

Electronic and Biomedical Instrumentation (IEB)

We design new equipment and instrumentation systems in the field of ATE, EMC, medicine and biotechnology. In particular, we design new measurement methods, especially for medical diagnoses, biotechnological processes and measurement of electromagnetic fields in the region of nearby fields, and applications in the automotive industry.