The roll-out of 5th Generation (5G) telecommunications across Europe by the year 2020, and the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) with 50 billion connected devices, will strongly increase the demand for energy due to the continuous power consumption of the electronic devices needed to deliver these technologies, leading to an associated demand for more energy-efficient systems. This project establishes the metrology required for this transformational objective for Europe by providing traceable measurements of power, losses and emerging electronic materials properties. Thus this project will enable European industries to optimise device and systems design for 5G and IoT applications requiring ultra-low power and more energy efficient operation.
The ongoing IoT and the future 5G radio access network will have a fundamental impact on the daily life of all European citizens. Sensors (the cornerstone of IoT) will be found everywhere (car, house, industrial health monitoring, etc.) and 5G communication systems will provide greater connectivity (Machine-to-Machine, high data rates with low latency). The high data-rate aspect of 5G at mmWave frequencies makes the power consumption and thermal issues very challenging in wireless devices. By 2020, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is expected to contribute about 2 % of global CO2 emissions instead of 1.3 % in 2007 (Ericsson report, 2010). Within this, 20 % of the footprint may be attributed to personal mobile networks and mobile devices. Phones and tablets will produce the strongest percentage increase in the ICT’s footprint: recent estimations forecast 50 billion devices enhancing the footprint by a factor of 4.
Improvement of the energy efficiency of devices and processes is therefore a key component for sustainable development of European products. Due to restrictions in current scaling strategies and dramatic thermal issues (particularly in wireless systems), semiconductor and electronics manufacturing roadmaps are aimed at the introduction of novel materials, more complete component characterisation and more efficient power management at the system level that will lead to the development of novel ultra-low power devices. To support industry in facing these challenging issues, traceable measurement techniques are required that will establish a robust metrology framework for in-situ, in-operando and multiphysics characterisation of advanced materials and components, and for reliable and accurate data for an efficient power management system.
This is a joint research project carried out in the framework of the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) (see:http://www.euramet.org/research-innovation/empir/). The EMPIR initiative is co-funded by the European Unions's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the participating states. METAS is one of the project partners in the Project.
