Designers are faced by new challenges due to the complexity of future Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip (MPSoCs). The design space is very large and many design alternatives need to be explored during architecture definition and tuning. Moreover, gigascale MPSoCs will be increasingly communication - dominated, therefore many efforts are being devoted to the development of aggressively scalable on-chip communication architectures. The research activity in our NoC group addresses both issues. On one hand, we are developing a flexible, functionally-accurate simulation environment for on-chip multi-processors (called MPARM), targeting high accuracy modelling and simulation of such devices. On the other hand, we are developing advanced on-chip interconnects leveraging network technology (generally known as "Networks-on-Chip"). Customized, domain-specific MPSoCs are our primary target and the Xpipes NoC has been designed in our group for this purpose. Overall, we are building an infrastructure allowing us to compare in-house built as well as industrial advanced on-chip interconnects from a performance and power viewpoint, and to accurately analyze the MPSoC design space.

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The research activity of AmI (Ambient Intelligence) Group at Bologna University spans multiple aspects of distributed embedded and mobile systems design, with special emphasis on location, user and context aware intelligent media delivery and capture, that enable the so called Ambient Intelligence. Targeted applications concerns navigation in immersive virtual environments, interactive gaming and personalized services for mobile users. The research focus on the design and implementation of the hardware/software infrastructure.

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The Bio-research area of Micrel Lab aims at developing Electronic Systems and Data Mining Techniques for genetic analysis and information discovery.
The evolution of micro-fabrication technologies enables the design of small-scale devices (micro-arrays) that can perform a large number of biochemical tests in parallel. These techniques, coupled with high-throughput sensing, signal processing devices, and atomic force microscopy can produce huge amounts of data in a matter of hours. The management of this amount of information determines the increasing development of data mining technologies to automate to some degree, biological and medical information discovery from experiments and publicly accessible databases. In this context, there is a great demand of cheap, portable, and easy to use devices for point-of-care analysis. Micro-fabricated systems with integrated-sensor techniques can satisfy these requirements. These systems integrate on the same substrate the sites of the reaction, the sensors providing electric signals and the circuits for signal conditioning and amplification.

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Research Projects Overview