Prof. Dr. Georg Fischer

Institute for Electronics Engineering

We research in Medical Electronics, biosignal acquisition (ECG, EMG, …), Sensor design, body area networks, and wearables. Our general objective is to design these electronic systems that they can easily integrate into daily life in a seamless way. We also research the necessary wireless radio connectivity (Bluetooth, 4G Cellular NB-IoT, body confined communication)

Research projects

  • Circuit technology for capacitive ECG works through 2 mm of isolation! Also well suited for ECG with wearables
  • Body confined communication, no easvesdropping of communication
  • Activity monitoring, IMU (inertial measurement unit), Magnetometer, barome

Current projects

  • Elektronik mit neuartigen Materialien für Edge-Computing in Mobilfunknetzen

    (Third Party Funds Group – Overall project)

    Term: 1. July 2022 - 30. June 2025
    Funding source: BMBF / Verbundprojekt
    Motivation

    The increasing number of networked devices and sensors, the "Internet of Things" (IoT), enables diverse and new applications. However, it is also generating a rapidly growing volume of data. Processing data at its point of origin (edge computing) helps to deal with it efficiently. Edge computing strengthens the functionality, sustainability, trustworthiness and cost-effectiveness of electronic applications through the use of artificial intelligence and networking. The goal of the OCTOPUS projects is to provide application-specific, highly innovative electronics to unlock these benefits.

    Goals and strategy

    The aim of the project is to create the technological basis for an AI-supported, flexible, efficient and scalable multi-access edge cloud (MEC) with which future mobile networks can be realized. This should have low latency, high frequency agility and high data rates. To this end, analog and digital circuits will be designed, built and verified to linearize the radio signals to be transmitted using a centralized AI-powered algorithm. New approaches will be used to achieve the energy efficiency, frequency flexibility, bandwidth, scalability and cost efficiency requirements of the system. The focus is on new power amplifier architectures based on gallium nitride (GaN) and a new overall architecture that reduces the complexity of the MEC.

    Innovations and perspectives

    The MEC can be used to build powerful and efficient mobile networks that support complex applications, for example from industry or mobility. A special special focus is on the use of particularly energy-efficient technologies in order to promote not only digital progress as well as promoting the European Green Deal.

  • Electronic Circuits for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting and Sensor Array Systems

    (Third Party Funds Group – Sub project)

    Overall project: GRK 2495: Energy Conversion Systems - from materials to devices
    Term: 1. July 2020 - 30. June 2024
    Funding source: DFG / Graduiertenkolleg (GRK)
    URL: https://www.igk2495.fau.de/projects/project-a-electronic-circuits-for-piezoelectric-arrays/
    Multiport and multimodal energy harvesting array systems require further circuit advancements. Wearables for health monitoring are an excellent energy harvesting example at raising interest. Further applications: smart city, building/bridge structure and environmental monitoring

    - Should be energy autonomous for easy handling, no charger, always ready to go for 24/7 use
    - SoA: Only single port harvesters! Require multiport harvesters for multiple asynchronous energy sources!
    - Multimodal harvesting (pressure, solar, thermal,…) and arrays increase availability of energy
    - Energy harvesting at high conversion efficiency needed
    - Provision of energy for: (i) local sensor acquisition, (ii) local data processing, and (iii) Wireless connectivity, WAN needs more energy than BAN
    - Wireless connectivity BAN (Body Area Network, e.g. Bluetooth) replaced by WAN (Wide Area Network, cellular IoT)

    The primary research goal is the development of improved circuit design for multiport harvesters dealing with asynchronous energy sources in a piezo array

    - Can the piezo elements be simultaneously used as sensors and energy providers?
    - How to deal with asynchronous energy sources?
    - How to ensure high availability and stability of energy?
    - How to increase conversion efficiency?

Recent publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Related Research Fields

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