The main goal of this project is to develop the private and public parts of broadband Internet access, forming an equilibrated consortium for all components: terminals, IADs, DSLAMs, Providing a complete solution concerning components and low level SW, Unifying telephone network and Internet, Supporting multimedia services, Supporting IPv6 and interworking to IPv4, Creating a European industry standard.

Industry sources expect universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) based mobile communications to be used by up to a billion customers within the next five years. Providing wireless access to all types of information - including multimedia and other data - the "third generation" UMTS system is likely to create a turnover of €80 billion/year over the same period.
The goal of the MEDEA+ SCUBA project (A104) is to boost the application of this new technology by developing innovative, inexpensive functional elements for base stations and their linkage to the worldwide communications network. As these demand a level of quality that cannot be provided simply by increasing the processing power and bandwidth of conventional chips, the partners are developing new processing architectures to deal with the complex high-speed signal/data processing and routing requirements.

Although the USA has long dominated the market for local area network (LAN) applications, the emergence of broadband wireless (WLAN) technology offers a major opportunity for European industry to gain ground. WLAN is becoming increasingly attractive because it supports mobile services, portable terminal interconnectivity and anytime, anywhere connections. With access points installable in airport terminals, hotels and other public locations, as well as in the user's workplace, wireless systems will become central to the future communications needs of both corporate and small office home office (SOHO) users. The MEDEA+ UniLAN project (A105) is therefore developing building blocks for a suitable common wireless terminal. Looking even further ahead, some partners are researching promising ultra wide band (UWB) technology that could allow data transmission at more than 100 Mb/s.

The market for broadband xDSL (digital subscriber line) telecommunication services is expanding rapidly with declining cost and growing awareness of the advantages to users handling ever-larger computer files. Industry observers forecast that the installed base will reach 60 million lines worldwide by 2004. There are already some two million ADSL connections in the USA and Asia Pacific, and in Europe demand will possibly even overtake that in the USA by 2003. However, xDSL technologies are also advancing apace, as companies around the world strive to develop faster and more integrated chipset designs. The MEDEA+ INCA project (A106) aims to deliver leading-edge system-on-chip and IC devices - as well as contributing to the development of innovative, inexpensive products that will maintain Europe's competitive position.
More info on: http://inca.es.lth.se/.

The main goal of this project is to develop new radio base band, analogue and RF solutions with circuit libraries and also re-configurable digital building blocks. Those will be later implemented on the physical layer of a wide range of wireless communications applications [using various modulation schemes such as DSSS, FHSS, CDM (A) or OFDM].

Secure radio communications are essential to public authorities, utilities, airports, transport and private security services. However, the introduction of such services has long been delayed by national and proprietary approaches, preventing full exploitation of the state-of-the-art integration possibilities of microelectronics. The aim of the MEDEA+ SUPERSTAR project (A108) is to develop a silicon application platform as the basis for volume production of multi-mode and multi-band digital secure mobile radio communication chipsets. The project includes specification of the platform architecture, design of reusable blocks and hardware-related software (firmware), and production of chipset demonstrators. Application software development is being carried out in parallel within the EUREKA Information Technology for European Advancement (ITEA) framework.

WITNESS aims to develop new techniques for short-range wireless communication using very low power techniques. In addition, extensions to new and existing standards for wireless communication in small area networks will be investigated and developed. Due to the wireless characteristic of the media considered, significant risk of interference and of data visibility exists, potentially posing special problems of both security (secrecy of data) and of safety (data corruption and/or loss of service). These considerations form a key axis in the project.

The MIDAS project will focus on the specification and development of layers 1 and 2 components and systems for wireline connectivity. It will cover two aspects: xDSL technologies for the access to network and Powerline communications for in-home networking.

The use of multiple antennas both at the transceiver and receiver promises a significant improvement of data rate, quality of service but also reduced radiated power. These facts are well known, however the techniques are far from commercial use. Algorithms for MIMO systems are theoretically well studied but their practical and cost efficient implementation is not carried out.

Currently, high speed asymmetrical Internet access is widely deployed in Europe and world wide. This access type is tailored to Internet browsing and download, a rather passive type of user behaviour. In future, subscribers will become more and more active and will also upload significant amount of data into the Internet. PlaNetS will contribute to the overall goal of eEurope 2005, to provide cost effective broadband access to all European citizens based on a converged network unifying the current heterogeneous networks (incl. wireless, cellular, WLAN). The converged network will be centred around the Internet Protocol IPv6. PlaNetS will play a key role in this introduction. An IPv6 implementation scenario will be worked out and lab trials will be built up entirely based on IPv6 including monitoring, remote control, automation, surveillance and related features.

The exponential growth in communications - especially mobile devices -, the convergence of PC and consumer electronic products, the quest for static and portable digital video capability, and the emergence of home servers (residential gateways) are creating a continuously increasing need for mass data storage.
The MEDEA+ FUST project (A202) seeks to strengthen Europes ability to deliver innovative system-on-chip (SoC) devices operating with both optical and magnetic storage media.As well as devising common system architectures, the partners are developing prototypes of key components, creating tools for testing and validation, and contributing to the format standardisation debate. Know-how acquired as a result of this initiative will stimulate growth in the professional and consumer electronics sectors. It could even lead to the emergence of completely new product types.

The transition from analogue to digital broadcasting is a major topic in the TV industry, where interest centres on the provision of interactive services. New specifications have appeared covering an interactive return channel via cable, satellite and terrestrial networks.
The MEDEA+ IM4DTTV project (A203) aims to specify, design and test a system-on-silicon solution for an integrated terrestrial modem based on the European DVB-RCT standard. This low cost wireless technology will be able to penetrate markets that are currently poor in cable infrastructure, offering a major market opportunity for European suppliers. The project partners are providing a first generation silicon solution and a complete hardware validation platform covering all aspects of the DVB-RCT-based system, including both user terminals and broadcasting base stations.

The main goal of this project is to offer an innovative MPEG-4 compliant tool box solution for mobile handheld devices, including user-friendly communication capability and offering very high audio and video quality. The toolbox contains a subset of the tools offered by MPEG4 and can be enhanced by adding new tools for digital rights management or other applications.

The aim of this project is to develop a secured terminal architecture for multimedia terminals to be linked by home networks. The architecture will be based on a framework, to be defined in the project, for implementation of security on chip-sets such that protection against illegal copying and unauthorized transmission of digital content will be ensured. The project will also take into account the end-user point of view, in order to ensure product acceptance. For instance, the project wishes to ensure that privacy and protection of user confidential data are always granted. This framework will also provide a safe platform for peer-to-peer communication and e-commerce applications. Terminal chip-sets from European semiconductor industry and terminal software from software component suppliers will be capable of matching the integral home network security required for multimedia content on DVB, DVD (Disc-system) and IP channels.

The main goal of this project is to deliver HW and SW open Smart-Card platforms aimed at supporting value added electronic and mobile commerce services as required by most operators from the mobile telecommunication, banking or Pay-TV sectors. It targets SW or service companies aiming at developing or promoting such services.

The main goal of this project is the protection of critical information systems (IS) infrastructures for business, communication, finance, distribution, energy and transportation. The high vulnerability of commercial software requires that it be associated with cryptographic hardware to provide an adequate security level in the field of smart card, Internet services etc.

This project aims at tackling the current technology limitations or bottlenecks encountered in secure transactions platforms and develops technology responses or breakthroughs that will leverage future security solutions needed for e-Security and e-Government applications in the next 3 to 5 years.

Electronics are playing an increasingly important role in modern vehicles. Computerised engine control, advanced safety features and sophisticated entertainment are already a reality. Functions such as intelligent navigation and security applications using GPS positioning and GSM mobile communications are just emerging; voice recognition and voice synthesis technologies will follow. Research suggests that, by 2007, up to 55% of all new cars produced across North America, Europe and Japan will have built-in telematics terminals. The goal of the MEDEA+ SSAE project (A404) is to define a suitable architecture, as well as to design and evaluate system-level components and specific connecting devices that could enable European companies to lead the way in such developments. A further aim is to promote this new architecture as the next world standard.

The PICS project aims at programmable CMOS imaging platforms for future Security-, Automotive-, and Professional Broadcast applications. CMOS imager technology is now becoming good enough to start research on the implementation in professional and more demanding consumer applications.

The goal of the project “FdQ” is the development, standardisation and establishing of a novel comprehensive failure mechanism driven qualification methodology for reliability and analysis of electronic components. Standard practice today is a stress test driven qualification, based on existing standards. By the step away from rigid “stress test driven” qualification methodology towards a knowledge-based qualification methodology (“failure driven” supported by a metric called “We know Matrix”).

The objectives of the SAPECS project is to examine the different safe communication architectures and protocols proposed or emerging from the market. A set of various Intellectual Property (IPs) will be developed and validated through system demonstrators. Finally, dedicated micro-controllers will be developed to serve car manufacturers to bring to all car categories an absolute minimum road-safety equipments, even to cheapest vehicles. By their standardisation, the developed integrated circuits will take benefit from high volume production and offer to other niche markets like Aerospace or Avionic the possibility to select from the shelves low-cost components.

The main goal of this project is to provide flexible design platforms for multi-processor architecture design. To meet the exploding market needs for huge computational capabilities for designing the 100nm IC generation, efficient design methods for reconfigurable multi-processor architectures are urgently needed: today no satisfactory solution is available for analysing the application domain, providing reconfigurable IP blocks, defining communication protocols, and validating the resulting solution.

The evolution of electronic technology towards higher integration levels imposes new challenges in the debugging and testing of products. There is considerable pressure to reduce the cost and time devoted to testing, even in the face of rapidly increasing design complexities. Current methods and tools are inadequate for modern development based on the creation and application of reusable, interoperable blocks of intellectual property (IP).
The goal of MEDEA+ ASSOCIATE project (A503) is to streamline debugging and testing throughout the product life cycle, and to provide cost-effective methods appropriate to high-volume production. The resultant tools will be able to handle very large and heterogeneous circuits with a high degree of accuracy down to the sub-micron and sub-nanosecond level - thus securing the competitive power of key European industry sectors.

The main goal of this project is to build the new generation of system level front-end above the design flows currently used in the industry. Designing the most appropriate system architecture is key to an efficient implementation of complex algorithms. The SPEAC vision is to work on specification, algorithm and architecture optimisation towards application-oriented platforms required by the hardware-software co-design.
More info on: http://speac.fzi.de.

Semiconductor manufacturers continuously provide faster, more cost-effective and more highly integrated devices. Current 2 GHz clock frequencies are expected to reach 10 GHz in 2012 - and design dimensions will have been reduced to 45 nm by the end of the decade, compared with 120 nm today. Chip area and component density will have increased, with edge lengths of 40 mm against the current 20 mm. These changes in performance and complexity make electromagnetic compatibility and parasitic emissions ever more problematic in application areas such as automotive, multimedia, telecommunications and computing.
The MEDEA+ MESDIE project (A509) is providing a coherent approach to overcoming these constraints at both chip and high-density packaging levels via the development of modelling and simulation methods, new high density interconnect structures and a complete design environment.
More info on: http://www.mesdie.org.

Analogue and mixed analogue-digital signal circuits and systems are used for an ever-growing variety of functions in all areas - particularly automotive electronics, data communications and wireless telecommunications. However, design automation for the analogue elements lags behind that achieved in the digital area, and no satisfactory solutions yet exist for stepping from one level to the next. The goal of the MEDEA+ ANASTASIA+ project (A510) is to bridge the gap, with seamless top-down methods that include the tools and techniques needed to achieve a high level of automation and reuse. These will eliminate the bottlenecks that exist between system specification and design on one hand, and block-level circuit design on the other. Particular attention focuses on sigma-delta converters, which play a crucial role in most of the target applications.
More info on: http://www.anastasiaplus.org

Today's home appliances and teleworking tools are becoming increasingly complex, requiring ever-higher levels of integration for the implementation of cost effective novel services such as video-on-demand and remote health monitoring. Similarly, in automotive multimedia accessories, many functions must be integrated as system-on-chip (SOC) devices in order to save space and cut costs. Despite their complexity, SoCs must be delivered very rapidly to decrease time to market. The MEDEA+ TOOLIP project (A511) addresses European producers' need for a seamless design flow that uses reusable intellectual property (IP) cores, system level modelling and verification techniques as the means of meeting this demand. It proposes IP management methods, tools and standards that will guide the designer in choosing the best cores for any given system.
More info on: http://toolip.fzi.de