Design innovations for embedded systems
The term embedded systems refers to electronic circuits having been designed for a particular dedicated task. In recent years, power – especially concerning mobile devices – and reliability – especially for safety-critical applications – have emerged as key design considerations. The EU-funded LORELEI (Low-energy and reliable reconfigurable processing systems) project investigated new concepts for designing embedded systems to meet new power and reliability goals, possibly resorting to systems that can flexibly adapt (or reconfigure) to the different requirements. The study advanced the field's state of the art via several sub-projects. A major outcome was creation of a network of internationally excellent research groups, leading to knowledge sharing. The sharing took place within and outside the project, involving academic and business participants. The team devised new techniques for designing embedded systems with power, energy consumption and reliability goals in mind. Such techniques are intended to supplement or replace conventional methods. LORELEI also adopted a training programme. The focus was teaching researchers to cooperate with international peers. The project had yielded 48 publications as of its conclusion, with several more to follow. LORELEI's cooperative research yielded new techniques for design of embedded systems. As a result, the devices will be more powerful and reliable, thus offering commercial advantage to European manufacturers.
