IEEE Future Networks World Forum
13–15 November 2023 // Baltimore, MD, USA
Imagining the Network of the Future

TUT1:Redefining the concept of HW based on Micro/Nano devices, looking at 6G and Future Networks

Presenter

  • Jacopo Iannacci, Researcher in Microsystem technologies at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento (Italy)

SCOPE

The future data- and communication-centric paradigms of 6G, Super-IoT (Internet of Things), Tactile Internet (TI) and Future Networks (FN), will require leaps forth at technology and, also notably, at conceptual level. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a cornerstone both on the service and network operation plane, leveraging self-sustenance and self-evolution of the infrastructure. Within such a context, the currently-in-use design methods for hardware-software (HW-SW) systems are regarded as increasingly less suitable to fully meet the challenge.

This tutorial will focus on low-complexity HW components, like sensors, actuators and transducers, gathering attention around Micro/Nano (MEMS/NEMS) technologies. Reinforcement of the HW vs. SW separation and symmetry is proposed, overcoming the so-called HW-SW divide. Partial reformulation of the HW concept is proposed, leveraging the parallelism of HW/SW with classical elements in nature.

The resulting frame of reference is named WEAF Mnecosystem (Water, Earth, Air, and Fire Micro/Nano technologies Ecosystem). It embodies solutions based on Micro/Nanotechnologies, regarded as pivotal in the transition to 6G/TI. Then, the WEAF Mnecosystem is populated by reporting the state of the art research activities based on Micro/Nanotechnologies, identified as key enablers of the future paradigms at stake.

SHORT BIO

Jacopo Iannacci (Senior Member, IEEE) was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1977. He received the MSc (Laurea) degree in electronics engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2003, and the PhD in information and telecommunications technology from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2007. He received the Habilitation as Full Professor in Electronics from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), in 2021.

He worked in 2005 and 2006 as a visiting researcher at the DIMES Technology Center (currently Else Kooi Lab) of the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands, focusing on the development of innovative packaging and integration technology solutions for RF-MEMS devices. In 2016, he visited as a seconded researcher the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, Germany, to conduct high-frequency characterization of RF-MEMS components jointly with the RF & Smart Sensor Systems Department at IZM. Since 2007, he is researcher (permanent staff) at the Center for Sensors & Devices of Fondazione Bruno Kessler, in Trento, Italy.

His research interests and experience fall in the areas of Finite Element Method (FEM) multi-physics modelling, compact (analytical) modeling, design, optimization, integration, packaging, experimental characterization and testing for reliability of MEMS and RF-MEMS devices and networks for sensors and actuators, Energy Harvesting (EH-MEMS) and telecommunication systems, with applications in the fields of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), as well as 6G, Tactile Internet (TI) and Super-IoT.

Dr. Iannacci authored more than 140 scientific contributions, including international journal papers, conference proceedings, books, book chapters and one patent. 

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