KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence

The KIOS CoE has several dedicated laboratories investigating different key enabling technologies in monitoring, control and security of critical infrastructures using cutting-edge equipment for experimental evaluation, testing and prototyping. A short description of each laboratory along with the main equipment facilities is provided below.

The Embedded and Application-specific System on Chip Laboratory focuses towards the design, development, implementation and verification of low-power, high-performance and highly reliable systems on chip, suitable for embedded and mobile environments. Equipment includes:

• Multi-GPU supercomputers used for machine learning and computer vision applications
• State-of-the-art low-end and high-end FPGA boards for acceleration of compute intensive applications (computer vision, image processing, machine learning).
• Multi-SOC FPGA-Based BeeCube Platform for large-scale hardware emulation
• Embedded Computing Systems (Raspberry Pi, Gumstix Boards, Odroid Platforms)
• Bumblebee Stereoscopic Camera for stereo vision applications
• Smart Camera Nodes based on the Raspberry Pi Computers
• NVIDIA Jetson TK1 embedded GPU platform for accelerated edge computing
• Logic Analyzers/Oscilloscopes/Function Generators for circuit design
• Hybrid Multi-FPGA/Multi-GPU Platform for large scale circuit and system emulation.

The Sensors and Robotics Laboratory investigates the design and implementation of embedded, multi-sensor systems for monitoring different environments such as critical infrastructures, buildings etc. These sensors can be on fixed or mobile (robotic) platforms. Key equipment includes:

• Developmental Matrice-100 drones
• Miscellaneous terrestrial robotic platforms
• Drone attachable thermal camera with radiometry (30Hz)

The Power Systems Laboratory aims towards modelling, simulation, emulation, and experimental validation of energy systems, with expertise in developing smart converters for the integration of renewable energy sources both at the building and grid level, as well as in generation and storage technologies. The laboratory also specializes on developing real-time control algorithms for power electronic converters for advancing the interconnection of renewable energy sources. Main infrastructure of the laboratory includes:

-The Power Systems Pilot Site with 225 kW wind turbine, 5 kW photovoltaic system, 20 kW - 6 kWh flywheel based kinetic battery, 40 kW fuel cells, 80 kW electrolyzer, and hydrogen storage.

- Power electronics equipment for renewable energy sources including several power electronics-based converters/inverters (from 0.6 kW to 20 kW), advanced controllers (i.e., dSPACE controller boards, Texas Instrument micro-controller), High-voltage DC sources and programmable AC sources and loads.

The Photonics Laboratory conducts research in fiber-optic systems and networks and microwave photonics, including research work on radio-over-fiber (RoF), WDM-based PON access networks, as well as converged optical-wireless access networks. The laboratory is equipped with several testing instruments and optical devices for experimentation and testing including:

• 12.5 Gb/s Bit Error Rate tester, composed of a 12.5 GHz frequency synthesizer, a pulse pattern generator and the Error Detector unit (Anritsu)
• 40 GHz electrical spectrum analyzer (Anritsu)
• 40 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent)
• 1 GHz 4 GSa/s scope (Agilent)
• up to 22 GHz frequency synthesizer (Rohde & Schwarz)
• 3 GHz vector signal generator
• Optical spectrum analyzer (Anritsu, 0.07 nm resolution)
• Optical power meter (ILX)
• Distributed Feedback (DFB) laser diodes
• 45-75 GHz Photodiodes
• Electro-optic Mach-Zehnder Modulators (MZM)
• Optical switches, couplers, isolators, circulators
• Tunable optical Filters and Bandpass Attenuators
• Multiplexers/Demultiplexers
• Erbium Fiber Optical Amplifiers (EDFAs)

The Communications & Networking Laboratory examines the modelling, simulation, emulation and design of architectures, protocols, algorithms and technologies for next-generation communication systems (e.g. machine-to-machine, 5G systems, relaying, cognitive radio, optical/telecommunication networks), with a focus on communication theory, wireless communications and networking.  Equipment includes:

• NI USRP: Software Defined Radio Platform
• Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors
• Commercial/Custom-made simulation software for optical/telecommunication networks
• IP routers/switches and network testing equipment

The Electronic Design, Test and Reliability Laboratory focuses on computer aided design, testing and reliability of modern VLSI circuits and embedded systems, with expertise in CAD algorithms for automatic testing, diagnosis, verification, and resilient design, applicable to different hardware platforms (VLSI, SoCs, NoCs, on-chip multiprocessors). Equipment includes:

• high-end servers/workstations and logic analysers
• state-of the-art CAD tools (Synopsys, Cadence, and Mentor Graphic) for development and simulation purposes
• several FPGA-based prototyping systems

The Biomedical Imaging and Applied Optics Laboratory aims to introduce new technologies in clinical applications for the improvement of the diagnostic and therapeutic options of modern health care systems to directly impact patient prognosis and outcome. The research concentrates on two optical technologies which provide complementary, microstructural and biochemical information: a) Optical Coherence Tomography, and b) Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. The Laboratory is a well-equipped medical optics facility suited for optic and fibre-optic experiments with optical and electronics infrastructure and a variety of microscopy solutions. It includes optical tables, laser sources, fibre-optic interferometers, high precision opto-mechanical components and testing and acquisition electronics. It also includes OCT systems, Raman systems, as well as light and fluorescence microscopes.

The KIOS Innovation Hub of the KIOS CoE provides research and innovation services, via an Industrial Membership Program, suitable for operators of critical infrastructure systems and regulators, related commercial and governmental organizations and innovative SMEs. The Industrial Membership Program includes the following services:

• Basic research and development on monitoring, control and security of intelligent systems and networks
• Customized software/hardware solutions for Critical Infrastructure Systems (CISs)
• Cloud/Mobile/Web-based services
• Technology evaluation (pilots) / Training / Demonstration on Critical Infrastructure System Testbed Platforms (including power transmission systems, telecommunication networks, water distribution systems, transportation networks, cyber-security)
• Proof-of-concept and prototype product development
• Custom hardware design for acceleration of compute-intensive algorithms
• Prototyping and Emulation via Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)
• Embedded solutions (e.g. Internet-of-Things, Wearables)
• Decision and support system optimization
• Education/Training on Intelligent Critical Infrastructure Systems
• Scientific, technoeconomic and simulation studies
• Collaboration with KIOS CoE in project proposals
• Participation in networking and collaboration events
• Early access to IP and KIOS CoE research reports (e.g. white papers, technology roadmaps)