Communications and electronics

Towards a more and more digital world!

This motto also embodies a goal for the research carried out within Telecom Paris, to which the Comelec department contributes through scientific works at the interface between the physical (« real » world) and the virtual world. Societal challenges, such as sharing of knowledge, sustainable development, health, public transportation widely rely on technological improvement in the physical layer to which the department research and teaching is devoted.

Several important aspects of Comelec research strategy and philosophy may be pointed out :

Academic research and scientific production

The research relies on strong theoretical developments, with an applicative set of mind. This leads to a solid production in terms of communications and publications, which largely contributes to the visibility of Telecom Paris

Innovation and links with industrial research

Scientific research in communications and information technologies (ICT) is among the strongest progress engines for developed societies and provides powerful opportunities towards innovation while favouring strong links with industry and private R&D. This context has encouraged the creation of a strong portfolio of patents, either fully owned or with third parties. Comelec also supports start-up/spin-off companies and benefits from the framework of the Institut Carnot Télécom & Société numérique

Cooperation networks

The involvement of individual researchers in scientific networks is quite essential for the dissemination of research as well as for cross-fertilization and the emergence of future collaborative projects. All Comelec groups are involved at various levels in national GDR platforms (GDR ISIS, GDR SOC2, GDR Ondes), in national Labex (Digicosme, Smart), in COST European actions (COST IC1004), URSI and in French competitiveness clusters (Systematic, SCS)

International relations

The department research has international visibility owing to the success in European calls, such as the ERC call with two winning projects, or Marie-Curie-Sklodowska calls with several International Training Networks

Strategic axes

Comelec has identified several scientific axes that are transverse to the groups and increasingly concentrate the research efforts of the department:

Digital trust - Safety, security and risk

All societal, financial and commercial activities based on digital technologies rely on high standard security prerequisites. There are two streams of research in the department that relate to digital trust. Data confidentiality is guaranteed by protecting information in electronic components and securing data exchanges with a radio link, and also by certain data distribution methods in the cloud. Trust is also based on reliability and certification, with the development of failure assessment techniques and the design of fault-resistant System-on-Chip architecture.

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

The department develops several original research topics in the field of artificial intelligence, which makes it a key player in data collection. Neural computation very close to sensors instantly transforms digital data into relevant information that is cheap to transmit. Low-energy chips and embedded systems that transport intelligent algorithms are developed for that purpose. Lastly, information theory is used to explore the bounds of learning algorithms with a view to their optimization.

Digital Innovation

The department has a large production of patents on the basis of which two start-ups have developed: Secure-IC and Scalinx. It also has several innovative platforms that demonstrate the know-how, both software and experimental.