Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications
 Main building of Fraunhofer HHI in Berlin, Germany | |
| Established | 1928 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Information and communications technology, Telecommunications engineering |
| Executive Directors | Martin Schell and Thomas Wiegand |
| Staff | 410 |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Website | http://www.hhi.fraunhofer.de |
The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI, also known as Fraunhofer HHI or Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, is an organization of the Fraunhofer Society based in Berlin. The institute engages in applied research and development in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and computer sciences.
Competencies
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute develops mobile and stationary broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. Focal points of independent and contract research conducted by Fraunhofer HHI are photonic components and systems, fiber optic sensor systems, and image signal processing and transmission. Future applications for broadband networks are developed as well. Research in this area focuses on 3D displays, UHD panorama video production, human-machine interaction through gesture control, optical satellite communication and data transmission technologies such as visible light communications.
Scientists at the institute work together with national and international research and industry partners. For example, institute researchers were and are involved in the development of the H.264 AVC video compression standard and its successor H.265 HEVC as part of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). Work on the various video compression standards received the Technology and Engineering Emmy award multiple times.[1][2][3]
Research
Fraunhofer HHI is one of the world’s leading research institutes for mobile and stationary communication networks. These research focal points are pursued in the following departments:[4]
- Photonic Networks and Systems
- Photonic Components
- Fiber Optical Sensor Systems (branch)
- Wireless Communications and Networks
- Video Coding & Analytics
- Vision & Imaging Technologies
Partnerships
Fraunhofer HHI employees hold professorships at the following universities:
- Technical University of Berlin (image communication, optical and opto-electric integration, network information theory)
- Clausthal University of Technology (applied photonics)
- Humboldt University of Berlin (visual computing)
- University of Potsdam (embedded systems architectures for signal processing)
Fraunhofer HHI is a member of the following internal Fraunhofer groups and alliances
- Fraunhofer ICT Group
- Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics
- Fraunhofer Group for Defense and Security
- Fraunhofer Alliance Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)
- Fraunhofer Alliance Big Data
- Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Secure Identity
- Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Life Cycle Engineering
- Fraunhofer Alliance Digital Media
- Fraunhofer Alliance Embedded Systems
- Fraunhofer Alliance Vision
Infrastructure
The 2015 total budget of Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute was around EUR 49,2 million. The external funding ratio was 75 percent. 49,8 percent of the budget came from industrial revenues, 13 percent from federal and state contract research, and 6,5 percent from funds provided by the European Union. Around 270 employees and 140 students worked at the institute in 2015.
History
The Heinrich-Hertz Institute was founded on 1 August 1927 as Heinrich-Hertz Institute for Oscillation Research and opened in 1930 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Franklinstr. 1 with 4 departments: High-Frequency Engineering, Telecommunications and Telegraph Technology, Acoustics and Mechanics. Research focused on radio and television technology, room acoustics and electronic music among other things. The institute was reorganized in 1936 and the name Heinrich Hertz had to disappear from its designation in the course of National Socialist "cleansing" in the interest of the Third Reich.
After the institute building was entirely destroyed in 1945, the Heinrich-Hertz-Institute for Oscillation Research was newly founded in the same year by Gustav Leithäuser with the former department structure. During the time of the currency reform and Berlin Blockade in 1950, the institute was split into an eastern section (Berlin-Adlershof) and a western section (Berlin-Charlottenburg, Jebensstr. 1). In 1968 the institute moved into the new building at Einsteinufer 37 in Berlin.
The institute was renamed to Heinrich-Hertz-Institut for Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH (Heinrich-Hertz Institute for Communication Technology) in 1975 with the state of Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany as shareholders. Realignment of the entire HHI research profile by Horst Ohnsorge. Systematic work on current problems of modern communication technology. Vision of a universal broadband communication network on a fiber optics basis. 5 specialist departments: General Principles; System Structures; Image and Sound; Relaying and Transmission; Planning. Support for optical communication engineering as a key technology at HHI in the 1980s. Restructuring of the institute with formation of two divisions: Communication Systems with the departments of Relaying and Transmission, Signal Processing and Terminal Equipment, Economic and Social Sciences Accompanying Research, and Human Engineering, and the division: Integrated Optics.
In the 1990s research focused on the following fields: Photonic networks, electronic imaging technology for multimedia, mobile broadband systems, and integrated optics.
The institute became part of the Fraunhofer Society in 2003 and received today’s name, Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, HeinrichHertz Institute, HHI. The institute has been cooperating with the neighboring Technical University of Berlin for decades.
A data transmission system was successfully developed in 2006 with a never-before-seen speed of 2560 Gb/s, which means transmitting a data volume corresponding to the content of 60 DVDs takes one second. What’s more, a breakthrough was achieved in video compression making it possible to store motion pictures in the high-resolution HDTV format with 2 million pixels per image on DVD.
Directors
- Karl Willy Wagner, founding director (1927–1936)
- Willi Willing (provisional February 1936–March 1937)
- Heinrich Fassbender (1937–1945)
- Leithäuser Gustav (1945–1953)
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Gundlach (1957–1972)
- Horst Ohnsorge (1975–1980)
- Wolfgang Grunow (1980–1982)
- Clemens Baack (1982–2002)
- Joachim Hesse (provisional with Mr. Mrowka 2002–2004)
- Hans-Joachim Grallert (2004–2013) and Holger Boche (2004–2010)
- Martin Schell (since 2014) and Thomas Wiegand (since 2014)
References
- ↑ Emmy for MPEG-2 Transport Stream Standard – hhi.fraunhofer.de, Januar 17, 2014.
- ↑ The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) honors Dr. Detlev Marpe – hhi.fraunhofer.de, Januar 16, 2015.
- ↑ Awards for researchers of the Fraunhofer HHI – hhi.fraunhofer.de, Juli 15, 2015.
- ↑ Research Departments of the Institute hhi.fraunhofer.de, Juli 15, 2015.