Get 30% Off on the report: Core Results & Findings of the Third RWTH Open Innovation Accelerator Survey 2020 - Download now
More…

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - UPC

Technology Transfer Office • Spain • 5 followers

More…

Servei de Gestió de la Innovació - UPC (Innovation Management Service - UPC) aims to stimulate and facilitate the protection, assessment and transmission of research results developed at the UPC.

Latest Open Innovation Opportunities

  • All (79)
  • Technology Offers (79)

Novel motion nanosensor based on mechanical amplification

In the past years there is an increasing interest to incorporate in any electronic device a motion sensor to provide interaction: measuring our reactions, position or motion. Therefore, the motion sensors should be low-cost but more precise. A nanosensor based on a motion amplifier mechanism is presented. The design can amplify extremely small displacements (nanometers) up to 200 times. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel motion nanosensor based on mechanical amplification
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Single step slicing ultra thin crystalline Silicon layers from Si wafers

A new technology to obtain ultra thin crystalline Silicon layers has been developed and patented. This innovative method allows to manufacture controllable thin film thickness using only a single step. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Single step slicing ultra thin crystalline Silicon layers from Si wafers
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Cardiovascular health assessment from a common electronic weighing scale

An easy-to-use and affordable system able to quickly assess physiological parameters related to cardiac and vascular health of a subject from the force sensors of a common electronic weighing scale.

Cardiovascular health assessment from a common electronic weighing scale
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Fast cardiovascular condition assessment

An easy-to-use and affordable system able to determine several cardiovascular parameters from unsupervised measurements easily obtained at hands or feet.

Fast cardiovascular condition assessment
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Novel actuation system for an active orthosis

A novel actuation system for a knee orthosis has been designed and patented. This new technology allows to actuate or lock knee rotation during gait, by means of a single motor and a ball-screw transmission. The system is lowweight, compact and easy to adapt to commercial passive orthoses. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel actuation system for an active orthosis
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Novel conic cannula for spine cement injection

Novel conic cannula for homogeneous injection of bone cements in the spine have been patented and developed. The new design is especially indicated for the injection of ceramic-based bone cements because the pressure drop developed along the cannula minimizes bone cement’s press filtering. Partners to further develop the technology and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel conic cannula for spine cement injection
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

SELF DRIVEN MICROFLUIDIC FILTER FOR SEPERATING LIQUID FROM A LIQUID INCLUDING DEFORMABLE PARTICLES (I.E. PLASMA FROM BLOOD)

This Novel Microfluidic circuit has been developed in MicroTechLab of the Mechanical Engineering Department of UPC. Currently, partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

SELF DRIVEN MICROFLUIDIC FILTER FOR SEPERATING LIQUID FROM A LIQUID INCLUDING DEFORMABLE PARTICLES (I.E. PLASMA FROM BLOOD)
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New strategy for local diffusion of dopants in crystalline silicon

A new methodology to replace conventional diffusion processes has been developed and patented. This simple procedure offers a wide versatility, since it allows the creation of locally doped regions without photolithography steps while simultaneously reducing the global thermal budget of the emitter creation process. The potential of the method has been already confirmed for silicon solar cell applications. Partners to further develop the technology and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

New strategy for local diffusion of dopants in crystalline silicon
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Reconfigurable beam reflectarray antenna for frequencies in the range of terahertz and millimeter wave

The reflectarray antenna consists of a flat array of phase-shifter cells (reflectarray) illuminated by a feeder, which produces an electronically reconfigurable collimated or shaped beam, where the cells (3b) consist of several stacked layers of conductive elements (4c, 4e, 4d, 4f) on a dielectric substrate (7c, 7d) alternated with layers of liquid crystal (5c, 5d) and a conductive plane (9). Applying bias voltages in the conducting elements, the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal varies producing a phase shift of the reflected field in each cell, allowing for a electronic beam scanning or reconfiguration. Including multiple layers of conductive elements and liquid crystal, improves the bandwidth and the performance of the beam scanning or reconfiguration. The antenna can be applied to observation satellites, communications and security systems.

Reconfigurable beam reflectarray antenna for frequencies in the range of terahertz and millimeter wave
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Novel acoustic wave device and filter for its use in high frequency applications

An acoustic wave device with one or more dielectric compensating layers that compensates the spurious signals by substantially temperature-independent nonlinearities occurring within the device has been developed. A direct application of this device has been the development of a novel acoustic filter. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel acoustic wave device and filter for its use in high frequency applications
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Procedure and system for the passive location of wireless nodes

A procedure for positioning wireless nodes under a passive approach, i.e., just listening to the radio medium has been developed. Thus, each regular location process run to locate a specific wireless node in the network yields to several nodes knowing their own position. Partners to further develop the system and/ or to establish commercial agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

Procedure and system for the passive location of wireless nodes
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Process and system for calculating distances between wireless nodes

A novel procedure to calculate distances between wireless nodes that do not require hardware customization has been developed. This procedure and the system associated with it allow location systems to be easily developed using almost any technology (e.g. IEEE 802.11). Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

Process and system for calculating distances between wireless nodes
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New FFTH-PON Network for extended numbers of users

A new Passive-Optical-Network (PON) for Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) services has been developed in the frame of the National Research Project TEYDE. While current FTTH networks as GPON and EPON can reach a maximum of 32-64 users, the proposed PON can serve more than 4000 users, thanks to a new device for distributing the signal among the users that intelligently recycles the noise generated by other elements of the network. Partners to further develop the device and/or to establish license agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

New FFTH-PON Network for extended numbers of users
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Novel sensor for in vivo nano-mechanical characterization

A nanoforce sensor has been designed to be able to work in aqueous environments. The system is based on a motion amplifier mechanism that allows to amplify extremely small displacements (nanometers) up to 200 times, providing the possibility to characterize the mechano-transduction mechanisms either of a single cell or a tissue in a 3D gel scaffold. Partners to further develop the system applying to specific assays and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel sensor for in vivo nano-mechanical characterization
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Automatic device for suture in anastomosis surgery interventions

Automatic device for suture in anastomosis surgery interventions.

Automatic device for suture in anastomosis surgery interventions
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

BIOFEEDBACK SYSTEM FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE TREATMENT

This new biofeedback has been developed by the division of Biomedical Signals and Systems and the division of Instrumentation and Bioengineering at CREB UPC and the support of the Hospital Clínic.

BIOFEEDBACK SYSTEM FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE TREATMENT
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

A wireless Augmentative and Alternative Communication System

This new system is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication system (AAC) that allows people with language disabilities to communicate through icons without the intervention of external support. The design is formed by two low-cost separated blocks (selection of the symbols and voice reproduction) with a wireless communication, so it facilitates its scalability, to adapt it to user's vocabulary, and mechanical and intellectual skills. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

A wireless Augmentative and Alternative Communication System
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

High resolution non-contact measurement of biophysical parameters

A prototype of a novel laser-based displacement sensor enabling subnanometric resolution measurements of biophysical parameters has been developed. The system is in addition extremely compact (few cm3), robust and non-contact. Partners to further develop the current prototype, to pursue novel applications, and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

High resolution non-contact measurement of biophysical parameters
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Efficient BIST architecture to detect defects in TSVs

A new BIST (Built-in Self-Test) architecture has been developed to detect defects in TSVs (Through Silicon Vias) during the pre-bond phase. A simple circuit is included to detect defective TSVs affected by hard and/or weak defects, adding low area overhead and applying a simple and fast test methodology. The same circuit can be subsequently re-used for reconfiguration if a defective TSV has been detected. Partners to further develop the technology and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Efficient BIST architecture to detect defects in TSVs
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

A low-complexity and low-power receiver for wireless communications

A superregenerative receiver for digital phase-modulated signals has been developed and patented. The technology described herein extends for the first time the conventional superregenerative receiver to be able to detect PSK signals with a minimum of additional circuitry. Taking advantage of both the lowcomplexity and low-power from superregenerative receivers and the more efficient power transmission achieved by PSK modulations. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

A low-complexity and low-power receiver for wireless communications
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Low frequency Non-Intrusive built-in strategy to test and characterize RF and mmW integrated analogue circuits

Set of procedures and circuit sensors to embed within high frequency analogue circuits (e.g.: RF, mmW), whose goal is to enhance either test production or self healing strategies to reduce performance spreading and to enhance yield. The technique is based on measuring the temperature at selected locations of the circuit under test with the goal of extracting information about the performances of the individual blocks that constitute a complete system (e.g. low noise amplifier, power amplifier, etc). Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Low frequency Non-Intrusive built-in strategy to test and characterize RF and mmW integrated analogue circuits
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New device for bidirectional optical link

A method and apparatus for bidirectional optical link using a single optical carrier and colorless demodulation and detection of optical frequency shift keyed data have been developed and patented. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Non-Intrusive and contact less procedure to test and characterize RF and mmW integrated analogue circuits with DC or low frequency temperature measurements with applications to failure analysis

A new procedure that is able to test (go-no go) and to characterize (i.e. to extract high frequency figures of merit, such as central frequency, 1dB compression point) high frequency analogue circuits by using off-chip temperature measurement techniques, such as infra-red camera, reflectometry, interferometry, etc... The technique has applications in the field of design debugging or failure analysis. It allows to test and characterize the individual blocks that constitute a complete system (e.g. low noise amplifier, mixer, power amplifier), even when their electrical outputs are not accessible to the classical instrumentation equipment. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Non-Intrusive and contact less procedure to test and characterize RF and mmW integrated analogue circuits with DC or low frequency temperature measurements with applications to failure analysis
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Multilevel Active-Clamped Electrical Energy Converter

A new multilevel conversion technique has been developed to produce efficient, compact, and easily scalable electrical energy converters to be employed in dc-dc, dc-ac, and ac-ac, single- or multiple-phase, conversion applications with unidirectional or bidirectional power flow. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Simple and efficient systems for decentralized managing of neighboring femtocells

A procedure for the management of neighboring femtocells is proposed that guarantees efficient utilization of the available spectrum and, simultaneously, that the aggregate interference level as perceived by any of the femtocell users is kept below a given value. The technique is well suited to the initial configuration of a femtocell when integrated in an operational femtocell network. In addition, the protected invention includes a simple procedure for the pairwise optimization of the transmission rate and/or power of any pair of neighboring femtocells. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Simple and efficient systems for decentralized managing of neighboring femtocells
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New robust and reliable chromatic dispersion measurement system

New chromatic dispersion measurement techniques have been developed to improve some weakness of current commercial analyzers. The technology based on detection of amplitude nulls allows a significant reduction of the cost and complexity. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

New robust and reliable chromatic dispersion measurement system
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Scalable burst assembly algorithm for Optical Burst Switching networks

A research group of the UPC based in Barcelona (Spain), in collaboration with the technological center i2CAT, has developed a new assembly mechanism to be implemented in the control plane of Optical Burst Switching networks. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

Scalable burst assembly algorithm for Optical Burst Switching networks
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New lossless data compression system with quick operation and high compression efficiency

A joint UB/UPC team has developed a new lossless data compression system excellent for applications requiring at the same time high compression ratios and quick operation with low CPU load. The system under the named FAPEC (Fully Adaptive Prediction Error Coder) is an algorithm that combines low processing requirements with high compression efficiency under almost any scenario. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish license agreements with technical cooperation are sought.

New lossless data compression system with quick operation and high compression efficiency
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Low-power FOCV MPPT controller with automatic adjustment of the sampling time and period

A new simple control scheme for dynamically adjusting the sampling time and period of a Fractional Open Circuit Voltage (FOCV) MPPT controller has been developed and patented. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Low-power FOCV MPPT controller with automatic adjustment of the sampling time and period
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Efficient technology to reduce interference in passive optical networks

A new method for reducing interference in passive optical networks has been developed and patented. The technology allows the use of low cost lasers whose wavelength does not to be pre-selected, and assures a high speed communication of hundreds of users. Partners to further develop the system and/ or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Flexible device to increase bandwidth in bidirectional optical link

A new method for increasing the bandwidth in bidirectional optical links and passive optical networks has been developed and patented. This method uses a flexible simple, integrated and wavelength-agnostic semiconductor device to achieve re-modulation of the incident seed light with simultaneous phase and intensity modulation. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Flexible device to increase bandwidth in bidirectional optical link
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Optical communication receiver with an SQRT nonlinear equalizer

In a high bit rate optical transmission, the inclusion of a simple non-linear equalizer implementing the square-root mathematical function, just after the photo-detector and before the conventional electronic equalizer (FIR, MLSE, analog,..), linearizes the overall systems and highly improves the transmission performances.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Method to code the signal amplitude by folding and auxiliary information labels

A simple technique improves the power budget of cost-effective optical analog and OFDM systems by transmitting the signal absolute value and adding a label with the sample sign or region.

Method to code the signal amplitude by folding and auxiliary information labels
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Motion Planning Procedure for the Virtual Bronchoscopy

A virtual bronchoscopy system that allows the navigation within the model of the lungs is been protected by Universitat Politecncica de Catalunya (UPC) and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Motion Planning Procedure for the Virtual Bronchoscopy
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Novel syringes and concepts for homogeneous injection of bone cements

Novel syringes and concepts useful for homogeneous injection of ceramic bone cements have been patented and developed. These new designs solve the current problems related to the press-filtering that limit the clinical applications. Partners to further develop the technology and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Novel syringes and concepts for homogeneous injection of bone cements
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

A new workflow, algorithmic approach and software tool to analyze LC/MS and NMR samples in metabolomics

A new algorithm is able to greatly increase the power of any statistical test based on Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (LC/MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) based metabolomic data. This software tool is able to construct prediction models in an almost fully automatic fashion. Built models contain a critical pre-processing step that improves dramatically the results of standard prediction algorithms. Partners to further develop the system and/ or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

A new workflow, algorithmic approach and software tool to analyze LC/MS and NMR samples in metabolomics
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

OPTICAL REMOTE NODE DEVICE AND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT FOR CONSTRUCTING AND EXTENDING FIBRE-OPTIC ACCESS NETWORKS

The Remote Node performs all-optical interfacing between a metropolitan ring and the access trees to the homes, thus enabling a transparent metro-access converged optical network. The device performs the functions of wavelength add&drop, ring protection and optical amplification with remote pumping. It is composed by a number of optical elements not requiring electrical power supply.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Homodyne receiver with post-processing for optical communications

In high bit rate optical transmission, the use of a coherent homodyne receiver will largely increase the communication capacity and enhance the transmission performances. The proposed receiver is potentially large scale integrable, thus being useful for access network transceivers, and other applications which require low-cost and high performance receivers.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

WAVELENGTH SHIFTER MODULE FOR OPTICAL FIBER ACCESS COMMUNICATIONS

This Optical Network Unit (ONU) for next-generation optical access networks (FTTH PONs) shifts the down-stream wavelength in the optical spectrum for remodulation at the Customer Premises and transmission in the up-stream direction.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Method for optimizing the transmitter power allocation in a communications system

A new method for optimizing the power allocation in a communications system that can be decomposed in multiple parallel channels have been developed and patented. The technology allows to optimize the transmission rate, power or energy efficiency of a communications system with very low complexity. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Method and system for correcting errors in satellite positioning systems and computer program products thereof

An innovative approach to improve the performance of tablet and smartphone embedded GNSS positioning services. Partners to develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Method and system for correcting errors in satellite positioning systems and computer program products thereof
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Measuring Technique for Reducing the Number of Voltage Sensors in a Modular Multilevel Converter

Using this measuring technique, each voltage sensor is able to measure the capacitor voltages of multiple Sub-Modules (SMs) of a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). The proposed technique highly reduces the number of voltage sensors used in MMCs, reducing the costs and complexity of the data acquisition system. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Measuring Technique for Reducing the Number of Voltage Sensors in a Modular Multilevel Converter
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Non-invasive method to objectively determine the dynamics of the tear film and diagnose dryeye disease (DED)

A new system for the assessment of the tear film quality and the diagnosis of dry-eye has been developed. Based on a non-invasive recording of images of the light reflected on the tear-film of the eye, posterior image processing allows the objective assessment of dry-eye condition. It’s a simple and cost-effective system easy to use in clinics.

Non-invasive method to objectively determine the dynamics of the tear film and diagnose dryeye disease (DED)
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Handover System and Method for 4G/5G Networks

An innovative handover signaling method, that utilizes the Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm, parallel information transfer and elimination of duplicate information to reduce the signaling overhead during the handover preparation and rejection phases, which are critical for an efficient handover.

Handover System and Method for 4G/5G Networks
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Tantalum foams for orthopaedic applications

A method for obtaining Tantalum (Ta) foams through the powder metallurgy technique for trabecular bone implants has been patented and developed. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

Tantalum foams for orthopaedic applications
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

A device for electromechanical stimulation of 2D monolayer and 3D stem cell’s cultures for tissue engineering applications

New device and apparatus for mechanical or simultaneous electromechanical stem cell cultures have been designed and patented by UPC and IGTP. The device is disposable and allows sterile mechanical stimulation on standard Petri dishes without breaking the sterile barrier. Partners to further develop the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

A device for electromechanical stimulation of 2D monolayer and 3D stem cell’s cultures for tissue engineering applications
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

ICHNAEA A Software System for the Microbial Source Tracking Problem

A software system for the Microbial Source Tracking (MST) problem has been developed in order to solve the problems of the current predictive models. It provides the accuracy and the precision of the prediction, the estimation for both the degree of dilution and the age of the pollution for the analyzed example. Partners to license the system and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

ICHNAEA A Software System for the Microbial Source Tracking Problem
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

Biopolymer-containing calcium phosphate foam for bone regeneration

The Challenge Hidroxyapatyte is a natural mineral found in teeth and bones. It is commonly used as a filler to regenerate bone or as a coating to promote bone growth. The application of calcium phosphate cements, which can form hydoxyapatite, in the treatment of bone defects, begun more than two decades ago and many formulations have been developed so far. The ideal bone replacing cement should be osteoconductive and osteoinductive, to stimulate bone regeneration. Moreover, it should be resorbable and gradually replaced by newly formed bone. Although most of the developed calcium phosphate cements are more resorbable than sintered hydroxypatite ceramics, they still show relatively slow resorption kinetics and in many cases the cement remains stable in the implanted site during years. The absence of interconnected macropores is indeed a limiting factor to achieve resorption. If the designed material has macropores, cells can colonize it and the access of osteoclasts is facilitated increasing the rate of healing of the bone defect.

Biopolymer-containing calcium phosphate foam for bone regeneration
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New device for laboratory animal telemetry

A new implantable telemetry system for monitoring laboratory animals has been patented and developed. The device allows long term studies without any restriction on the positioning of the animal inside the cage. Partners to further develop the device and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

New device for laboratory animal telemetry
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New inorganic cement for biomedical applications

A novel magnesium phosphate cement with good properties for clinical applications has been patented and developed. It is envisaged as an excellent root canal filler for endodontic treatments, improving the commercial materials currently used for this application. Partners to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

New inorganic cement for biomedical applications
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New nanostructured material for tissue regeneration

A new ion release system for revascularization and tissue regeneration based of calcium phosphate glass nanoparticles has been patented and developed. Partners to further develop the technology and/or to establish commercial agreements along with technical cooperation are sought.

New nanostructured material for tissue regeneration
  • +1 month
  • Hide post

New orthotic glove designed to amplify hand strength An actuated hand exoskeleton useful for old or disabled people who have not enough strength in their hands has been patented and developed. This new technology allows amplification of hand-grasping forc

The Challenge Partial hand disability represents a serious problem for many people, who although they have mobility and sensitivity in their hands, are not strong enough to hold a simple mug. For example, people with diseases, elderly or people who have suffered a traffic accident. In order to improve their quality of life, the design of devices such as the exoskeleton presented is so important. Currently, there are some similar devices nevertheless most of them need external energy and sophisticated drive mechanisms, complicating their use and maintenance.

New orthotic glove designed to amplify hand strength An actuated hand exoskeleton useful for old or disabled people who have not enough strength in their hands has been patented and developed. This new technology allows amplification of hand-grasping forc