The project aims at distributing ultra-accurate and traceable timing through optical fibres. The goal is to provide traceable, accurate and cost-effective timing information for the Galileo Time System and for customers requiring highly dependable distributed synchronization applications. The target customers include government authorities as European Galileo Agency (for the Galileo surface segment) and customers in Telecom, Smart-Grid, stock market (high frequency trading) and highly accurate positioning markets (conventionally dependent on satellite signals). The use of terrestrial timing distribution allows National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) in charge of Galileo Time Validation Facility to compare their clocks and steer to UTC, maximizing the traceability of Galileo System Time and enhancing its accuracy. In addition, this allows deploying a terrestrial time network for industrial applications, traceable with respect to UTC and Galileo, robust against satellite signal vulnerability problems and providing redundant time services for critical infrastructures. This is possible with the emergent White Rabbit (WR) solution which is a sub-nanosecond accurate timing technology originally born at CERN for scientific facilities. WR is an extension of the standard Ethernet based on time distribution standards. As an extension of Ethernet, it can be easily integrated with existing communication networks at negligible bandwidth cost and can distribute time and frequency signals with 100 ps accuracy over distances longer than 1000 Km. The purpose of this project is to confirm a business plan and develop in detail an appropriate strategy to penetrate the market. This includes a proper market analysis (existing markets and emergent applications), partnership strategies and concrete commercialization plan for those sectors. In phase 1, we will focus on exploring the specific characteristics of different potential customers and final application sectors.

A scientific and technological paradigm change is taking place, concerning the way that very high performance time and frequency reference signals are distributed, moving from radio signal broadcasting to signal transport over optical fibre networks. The latter technology demonstrates performance improvements by orders of magnitude, over distances up to continental scale. Research infrastructures are developing several related technologies, adapted to specific projects and applications. The present project aims to prepare the transfer of this new generation of technology to industry and to strengthen the coordination between research infrastructures and the research and education telecommunication networks, in order to prepare the deployment of this technology to create a sustainable, pan-European network, providing high-performance "clock" services to European research infrastructures. Further this core network will be designed to be compatible with a global European vision of time and frequency distribution over telecommunication networks, enabling it to provide support to a multitude of lower-performance time services, responding to the rapidly growing needs created by developments such as cloud computing, Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. The project aims at partnership building and innovation for high performance time and frequency (clock) services over optical fibre networks and to prepare the implementation of such a European backbone network.

The objective of FitOptiVis is to develop an integral approach for smart integration of image- and video-processing pipelines for CPS covering a reference architecture, supported by low-power, high-performance, smart devices, and by methods and tools for combined design-time and run-time multi-objective optimisation within system and environment constraints. Low latency Image processing is often crucial for autonomy, and performing the right interaction of the CPS with its environment. The most important CPS in the project have sensors and processing at distributed places. For many reasons (parts of) CPS has to operate on low energy, whereas the complete system needs results with low latency. The focus of the project is on multi-objective optimisation for performance and energy use. However, other qualities, like reliability, security etc. also play a role in the optimisation.

The proposed project aims to establish a pan-European time and frequency reference system as a European Research Infrastructure to serve the European science community. It is based on transmitting ultra precise time and frequency information via optical fiber. The proposed project builds on several joint European projects and its direct precursor project CLONETS. We now go far beyond previous efforts by designing a sustainable, pan-European, ultra-precise time-and-frequency reference-system available to the European research community. This Research Infrastructure considers user needs, designs the required architecture, engineering models and roadmaps, and develops a sustainability model for the future service, thus strengthening the European research area. The specific objectives of this project are as follows: 1 Elaborating the needs of the scientific community for ultraprecise timing and frequencies in various fields of research leading to the definition of user requirements the envisaged system has to address in its service at selected points of presence. 2 Defining an architecture that supports this service at the highest, most advanced level of stability and accuracy. 3 Designing an engineering model and strategies to implement a sustainable research infrastructure including the creation of a common data platform. 4 Defining roadmaps and a deployment strategy that assure interoperability of already existing implementations in Europe and possible future extensions. 5 Strengthening the European research area by elaborating plans for the integrations of the necessary environment into the European landscape. In a parallel effort we are planning to list this project in upcoming revisions of the ESFRI roadmap of the EU. This research infrastructure will enable first class research previously not even conceivable, foster the collaboration between time and frequency stakeholders across Europe and will thereby put Europe’s research community into a leading position.