Technology for security and resilience

In an increasingly connected and unpredictable world, the need for secure, resilient systems has never been more urgent. Investing in technologies that can withstand disruption, adapt to emerging threats, and safeguard everyday life becomes essential for protecting our future.

Imec offers a sovereign, high-tech breeding ground for developing trusted systems that are robust and intelligent, based on advances in:

• sensing & detection
• communication
• health monitoring
• cybersecurity
• energy generation & storage
• human-machine interface
• autonomous systems

Imec’s R&D expertise can be applied to many domains. Examples include:

• stable communication systems for emergency response
• smart sensor networks for monitoring the operational environment
• health and safety monitoring for critical personnel
• intelligent infrastructure that can detect and respond to threats

Next to its world leading expertise in semiconductor and digital technologies, imec also offers manufacturing capabilities via IC-Link. This includes end-to-end ASIC development services and silicon photonics IC prototyping and manufacturing.

Beyond its deep expertise in monolithic chip design, imec has built a strong and mature capability in chiplet-based architectures. By partitioning complex systems into optimized, reusable chiplets and integrating them through advanced 2.5D and 3D packaging technologies, imec enables flexible, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions that address die-size limits, thermal constraints, and reliability requirements. This experience, proven in automotive ADAS and autonomous platforms, is directly relevant to the security and defense sector, where heterogeneous integration, robustness, modularity, and long-term scalability are equally critical. 

Let’s dive deeper into imec’s four key R&D focus areas:

Reliable autonomy for drones and unmanned vehicles

Autonomous systems must operate with absolute reliability – even when GNSS and external communications are severed. For compact autonomous platforms, achieving this resilience is challenging due to strict constraints on size, weight, and power.

Imec overcomes these limitations by delivering compact, energy-efficient solutions that empower platforms to navigate and decide independently. By converging our leadership in power & RF GaN, Si/SiN/AlO/Ge integrated photonics, chiplet, 3D, neuromorphic, quantum sensing, communication and compute programs to support:

• miniaturized classical and quantum IMUs (inertial measurement unit)
• hyperspectral and polarimetric image sensors with UV, visible and IR reach
• chip-scale radar, lidar and sodar
• chip-scale opto-atomic clocks
• sensor fusion
• low-power edge AI compute

Want to turn science innovations into real-world impact?

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Sensing and communication for resilient operations

In contested electronic environments, RF signals can be jammed or intercepted, compromising both communication and situational awareness. Imec addresses this challenge with integrated platforms that combine RF and optical modalities for simultaneous sensing and data transmission.

These dual-mode systems offer redundancy and resilience while meeting strict constraints on energy, size, weight, and cost. Imec has developed an RF and optical platform for sensing and communication, with the following capabilities:

• sub-THz convergence for high-data-rate communication and high-resolution sensing
• photonics-enhanced RF for ultra-wideband, high-resolution RF systems
• all-optical networks, based on optical wireless communication (OWC) and lidar
• flat optics to enable compact beamforming systems

Cybersecurity, ensuring safe communication and data protection

Modern transportation systems – from autonomous and connected land vehicles to aircraft communication networks – face increasing cybersecurity risks, ranging from intercepted communication channels to physical access by unauthorized parties.

Imec develops secure, spectrum-efficient technologies that protect sensitive data and ensure mission integrity, even under active interference or loss scenarios.

Imec is advancing secure network technologies through:

• dynamic 5G features
• intelligent radio resource management (RRM)
• wireless foundation model for real-time characterization of the environment
• PHY-layer security for RF communication and sensing

Imec provides trusted building blocks for payload protection, including cloud-to-edge encrypted payload delivery, integration of confidential computing zones, and compute module device attestation to ensure hardware integrity before accepting updates or mission-critical tasks.

Distributed sensing for early-threat detection

Imec is advancing distributed sensing technologies to enhance threat detection accuracy, resilience, and response speed across autonomous systems and networks. By combining diverse sensing capabilities into a unified platform, imec enables faster, smarter identification of threats – before they escalate. These sensing capabilities include:

• computational imaging
• extended-wavelength infrared imaging
• quantum and solid-state magnetic sensing
• advanced chemical spectroscopy
• AI sensor fusion chiplets

Work with us

Whether you're developing trusted autonomous systems, secure communication platforms, or mission-critical sensing technologies, imec supports your journey from concept to production. Our engagement models span early-stage exploration, technology validation, and scalable production via IC-Link, imec’s manufacturing division.

With imec, you gain a trusted partner in building secure, robust technologies for the most demanding environments.

Want to partner with us? Click the button below to set up a meeting.