Ambient Intelligence is one of the new paradigms in the development of information and communication technology, which has attracted much attention over the past years. The aim is the to integrate technology into people environment in such a way that it improves their daily lives in terms of well-being, creativity, and productivity. Ambient Intelligence is a multidisciplinary concept, which heavily builds on a number of fundamental breakthroughs that have been achieved in the development of new hardware concepts over the past years. New insights in nano and micro electronics, packaging and interconnection technology, large-area electronics, energy scavenging devices, wireless sensors, low power electronics and computing platforms enable the realization of the heaven of ambient intelligence by overcoming the hell of physics. Based on contributions from leading technical experts, this book presents a number of key topics on novel hardware developments, thus providing the reader a good insight into the physical basis of ambient intelligence. It also indicates key research challenges that must be addressed in the future.
"This book is one of the first to bring all these hardware aspects together under one cover. It is recommended to all engineers involved in the realization of the AmI dream and is an inspiring source to create a dialog between the many hardware disciplines that must become interoperable to create a working AmI system."
(Hugo DeMan, Senior Research Fellow, IMEC, Professor Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , Belgium)
