OADM技术及其应用

OADM（光分插复用器）是全光通信网的重要部件。首先介绍了OADM模块的结构，它由多层介质膜相干滤波器、光可变衰耗器及接口组成。接着分析了OADM的鲁棒性（Robustness)及其他性能。它的优良性能表现在，当上游OADM站光纤断纤时，插入的光通道仍能正常工作，并给出了衰耗器的衰耗值计算公式。最后分析了OADM的应用实例。     

OADM的技术和应用

介绍了OADM的两种类型,包括各类OADM中采用的关键技术及其在光传送网中的应用特点。     

全光通信中的光分插复用器

文中对全光通信中的关键设备之一——光分插复用器 ( OADM,Optical Add/ DropMultiplexer)进行了综述。主要介绍了 OADM的原理、结构和功能 ,对 OADM在全光通信网中的应用及相应的关键技术进行了评述 ,探讨了 OADM技术和产品的现状及发展趋势 ,为我国发展相应的技术和产品提供有益的参考。     

一种新型光分插复用器及其应用

提出并分析了一种基于光纤光栅的新型光分插用器（OADM）。与基于光纤光栅的普通型OADM相比，具有更小的同频串扰，下载端口的同频串扰小于－80dB，上载端口的同频串扰小于－50dB；而且可以上下载任意波长信号。     

基于光纤光栅的新型光分插复用器

文章提出了一种基于光纤光栅的新型光分插复用器(OADM),并阐述了此新型OADM结构的复用和解复用原理,它具有插入损耗低、灵活性强和串扰低等优点.为验证结构设计和理论分析的正确性,用OptiSystem软件对所设计的OADM结构进行了仿真实验.仿真结果表明,下载波长的边模抑制比高达20 dB,此新型结构具有良好的性能和...     

与网络同步发展的光分插复用器

光分插复用器(OADM)的出现直接与密集波分复用器(DWDM)的使用和快速进展有关。早些时候,沿光纤传输主干线各区间使用了少量的光分插器件,而且这些器件只用在单波长传输光纤上,不涉及光学多路传输,因此也没有为此生产专门产品。光分插复用     

WDM光网络中OADM的矩阵理论

该文用矢量和矩阵等数学工具对光网络中的OADM(Optical add-drop multiplexer)节点进行了全面的系统的理论分析,提出了一种新的OADM分析模型,并应用这种模型对光网络上传输的信号进行了详细的分析推导,得到了OADM环网中信号串扰的普适公式,为OADM及全光网的设计和分析提供了一种新的方法。     

基于AWG的OADM结构设计

光分插复用器（OADM）是实现波长上下话路、灵活配置网络资源的关键网元设备之一，因为阵列波导光栅（AWG）在成本和综合性能方面具有很大的优越性而使其成为目前最适于作为WDM复用器与解复用器以及构成OADM的关键器件，文章详细研究了基于AWG构建OADM的不同结构组成，主要研究了环回和折叠型两种结构，并给出了易于实现集成的平板形结构设计的不同方案。     

AWG作光路分插复用器串扰对信道数的影响

研究了阵列波导路由器作光路分插复用器（OADM）串扰的影响,其路由器含有m个上路/下路信道和n个传输信道。理论分析表明:随着上路/下路信道m和传输信道n的增加,串扰使OADM的信噪比QCT,成非线性下降、由于在阵列波导路由器中存在串扰,限制了基于 OADM的网络复用信道数。     

使用模式兼容OADM的双LP11模CO-OFDM信号传输方法

介绍了一种使用模式兼容的OADM(光分插复用器)的双LP11模相干OFDM(正交频分复用)信号传输方法。该OADM采用薄膜滤波器和双反射机制实现模式复用的光信号的插分功能。实验结果表明,对于3×318Gbit/s的OFDM信号,OADM在插、分与直通端口的功率代价分别为2.6、2.4和0.7dB。     

Alternative Schemes for Dynamic Secure VPN Deployment in UMTS

Three alternative schemes for secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) deployment over the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) are proposed and analyzed. The proposed schemes enable a mobile node to voluntarily establish an IPsec-based secure channel to a private network. The alternative schemes differ in the location where the IPsec functionality is placed within the UMTS network architecture (mobile node, access network, and UMTS network border), depending on the employed security model, and whether data in transit are ever in clear-text, or available to be tapped by outsiders. The provided levels of privacy in the deployed VPN schemes, as well as the employed authentication models are examined. An analysis in terms of cost, complexity, and performance overhead that each method imposes to the underlying network architecture, as well as to the mobile devices is presented. The level of system reliability and scalability in granting security services is presented. The VPN management, usability, and trusted relations, as well as their behavior when a mobile user moves are analyzed. The use of special applications that require access to encapsulated data traffic is explored. Finally, an overall comparison of the proposed schemes from the security and operation point of view summarizes their relative performance. Christos Xenakis received his B.Sc. degree in computer science in 1993 and his M.Sc. degree in telecommunication and computer networks in 1996, both from the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Athens, Greece. In 2004 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Athens (Department of Informatics and Telecommunications). From 1998–2000 was with the Greek telecoms system development firm Teletel S.A., where was involved in the design and development of advanced telecommunications subsystems for ISDN, ATM, GSM, and GPRS. Since 1996 he has been a member of the Communication Networks Laboratory of the University of Athens. He has participated in numerous projects realized in the context of EU Programs (ACTS, ESPRIT, IST). His research interests are in the field of mobile/wireless networks, security and distributed network management. He is the author of over 15 papers in the above areas. Lazaros Merakos received the Diploma in electrical and mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1978, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the State University of New York, Buffalo, in 1981 and 1984, respectively. From 1983 to 1986, he was on the faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. From 1986 to 1994 he was on the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. During the period 1993–1994 he served as Director of the Communications and Digital Processing Research Center at Northeastern University. During the summers of 1990 and 1991, he was a Visiting Scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY. In 1994, he joined the faculty of the University of Athens, Athens, Greece, where he is presently a Professor in the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, and Director of the Communication Networks Laboratory (UoA-CNL) and the Networks Operations and Management Center. His research interests are in the design and performance analysis of broadband networks, and wireless/mobile communication systems and services. He has authored more than 150 papers in the above areas. Since 1995, he is leading the research activities of UoA-CNL in the area of mobile communications, in the framework of the Advanced Communication Technologies & Services (ACTS) and Information Society Technologies (IST) programmes funded by the European Union (projects RAINBOW, Magic WAND, WINE, MOBIVAS, POLOS, ANWIRE). He is chairman of the board of the Greek Universities Network, the Greek Schools Network, and member of the board of the Greek Research Network. In 1994, he received the Guanella Award for the Best Paper presented at the International Zurich Seminar on Mobile Communications.     

HiBRID-SoC: A Multi-Core SoC Architecture for Multimedia Signal Processing

The HiBRID-SoC multi-core system-on-chip architecture targets a wide range of multimedia applications with particularly high processing demands, including general signal processing applications, video de-/encoding, image processing, or a combination of these tasks. For this purpose, the HiBRID-SoC integrates three fully programmable processors cores and various interfaces onto a single chip, all tied to a 64-Bit AMBA AHB bus. The processor cores are individually optimized to the particular computational characteristics of different application fields, complementing each other to deliver high performance levels with high flexibility at reduced system cost. The HiBRID-SoC is fabricated in a 0.18 μm 6LM standard-cell CMOS technology, occupies about 81 mm², and operates at 145 MHz. An MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile decoder in full D1 resolution requires about 120 MHz for real-time operation on the HiBRID-SoC, utilizing only two of the three cores. Together with the third core, a custom region-of-interest (ROI) based surveillance application can be built.Hans-Joachim Stolberg received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1995.From 1995 to 1996, he was with the NEC Information Technology Research Laboratories, Kawasaki, Japan, working on efficient implementations of video compression algorithms. Since 1996, he has been with the Institute of Microelectronic Systems at the University of Hannover as a Research Assistant. During summer 2001, he was a Monbukagakusho Research Fellow at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. His current research interests include VLSI architectures for video signal processing, performance estimation of multimedia schemes, and profile-guided memory organization for signal processing and multimedia applications.Mladen Bereković received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1995.Since then he has been a Research Assistant with the Institute of Microelectronic Systems of the University of Hannover. His current research interests include VLSI architectures for video signal processing, MPEG-4, System-on-Chip (SOC) designs, and simultaneously multi-threaded (SMT) processor architectures.Sören Moch received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1997.Since then he has been Research Assistant with the Laboratory for Information Technology, University of Hannover. His current research interests are in the area of processor architectures for image, video and multimedia signal processing applications.Lars Friebe studied electrical engineering at the Universities Ulm and Hannover, Germany. In 1999, he worked at the NEC System ULSI Research Laboratory in Kanagawa, Japan. He received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1999.Since then he has been a Research Assistant with the Laboratory for Information Technology, University of Hannover. His current research interests are in the area of parallel programmable VLSI architectures for real-time image processing.Mark B. Kulaczewski started his studies in electrical engineering at the University of Hannover, Germany. In 1994, he transferred to Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, and received the M.S. degree in electrical engineering in 1996.Since 1997 he has been a Research Assistant at the Laboratory for Information Technology and the Institute of Microelectronic Systems, University of Hannover. His current research interests include programmable real-time architectures for video coding and image segmentation, and instruction-set extensions for cryptographic applications.Sebastian Flügel was born in Crivitz, Germany, in 1975. He received his Dipl.-Ing. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Rostock in 2001.Since then he has been a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Microelectronic Systems at the University of Hannover. He works in the field of architectures and systems for video processing systems. His focus is on algorithms for video encoding and the development of optimized hardware architectures.Heiko Klußmann received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in computer engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 2002.Since then he has been a Research Assistant with the Institute of Microelectronic Systems of the University of Hannover. His current research interests are in the area of programmable architectures for real-time video signal processing.Andreas Dehnhardt was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1976. He received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 2002.Since then, he has been a Research Assistant with the Institute of Microelectronic Systems, University of Hannover. His current research interests include programmable architectures for multimedia applications and implementation of real-time MPEG-4 encoding schemes.Peter Pirsch received the Ing. grad. degree from the engineering college in Hannover, Hannover, Germany, in 1966, and the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degrees from the University of Hannover, in 1973 and 1979, respectively, all in electrical engineering.From 1966 to 1973 he was employed by Telefunken, Hannover, working in the Television Department. He became a Research Assistant at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Hannover, in 1973, a Senior Engineer in 1978. During 1979 to 1980 and in Summer 1981 he was on leave, working in the Visual Communications Research Department, Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ. During 1983 to 1986 he was Department Head for Digital Signal Processing at the SEL research center, Stuttgart. Since 1987 he is Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, since 2002 in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hannover. He served as Vice President Research of the University of Hannover from 1998 to 2002. His present research includes architectures and VLSI implementations for image processing applications, rapid prototyping and design automation for DSP applications. He is the author or coauthor of more than 200 technical papers. He has edited a book on VLSI Implementations for Image Communications (Elsevier 1993) and is author of the book Architectures for Digital Signal Processing (John Wiley 1998).Pirsch is a member of the IEEE, the German Institute of Information Technology Engineers (ITG) and the German Association of Engineers (VDI). He was recipient of several awards: the NTG paper price award (1982), IEEE Fellow (1997), IEEE Circuits and Systems Golden Jubilee Medal (1999). He was member or chair of several technical program committees of international conferences and organizer of special sessions and preconference courses. He has held several administrative and technical positions with the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society and other professional organizations. Dr. Pirsch currently serves as Vice President Publications of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. Since 2000 he is chairman of the Accreditation Commission for Engineering and Informatics of the Accreditation Agency for Study Programs in Engineering, Informatics, Natural Science and Mathematics (ASIIN). Dr. Pirsch is chair of the VDI committee on Engineering Education.     

Energy-efficient resource allocation model for device-to-device communication in 5G wireless personal area networks

In general, there are several many devices that can overload the network and reduce performance. Devices can minimize interference and optimize bandwidth usage by using directional antennas and by avoiding overlapping communication ranges. In addition, devices need to carefully manage their use of resources, such as bandwidth and energy. Bandwidth is limited in wireless personal area networks (WPANs), so devices need to carefully select which data to send and receive. In this paper, an intelligent performance analysis of energy-efficient resource optimization model has been proposed for device-to-device (D2D) communication in fifth-generation (5G) WPAN. The proposed energy-efficient resource allocation in D2D communication is important because it helps reduce energy consumption and extend the lifespan of devices that are communicating with each other. By allocating resources in an efficient manner, communication between two devices can be optimized for maximum efficiency. This helps reduce the amount of energy needed to power the communication, as well as the amount of energy needed to power the device that is communicating with another device. Additionally, efficient resource allocation helps reduce the overall cost of communication, as the use of fewer resources results in a lower overall cost. The proposed efficient resource allocation helps reduce the environmental impact of communication, as less energy is used for communication. The proposed energy-efficient resource allocation model (EERAM) has reached 92.97% of energy allocation, 88.72% of power allocation, 87.79% of bandwidth allocation, 87.93% of spectrum allocation, 88.43% of channel allocation, 25.47% of end-to-end delay, 94.33% of network data speed, and 90.99% of network throughput.     

SOI Technologies Overview for Low-Power Low-Voltage Radio-Frequency Applications

Thanks to their structure, the SOI technologies present several intrinsic advantages for analog and RF applications. Indeed, as it is well established now, these technologies allow the reduction of the power consumption at a given operating frequency. Moreover, the high-insulating properties of SOI substrates, in particular when high resistivity substrate is used, make that these technologies are perfect candidates for mixed-signal applications. In the present paper, we will discuss the performances of the SOI technologies in radio-frequency range. First of all, the high-frequency behavior of SOI substrates, thanks to the characterization of transmission lines, will be shown. The impact of the SOI substrate resistivity on the performances of passive components will also be analyzed. Then, an overview of RF performances of SOI MOSFETs for two different architectures, fully- and partially-depleted, will be achieved and compared to the bulk ones. Finally, the influence of some specific parasitic effects, such as the kink effect, the self-heating effect and the kink-related excess noise, on the RF performances of SOI devices will be studied, thanks to a specific high-frequency characterization.     

Towards Mobile Ubiquitous Service Environment

In this article we present a perspective on future vision of mobile communications and services which is referred to as Mobile Ubiquitous Service Environment (MUSE). Based on analysis of wireless communications and services, we exploit a conceptual model for MUSE via a top-down approach. The conceptual model consists of three major elements: Terminal Service Environment (TSE), Network Service Environment (NSE) and User Identity (UID). The concept of Always the Best Experience (ABE) is addressed as the hinge in design and development such that the user-centric services could be provided automatically and intelligently in the future diverse wireless world Based on these, we further discuss the issues on design and implementation of architecture of future wireless communication system. Requirements for architecture brought by the new features of MUSE are listed. Moreover, we also address several tradeoffs that should be taken into consideration in design. Finally, the deployment challenges for MUSE, such as reflectiveness of system, security and privacy, as well as peer-to-peer AAA are predicted.Ji Yang received PhD degree on Circuit and System, Bachelor degree on Telecommunication Engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) in 2002 and 1993 respectively. Currently, he is an associate professor of BUPT, chief technical supervisor of Wireless Technology Innovation Institute, and vice manager of MTlab of Sino-Germany Software Institute. He leads the research on service and application in Future Forum in China. He also made much contribution to the China Communication Standardization Association (CCSA), including the vision of future Mobile Ubiquitous Service Environment, architecture of future B3G mobile terminal, etc. His research interests include architecture design for mobile ubiquitous networks, theory of self-organization, etc.Zhang Ping is now the professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and director of Wireless Technology Innovation (WTI) Institute, BUPT. He has also served on the senior member of C3G Group, China MOST 863 future mobile communication FuTURE project, vice-chairman of China FuTURE Forum, and member of Vision Committee of World Wireless Research Forum(WWRF), he was vice chair of WWRF in 2005. He is also invited as the consultants for many domestic and oversea communication companies. He is very active on the international research activity on Beyond 3G area. He also participated in several European projects such as E2R and MOCCA. Until now, he has published 6 books, around 400 publications in journals and conferences in the area of telecommunications. His main research interests are theory and applications in wireless communication area. He was awarded by government, city of Beijing and Ministry of Information Industry several times for his great contribution to the industry and research activity in China.Hu Zheng is a PH.D candidate in mobile communications engineering in Wireless Technology Innovation Institute (WTI) at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT). He received B.S degree from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2002, majoring in computer communications engineering. He currently works on serivce aspects of mobile ubiquitous communication system with focus on design and performance evaluation of interaction protocols and services in self-organized service environment.Wang Xu received the B.Tech. degree in electronic engineering from Beijing Polytechnic University (now named as Beijing University of Technology), Beijing, China, in 2002. Now he is working for his Ph.D. degree in Wireless Technology Innovation (WTI) Institute, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT). His current interests include wireless communications in personal area, ad hoc networks and peer-to-peer system.Li Yinong received the BS degree major in Telecommunication Engineering in 1993 from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, the MS degree and PhD degree major in Telecommunication and Electronic System in 1995 and 2003 from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. He is currently a lecture of STE (School of Telecommunication Engineering) of BUPT. His main research interests include service modeling, service composition approach, and intelligent service. In BUPT, he has given several lectures to both graduate and undergraduate students such as Information Theory, Speech Recognition, Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence.     

无人机SAR/MTI侦察技术中若干问题的探讨

本文介绍了国外无人机SAR／MTI雷达研究现状和发展方向,列举了X、Ka,Ku三种频段SAR／MTI雷达主要技术指标,重点从工程实现的角度对SAR／MTI雷达技术中若干问题进行了探讨,包括无人机、SAR的成像模式和MTI兼容技术、频段选择、SAR成像实时数据的传输方式、惯导系统、最后讨论了成像算法。     

Optimization of lithographic masks using genetic algorithms

Due to its cost effectiveness and reliability, wet-chemical etching of silicon is still one of the key technologies for producing bulk-silicon microstructures. In this paper we present an approach for the design of advanced mask sets for anisotropic, wet-chemical etching of silicon. The optimization method of genetic algorithms is used to derive suitable masks for cases where geometrically calculated compensation structures fail. The underlying etch simulation is described as well as the optimization algorithm itself. Design tasks of current research projects are used as examples to illustrate the advantage of using the presented tool. Udo Triltsch was born in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, in 1976. He received the Dipl.-Ing. degree for Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, in 2002. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. at the Institute for Microtechnology, Braunschweig, Germany. His research interests include: design methodology for MEMS, process simulation and knowledge management. Anurak Phataralaoha was born in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1973. He received the B. Eng. degree for Production Engineering from KMUTT, Thailand in 1995 and Dipl.-Ing. degree for Mechanical Engineering from Technical University of Clausthal, Germany in 2002. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. at the Institute for Microtechnology, Braunschweig, Germany. His research interests include: 3D-tactile sensors, micro machining for silicon, Tribological micro guide. Stephanus Büttgenbach obtained the Diploma and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1970 and 1973, respectively. From 1974 to 1985, he was with the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Bonn, working on atomic and laser spectroscopy. In 1983, he was promoted to Professor of Physics. From 1977 to 1985, he was also a Scientific Associate at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1985, Dr. Büttgenbach joined the Hahn-Schickard-Society of Applied Research at Stuttgart as Head of the Department of Microtechnology, where he worked on micromechanics, laser microfabrication, and resonant sensors. From 1988 to 1991, he was the Founding Director of the Institute of Micro and Information Technology of the Hahn-Schickard-Society. In 1991, Dr. Büttgenbach became Professor of Microtechnology at the Technical University of Braunschweig. His current research centers on the development and application of micro sensors, micro actuators, and micro systems. Currently, he is Vice President of the Technical University of Braunschweig, where his areas of responsibility are research and technology transfer. Dima Straube was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1977. He received the Dipl.-Ing. degree for Civil Engineering from Technical University of Berlin, Germany, in 2002. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. at the Institute for Engineering Design, Braunschweig. His research interests include: design methodology for MEMS, computer aided design and tolerance management. Hans-Joachim Franke was born in Helmstedt, Germany, on February 14, 1944. He received his diploma in mechanical engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, in 1969. From 1969 to 1976 he was research assistant of Prof. Roth at the Institute for Engineering Design. In 1976 he received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering. From 1976 to 1988 he had diverse executive positions at the KSB-AG in Frankenthal, Germany, a company, which produces pumps and valves. Since 1988 he has been the director of the Institute for Engineering Design of the Technical University of Braunschweig. His research interests are in the areas of design methodology, computer aided design and machine elements.     

集成电路市场及经营模式的分析与探讨

在分析全球集成电路形势的基础上，对通信、消费类电子、化合物半导体IC、MCU、Flash memory等IC市场进行了探讨。论述了IDM和Fabless、Foundry三种经营模式的特点与前途，并对我国集成电路产业的前景及发展模式进行了展望。     

Bioinspired Tunable Lens with Muscle‐Like Electroactive Elastomers

Optical lenses with tunable focus are needed in several fields of application, such as consumer electronics, medical diagnostics and optical communications. To address this need, lenses made of smart materials able to respond to mechanical, magnetic, optical, thermal, chemical, electrical or electrochemical stimuli are intensively studied. Here, we report on an electrically tunable lens made of dielectric elastomers, an emerging class of “artificial muscle” materials for actuation. The optical device is inspired by the architecture of the crystalline lens and ciliary muscle of the human eye. It consists of a fluid‐filled elastomeric lens integrated with an annular elastomeric actuator working as an artificial muscle. Upon electrical activation, the artificial muscle deforms the lens, so that a relative variation of focal length comparable to that of the human lens is demonstrated. The device combined optical performance with compact size, low weight, fast and silent operation, shock tolerance, no overheating, low power consumption, and possibility of implementation with inexpensive off‐the‐shelf elastomers. Results show that combing bioinspired design with the unique properties of dielectric elastomers as artificial muscle transducers has the potential to open new perspectives on tunable optics.     

Applications of LIGA technology to precision manufacturing of high-aspect-ratio micro-components and -systems: a review

The by far leading technology for manufacturing MEMS devices is Si-micromachining with its various derivatives. However, many applications of microsystems have requirements on materials basis, geometry, aspect ratio, dimensions, shape, accuracy of microstructures, and number of parts that cannot be fulfilled easily by mainstream silicon-based micromachining technologies. LIGA, an alternative microfabrication process combining deep X-ray lithography, plating-through-mask and molding, enables the highly precise manufacture of high-aspect-ratio microstructures with large structural height ranging from hundreds to thousands of micrometers thick. These tall microstructures can be produced in a variety of materials with well-defined geometry and dimensions, very straight and smooth sidewalls, and tight tolerances. LIGA technology is also well suited for mass fabrication of parts, particularly in polymer.Many microsystems benefit from unique characteristics and advantages of the LIGA process in terms of product performance. The LIGA technology is briefly reviewed. The strengths of the manufacturing method and its main fields of application are emphasized with examples taken from various groups worldwide, especially in micromechanics and microoptics.