The Department of Information Engineering (DEI), established in 1987, is one of the biggest departments of the University of Padova, which was established in 1222. The research carried out at DEI ranges from microelectronics, to optics, telecommunications, and to computer science. DEI was the first University department in Italy to be ISO 9001:2008 certified for quality.
The Telecommunications research group has a decade long expertise on wireless communications and networks and a more recent, yet successful, commitment to the field of wireless and satellite security. The participation to the ESA activity Applications of Optical Quantum Links to GNSS has brought to the design and the evaluation of realistic performance limits for a future possible inter-satellite network for quantum key distribution over the Galileo constellation.
More recently, ESA has recognized the group expertise on physical layer techniques and security analysis by assigning an activity on Advanced GNSS Open Service signal integrity protection and authentication at the physical layer, which continued with the More GNSS Open Service Signal Integrity Protection and Authentication at the Physical Layer project.
Moreover, the University of Padova has had previous collaborations with Qascom srl for the EAST (European Commission), AKMS (ESA) and ENSPACE (EUSPA) activities, all in the area of security and integrity of satellite navigation systems and services.