The Communications and Digital Systems Design Group (DSDC) is a consolidated research group of the Universitat de València. It is currently made up of seven university professors who carry out both teaching and research tasks, and five pre-doctoral researchers who are mainly engaged in research tasks. The DSDC is located at the School of Engineering (ETSE) of the Universitat de València, where it has two 100 m² laboratories fully equipped for the design, development and validation of electronic systems.

The DSDC was created in 1996, when its main research line was the development of high-performance electronic systems for their use in the acquisition and processing of data from the large detectors of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) located in Geneva (Switzerland).  Since then, the DSDC has steadily expanded its technological capabilities and is now generally engaged in the design of high-performance digital electronic systems, with a high level of competence in areas such as:

• Embedded digital systems (including AP SoCs, FPGAs with embedded microprocessors and mixed-signal devices such as PSoCs).
• Wireless communication technologies and sensor networks (Zigbee, CyFi, Bluetooth, etc.).
• High-speed digital electronic design (including PCB design, component selection, EM compatibility testing, etc.).
• Development of optical and wireless communication systems (VLC, FSO, LiFi, OWC, OCC, ...).
• Electronic developments based on microcontrollers, with special emphasis on aspects such as low power consumption, energy harvesting and miniaturisation.
• Production of pre-commercial prototypes, including cost analysis and pre-certification.
• Development of high-speed data acquisition and processing systems.

All these competences are currently applied in various sectors such as energy (smartgrids, smartmetering, renewables, geothermal), environment (climate change, smartcities, smarthome and building automation), industry (process analytical technologies – PAT, Industry 2.0), biomedical engineering (implantable devices, nuclear medicine PET), high-energy physics detectors (ATLAS-CERN, IFIC) and/or consumer electronics (wearables).

The DSDC has a wide scientific expertise, with more than 70 articles in high-impact international journals and almost a hundred participations in scientific congresses. It also has an extensive track record in the development of research projects, having participated in more than 20 projects funded by public calls, and has a long tradition in technology transfer, having collaborated as a scientific partner in issues related to electronics, computing and telecommunications through more than 30 contracts and agreements with major actors in different sectors and business areas.

The DSDC has two main goals when carrying out its activity:

• The main objective is to conduct quality research in its areas of interest, with results that are reflected in tangible indicators such as scientific publications in indexed and highly relevant international journals, participation in conferences and seminars, supervision of doctoral theses, supervision and/or participation in international, national and regional research projects, etc. 
• However, since its creation, the DSDC pursues another equally important goal, which is to transfer the research developed within it to companies and industries in the Valencian and Spanish business fabric. As a result, the group has extensive experience in collaborations with companies both through direct contracts and public projects, whereby the group's research capabilities are transformed into technological innovation for companies in order to provide them with a competitive advantage in their respective sectors.