Job Overview

ONE OR MORE PHD STIPENDS IN AIR INTERFACE DESIGN FOR 6G SHORT RANGE LIFE-CRITICAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 

At the Technical Faculty of IT and Design, Department of Electronic Systems, one ore more PhD stipends in Air interface design for 6G short range life-critical wireless communications are available within the general study programme Wireless Communications. The stipends are open for appointment from January 1, 2022, or soon as possible thereafter.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Future 6th Generation (6G) radio systems are expected to bridge the gap between digital, physical and biological world by supporting services like holographic telepresence, extreme virtual reality with tactile feedback, remote surgery, high accuracy sensing, fast motion control in industrial facilities. Applications can be life-critical and may require multi-Gbps data rates, or <100 us latencies with seven-nine nines reliability.

There is a consensus that connectivity for such extreme communication requirements should be provided by local highly specialized subnetworks with limited coverage to be installed in locations where life-critical applications are run, such as production modules, vehicles, aircrafts, or even human bodies. For example, in-vehicle subnetworks can replace existing automotive cabled network (e.g. Ethernet) for engine control or anti-lock brake systems, while in-body subnetworks can support heart-beat control (wireless pacemaker) or muscle haptic control in disabled patients.

This PhD project focuses on air interface design for life-critical wireless applications aiming at extreme communication requirements. In particular, the project aims at exploring novel methods for proactive medium access that provide robustness to diverse type of interference (including jammers) while maintaining a sufficiently high spectral efficiency.

The project may include the following :

•  Proactive interference-robust medium access control enablers for <100 us communication loops and ultra-high reliability, with capabilities of handling rare events in the environments of interest;
• Efficient multiplexing in the same air interface of services with diverse requirements (e.g. different control loop durations), exploiting flexible duplexing approaches;
• Novel fair channel access methods beyond Listen Before Talk (LBT) in a shared spectrum for deterministic transmissions;
• Non-orthogonal multiple access schemes for sporadic time critical transmissions;
• Context-aware protocol learning with for reduced over-the-air transmission time.
• Analysis of reliability bottlenecks in existing end-devices and proposals to circumvent these.
• Mechanisms for efficient coexistence with wide area networks.

The project will use analytical and simulation methods, where tools available at the Wireless Communication Section at the Department of Electronic Systems will be used for the latter. Solution space will leverage modern machine learning methods given their promise of improving spectral efficiency with respect to heuristic methods when applied to complex wireless communication problems.

The ideal candidate profile is the following:

• knowledge and experience in wireless communication networks, and in particular on layer 2 procedures;
• excellent mathematical and analytical skills;
• experience in programming, at least in Matlab and C++ (knowledge of Python is also appreciated);
• experience with performance analysis and system level simulations of wireless networks;
• creative mindset and curiosity to research and develop new solutions;
• experience with machine learning is also highly valued.

The project will be conducted in close collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs, managed by their site in Aalborg and in cooperation with several of their research teams worldwide. Therefore, the project outcome is also expected to generate intellectual property rights and has the potential of impacting future 6G standardization.

You may obtain further information from associate professor Gilberto Berardinelli, Department of Electronic Systems, phone: +4599408723, email: gb@es.aau.dk , concerning the scientific aspects of the stipend.

PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master’s degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1039 of August 27, 2013 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time.

Shortlisting will be applied. This means that subsequent to the deadline for applications the head of department supported by the chair of the assessment committee will select candidates for assessment. All applicants will be informed whether they will be assessed or not.

For further information about stipends and salary as well as practical issues concerning the application procedure contact Ms. Lisbeth Diinhoff , The Doctoral School at The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, email: ld@adm.aau.dk, phone: +45 9940 9589.

For more information of The Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design: www.phd.tech.aau.dk

The application is only to be submitted online by using the “Apply online” button below.

AAU wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background or belief.

AGREEMENT

Appointment and salary as a PhD fellow are according to the Ministry of Finance Circular of 28 June 2019 on the Collective Agreement for Academics in Denmark, Appendix 5, regarding PhD fellows, and with the current Circular of 11 December 2019 on the employment structure at Danish universities.

How to Apply