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Proposed supervisory team
Theme
Smart cities, 5G Networks
Summary of the research project
There is a substantial amount of spectrum at very high frequencies, which makes it very attractive, but the engineering challenges are intense. This spectrum offers “huge opportunities and huge challenges,” especially the big challenge of the spectrum’s vulnerability to shadowing.
If there is not a line-of-sight link between the access point and the user device, then the connection basically goes to zero - unless there is a reflection off a very flat wall nearby. Researchers and engineers will have to figure out how to leverage that spectrum while providing the consistent high quality of experience, adding that performance over distance will be important as well. Researchers expect systems that can harness such spectrum over a meter or two of distance from the base station will start to appear soon, such as WiGig, but it will be important to design systems that can utilize the high-frequency spectrum at a distance of, say, 100 metres.
There is a high possibility to allocate 24.75-27.5GHz, 66-71GHz and 81-86GHz to 5G in ITU. There is currently a fierce competition of 5G among telecom powers. 5G is urged to fulfil enhanced needs of high data rata, easy usage and low latency. There are three methods to enlarge the capacity of 5G: higher spectrum efficiency, denser coverage and more spectrum resource. The spectrum efficiency of 4G is already very high. Although it can be developed, it can’t meet the growing requirement of the service. More base stations are on the way, they can increase the capacity of the system, but they’re not enough to meet the requirements of wide band and electromagnetic compatibility. As a result, it is urgent to allocate more frequencies for 5G. Frequency resource is essential for 5G deployment. It needs much more frequencies for large scale deployment of 5G. There is little frequency resource that can be allocated to 5G below 6GHz. But there are plentiful frequencies in the millimetre wave band. Millimetre wave band starts from 30GHz, but under some conditions, the band above 10GHz is also called millimetre wave band. For a long time, the characteristic of millimetre wave band is regarded as not suitable for mobile service (MS) because of its high transmitting loss and limitable coverage. Atmospheric attenuation, rain attenuation, tree leaves attenuation, and building penetration loss, contributes to the transmitting loss. But multiple antennas and beam forming can spread the distance of coverage in the Line Of Sight (LOS) in millimetre wave band. Degrading diffraction compensating by strong reflection with beam forming can fulfil the connection out of sight. This means that the low band remains the main operating band in 5G, meanwhile, the millimetre wave band can supplement the coverage with high capacity and high data rate in dense outdoor and indoor scenarios.
Where you'll study
Funding
This project is self-funded.
Details of studentships for which funding is available are selected by a competitive process and are advertised on our jobs website as they become available.
Next steps
If you wish to be considered for this project, we strongly advise you contact the proposed supervisory team. You will also need to formally apply for our Engineering and the Built Environment PhD. In the section of the application form entitled 'Outline research proposal', please quote the above title and include a research proposal.
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