About the Project
Low latency is one of the key features that makes the current 5G technology clearly outstanding among other generations of wireless communications networks. The future of Industry 4.0 applications, mass Internet of Things, Smart healthcare, Autonomous driving, and Robotic applications will heavily depend on near “real time”, i.e. extreme low-latency, performance of the wireless communications networks. Ultimately the future generation wireless network, 6G-and-beyond, will move towards ultra-reliable extremely low-latency communication. However, it is extremely challenging to achieve almost real time, i.e. no lag or extreme low latency, wireless communications due to the typically-narrow radio modulation bandwidth, which will require substantial amount of signal processing and parallel transmissions (MIMO) to achieve the target data rate. This will hinder the performance and reliability of real-time applications such as remote precision operations, virtual reality, autonomous aviation, or complex robotic tasks.
The optical spectrum is alternatively offering a huge available bandwidth that allows much less complex data processing to achieve ultrahigh speed data rate. It is envisaged that the optical bandwidth aggregation to the radio counterpart will significantly boost the overall 6G-and-beyond spectrum as well as drastically reduce the overall system latency.
This project will investigate and design a framework to tackle the latency issue in future wireless systems. The aim of this project is to develop a novel system including new data link and physical layers for handling the radio and optical spectrum aggregation allowing to achieve extreme low-latency feature. In particular, different dynamic features of radio and optical communication channels will be analysed and used to design a deterministic low-latency link for industrial applications.
The proposed project will require a motivated PhD student to carry out the work, both in modelling and practical testing. The PhD student is expected to conduct interdisciplinary research from the perspective of radio and optical communications by means of signal processing, network optimization, machine learning, and artificial intelligent (AI). The research development and outcomes will be verified at the 5G communication testbed at Scotland 5G centre of Glasgow University, and at Photonics laboratory at Northumbria University. In addition, this project will link with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, Japan). The PhD candidate will frequently visit Scotland 5G centre and could potentially carry out internship at NICT’s millimetre-wave and photonics labs.
The principal supervisor for this project is Dr. Liying Li.
Eligibility and How to Apply:
Please note eligibility requirement:
• Academic excellence of the proposed student i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply for this funding if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.
For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/
Please note: Applications that do not include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words (not a copy of the advert), or that do not include the advert reference (e.g. RDF21/EE/MPEE/LILiying) will not be considered.
Deadline for applications: 29 January 2021
Start Date: 1 October 2021
Northumbria University takes pride in, and values, the quality and diversity of our staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community.
References
Recent publications by supervisors relevant to this project (optional)
[1] B. Chang, G. Zhao, Z. Chen, P. Li, and L. Li, “D2D transmission scheme in URLLC enabled real-time wireless control systems for tactile internet,” in Proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2019), Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA, 9-13 Dec. 2019.
[2] B. Chang, L. Zhang, L. Li, G. Zhao, and Z. Chen, “Optimizing resource allocation in URLLC for real-time wireless control systems,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 68, no. 9, pp. 8916 - 8927, Sept. 2019. (Impact Factor 5.339)
[3] G. Zhao, M. A. Imran, Z. Pang, Z. Chen, and L. Li, “Toward real-time control in future wireless networks: communication-control co-design”, IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 138-144, Feb. 2019. (Impact Factor 9.27)
[4] L. Li, G. Zhao, S. Lin, and Z. Chen, “Max-SIR scheduling algorithm: An interference management algorithm in cache-enabled D2D networks” in Proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2018), Abu Dhabi, UAE, 9-13 Dec. 2018.
[5] B. Chang, G. Zhao, M. Imran, Z. Chen, and L. Li, “Dynamic wireless QoS analysis for real-time control in URLLC,” IEEE Global Communication Conference (GLOBECOM 2018), Abu Dhabi, UAE, Dec. 2018.
[6] O. I. Younus, H. Le Minh, Dat. T. Pham, N. Yamamoto, A. T. Pham, and Z. Ghassemlooy, “Dynamic physical-layer secured link in a mobile MIMO VLC system,” IEEE Photonics Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1-15, Jun. 2020.
[7] M. Raza, H. Le-Minh, N. Aslam, S. Hussain, M. Imran, R. Tafazolli and H. X. Nguyen, “Dynamic priority based reliable real-time communications for infrastructure-less networks,” IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 67338-67359, Dec. 2018.
[8] T. Pham., H. Le-Minh, and A. T. Pham, “Multi-user visible light communication broadcast channels with zero-forcing precoding,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 65, no. 6, pp. 2509-2521, Apr. 2017.