Hybrid OFDM transmission system for connected autonomous vehicles

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a technique that exploits orthogonal carriers to transmit information and enhance received signal diversity and consequently increase received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In wireless mobile communications, carrier orthogonality is violated due to the inherent Doppler spread arisen by the temporal variability of the wireless channel. This effect causes degradation of received signal quality and becomes more evident in high mobility scenarios such as in connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs).

However, the increased Doppler spread in CAVs provides an alternative signal diversity mechanism characterized as Doppler diversity. Starting from a very thorough literature review, the OFDM technique will be theoretically studied and analyzed to understand the important parameters affecting its performance in CAV scenarios. The PhD candidate should come up with a solution compensating the increased Doppler spread in such scenarios. The project will then investigate the implementation of a hybrid OFDM architecture by incorporating Doppler diversity in CAV scenarios.

Both the hybrid and the standard OFDM architectures should be then implemented/simulated in an appropriate software tool (e.g., Matlab, Labview). A comparative study of both architectures will demonstrate the performance improvement (if any) of the hybrid against the standard OFDM architecture.

Academic qualifications

A first degree (at least a 2.1) ideally in Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering with a good fundamental knowledge of Communication Principles, Digital Communications, Digital Signal Processing, Statistics and Stochastic Processes, Engineering Mathematics.

English language requirement

IELTS score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in each of the four components).

Other, equivalent qualifications will be accepted. Full details of the University’s policy are available online.

Essential attributes:

· Experience of fundamental Wireless Communications

· Competent in Signal Processing for Wireless Communications

· Knowledge of Communication Principles, Digital Communications, Digital Signal Processing, Statistics and Stochastic Processes, Engineering Mathematics

· Good written and oral communication skills

· Strong motivation, with evidence of independent research skills relevant to the project

· Good time management

Desirable attributes:

Experience with software tools such as Matlab, Labview.

For enquiries about the content of the project, please email Assoc Prof Petros Karadimas - p.karadimas@napier.ac.uk

For information about how to apply, please visit our website https://www.napier.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-degrees/how-to-apply

To apply, please select the link for the PhD Computing FT application form.