Mobile/Multi-access Edge Computing: Topology, function placement and connectivity issues

King’s College London is now inviting applications for a fully-funded 3 year PhD Scholarship in the Department of Informatics at King’s College London in collaboration with Vodafone UK, in the broad area of Mobile/Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC).

Edge computing aims to make the concept of the cloud elastic, moving resources close to end devices as required, by using virtualized storage and compute resources that can be relocated. Edge-based solutions are expected to become a central component of future mobile network architecture, as applications place increasingly stringent requirements such as low latency, high resilience to failures or massive numbers of end point devices. Yet, numerous questions remain to be answered: Where is the “sweet spot” for locating these compute and storage resources? How should current cloud-based applications be rewritten to take advantage of the flexibility of the location of the cloud? How should the network be planned to provide such heterogeneous resources when needed? How do we ensure security in such a flexible environment?

This PhD project aims to answer questions such as the above. Importantly, there is a strong support and interest from our industry partners (Vodafone Group R&D), both to help direct the research towards implementable solutions and to help in the development and deployment of prototypes, providing an unparalleled opportunity to have a real-world impact during the course of the PhD. The precise project will be decided upon in consultation with the supervisor.

Candidate description A Bachelor’s or Masters degree in engineering, computer science, or related subjects is required. The candidate is expected to have a sound theoretical and practical knowledge of current and future cellular networks, as well as strengths in programming and/or a background in implementing prototypes.

Supervisory team: The supervisory team for this project comprises the following:

First Supervisor: Dr. Nishanth Sastry ([Email Address Removed])

Second Supervisor: Prof. Mischa Dohler ([Email Address Removed])

Partner Organisation: Vodafone Group R&D in the UK

Application Procedure

Application documentation: All applicants must complete and submit by email to the first supervisor the following documentation in PDF format:
• A CV
• A research statement giving details of how they would like to shape their PhD project under the umbrella of edge computing. Statements will be evaluated on:
1. knowledge exhibited of relevant work,
2. Maturity, interestingness, and feasibility of the proposal
Applicants must also arrange for 2 reference letters to be sent to the first supervisor.

Selection: Please note that as part of selection, short-listed candidates will be invited for interview shortly after the deadline, and candidates should explicitly indicate if there are dates they cannot be available.

In addition to the above documentation and selection process, candidates should separately and in parallel apply for a PhD in the usual way through King’s myApplication system, (https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/), and obtain an unconditional offer. Information about the programme’s application procedure can be found on the Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions webpage: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/admissions/Welcome.aspx .

For further information: Informal enquiries and requests for further information before the application deadline may be directed to Dr. Nishanth Sastry ([Email Address Removed]).