TWO PH.D. STUDENT POSITIONS IN CODED MODULATION

Job description

In wireless communications, channel fading strongly degrades the performance of the system. Bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) is a hot method to achieve high spectral efficiency over digital communication links which gives good performance in fading channels. Systems using several antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver are known as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In fading channels, MIMO systems offer performance enhancements compared to single-input single-output systems in terms of spectral efficiency (spatial multiplexing gain), quality of the transmission (diversity gain), and coverage (array gain).

BICM and the combination of MIMO and BICM (BICM-MIMO) are very relevant from an implementation point of view because of their flexibility and moderate complexity. These practical considerations combined with their excellent performance in fading channels make BICM and BICM-MIMO to be considered the de facto standard for wireless communications. Different flavors of these systems are used in many wireless standards such as IEEE 802.11a/g/n, 4G (HSDPA and HSUPA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMAX, and the latest DVB standards (DVB-T2, DVB-S2, and DVB-C2).

This research project deals with the evaluation and optimization of coded modulation systems, with particular emphasis on BICM and BICM-MIMO. The systems will be optimized theoretically and numerically and their performance will be evaluated by analysis and simulations. The project is aimed at developing information-theoretic and coding bounds to analyze BICM and BICM-MIMO. The theoretical analysis will be used to derive optimization criteria for the design of practical low-complexity schemes achieving high diversity and high coding gain. Part of the project is carried out in close collaboration with the University of Cambridge, U.K., where the Ph.D. students may spend some time.

A Ph.D. student position is an appointment that offers the opportunity to obtain a Ph.D. degree. With a Ph.D. degree in this area, you will be in great demand from Swedish as well as international industry, and you will also have a very good basis for further academic research. The positions are paid with a full-time monthly salary and are for a period of maximum five years. There are no tuition fees.

Required qualifications

To apply for these positions, you should have a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Applied Mathematics, or similar, with high grades in the core courses. You should have experience in digital communications or signal processing. Skills in mathematical analysis are essential.

You should be fluent in English (both written and spoken), have good collaborative skills, and have good abilities to communicate your results in writing and in presentations, also to nonexperts. Teaching qualifications are also a plus, since the positions may include teaching (up to 20% of full time).

Application procedure

The application shall be written in English and include the following items:

1. An application of a maximum of one A4 page containing your specific qualifications for the position
2. Attested copies of education certificates, including grade reports and other documents
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Letters of recommendation and name of reference persons (optional)

The application shall be sent electronically as pdf or zipped documents. Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

If any material is not available electronically or cannot be transferred to pdf format, the material can be sent as a hard copy to Registrar. The applicants name and the reference number (2011/6) must be written on the first page of the application.

Address:
Registrar
Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96 Göteborg
Sweden

Further information

The education certificates mentioned in item 2 above should include diplomas and transcripts from Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

For questions, please contact any of:

• Prof. Erik Agrell, agrell@chalmers.se

• Assist. Prof. Alexandre Graell i Amat, alexandre.graell@ieee.org

• Assist. Prof. Fredrik Brännström, fredrik.brannstrom@chalmers.se

• Ph.D. Student Alex Alvarado, alex.alvarado@chalmers.se

Keywords: Bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM), capacity-achieving codes, channel coding theory, coded modulation, digital communications, digital transmission theory, error-correcting coding, information theory, LTE, mathematical analysis, MIMO systems, multilevel modulation, open position, PhD student, signal processing, space-time codes, spectrally efficient modulation, telecommunications.

Application deadline 2011-02-18

Union representatives

• SACO: Jan Lindér
• ST: Marie Wenander
• SEKO: Johan Persson

All reachable via Chalmers exchange: +46 31 772 10 00

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