Job Description

PhD Studentship
Signal Processing for Communications - "Detection and Precoding for Non-Orthogonal Multi-Carrier Modulations in Massive MIMO Systems"

Programe of Electrical Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Inmetro

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship or postdoctoral fellowships in signal processing for communications. This studentship is funded by the CNPq/CAPES research councils in Brazil. The topic of the study is described in the following.

Deadline for application: 15th June 2015
Start date: August 2015

This is an exciting international opportunity for a candidate with (or expecting) an MEng, MSc or PhD with First Class Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering or related areas. Amongst the key technical disciplines are an excellent level of mathematics, development of algorithms and design of wireless communictions systems. The successful candidate will be based at PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will colaborate with national partners and visit international partners, and is expected to attend international conferences and collaborate extensively with international experts.

The studentship is open to everyone, covers the tuition fees, and gives a stipend of about US$ 1000 per month for 4 years for a PhD or about US$ 1750 per month for up to 5 years (posdoctoral fellowship) subject to an annual increase. Additional funding might be available with industrial projects and with partner institutions requiring extra 4-6 hours per week.

Applicants should send an up to date CV with photo, a one-page personal statement, full contact details (including email addresses) of 2 referees, transcripts and publications to:

Prof. Rodrigo C. de Lamare, PUC-Rio - delamare@cetuc.puc-rio.br
and
Dr. Rodrigo P. David, Inmetro - rdavidrd@gmail.com
?
Detection and Precoding for Non-Orthogonal Multi-Carrier Modulations in Massive MIMO Systems

Mobile communications are experiencing a substantial increase in data traffic due to several emerging applications which include machine-to-machine communications, Internet of Things(IoT), novel broadband services like ultra high resolution video and augmentedreality[1,2,3]. It is expected that this huge data exchange will continue to increase in the next few decades leading representatives of industry and academia to look into the technologicaldevelopments towards the next generationof mobile communications (5G) [4].

The architecture of future fifth generation (5G) wireless systems, their performance and mobile services to be provided have not been clearly defined. There is widespread agreement that 5G systems will have to rely on technologies that can offer a substantial increase in transmission capacity (about 10 times of the current Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireles technology), through a combination of innovative techniques involving different network layers, without a significant increase in bandwidth and energy consumption [3].
In the physical layer, multi-carrier Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, currently used in LTE systems, is not taken for granted due to its limited spectral efficiency as a result of the need for a cyclic prefix and its intrinsic large sidelobes that increase the out of band emissions, as well as the need for a high level of synchronization in order to maintain the ortogonality between OFDM subcarriers [4]. Therefore, alternative non-orthogonal multi-carrier modulations possessing larger spectral efficiency and lower synchronizations requirements are being considered for 5G system [4,5].
Another consensus point is multi-input multi-output (MIMO) wireless communications devices employing antenna arrays with a very large number of antenna elements which are known as massive MIMO systems have a great potential to overcome the challenges of increasing the transmission capacity in a given bandwidth, thus representing a key technology in the development of 5G system [1,6].Specifically, the non-ortogonallitybetween the waveforms to be used in the transmission systems require the development of precoding and detection algorithms to jointly supress the multi-user and inter-symbol interferences.

In this context, the development of precoding and detection algorithms applied to non-orthogonal multi-carrier modulations used in massive MIMO systems is the objective of this proposal. In the proposed project, we will first carry out a literature review, followed by an analysis of the results found in the scientific literature and development of algorithms in order to achieve the proposed objectives. The evaluation of algorithmswill be performed by computer simulations along with comparisons of the results available in the literature. Moreover, a desirable alternativefor validating the proposed algorithms in realistic environments is via USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) devices.

Keywords: 5G technology, non-orthogonal multi-carrier modulation, massive MIMO, detection and precoding.

References

[1] R. C. de Lamare, "Massive MIMO Systems: Signal Processing Challenges and Future Trends", URSI Radio Science Bulletin, 2013

[2] Chen, Shanzhi, and Jian Zhao. "The requirements, challenges, and technologies for 5G of terrestrial mobile telecommunication." Communications Magazine, IEEE 52.5 (2014): 36-43.

[3] Akyildiz, I.F., Melodia, T., Chowdury, K.R.: ”Wireless multimedia sensor networks: aurvey”. IEEE Wireless Communications. 14(6), 32–39 (2007)

[4]Banelli, Paolo, et al. "Modulation Formats and Waveforms for the Physical Layer of 5G Wireless Networks: Who Will be the Heir of OFDM?." arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.5947 (2014).

[5]G. Wunder et al., “5GNOW: non-orthogonal, asynchronouswaveformsfor future mobile applications”,
IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 52, no. 2,pp. 97-105, Feb. 2014

[6]Farhang, Arman, et al. "Massive MIMO and Waveform Design for 5th Generation Wireless Communication Systems." arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.00305 (2015).

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