Fully–funded Home PhD Studentship on Centimeter Accuracy Positioning of Mobile Devices using 10s Picosecond Order Time Synchronised Radio Access Networks

Applicants are invited to apply for a fully funded 3-year UK home PhD studentship in the Optical Networks Group working on time synchronisation in optical networks, within the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London (UCL), a world-leading optical communications research group.

Supervisor: Dr. Kari Clark under his Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship on “Ultra-low latency clock-synchronised transceivers for future 6G radio access networks”

Start date: 2024-2025

Closing date for applications: 31st January 2025 (or until filled).

Project description

Have you ever wondered how our mobile devices find themselves on Google Maps? Fundamentally, this is done through trilateration: the measurement of differences in time of flight of radio waves from three or more sources. Our mobile devices currently use global navigation satellite systems such as GPS, measuring the time of flight from satellites, but this process is 1) slow, taking 10s of seconds and 2) prevents mobile devices from finding their location in places GPS cannot reach, such as underground, or within buildings.

Why don’t mobile devices instead measure the distance from mobile antennas to calculate mobile device position? The problem is that time synchronisation inaccuracy of the antennas causes location inaccuracy. Current radio access networks, which interconnect antennas, are time synchronised to only microsecond accuracies, leading to impractical location accuracies of 100s of meters.

This PhD project will address this challenge, exploring the time synchronisation of radio antennas to 10s picosecond order accuracies to enable location accuracies of centimetres. It will be predominantly experimental, focussing on digital hardware design using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and optical / wireless experiment construction. The project will explore distributing optically-modulated clock signals and state-of-the-art methods to compensate for the various effects that cause asymmetry of time of flight through electronic transceivers and optical fibre.

The outcomes of the project could enable exciting possibilities for positioning technology: imagine never getting lost in a supermarket again, or using augmented reality that can be smaller and lighter thanks to having an extremely accurate position.

About the Optical Networks Group

The work of the Optical Networks Group (ONG) focuses on optical communications systems and networks, operating on all time and length scales: from micrometre-scale photonic integrated circuits to 10,000-kilometre-scale inter-continental optical fibre transmission systems. Irrespective of how you access the internet, these systems and networks form the global communications infrastructure underpinning the Internet. Ultimately, our research ensures that this infrastructure keeps pace with the rapid growth in demand for data, enabling new applications such as augmented reality, quantum communications and autonomous car fleets.

ONG collaborates closely with over 50 leading industry and academic research groups around the world. Many come to use our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, including our optical fibre transmission and network testbed, which is unique in the UK and only one of about five in academic laboratories worldwide.

Our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and extensive industrial collaborations has enabled multiple world-record breaking results, including the world’s fastest ever demonstrated optical fibre data transmission speed of over 200Tbit/s and a record time to electronically recover the clock in data centres of under a billionth of a second.

We have a 30-year long track record of training very successful PhD graduates, many of whom have won multiple prizes and awards, having gone on to work in industrial companies and academic institutions across the world. Further information about ONG may be found on our website. UCL is ranked 9th in the 2024 QS World University rankings.

General requirements: We are looking for academically outstanding, enthusiastic students that have strong interest, experience and enthusiasm for hands-on experimental and/or theoretical research. We expect you to have at least an Undergraduate or Masters degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field to photonics and optical communications, such as electronic & electrical engineering, physics, telecommunications, mathematics or computer science. We expect at least a 2.1 overall degree classification with a 1st in your individual research project / dissertation.

Additionally, we highly value experience in scientific computing, such as with C, C++, MATLAB or Python, as well as hands-on design skills, such as of digital circuits using SystemVerilog, printed circuit boards and laser systems. Previous experience of research in an optical communications, optics or a physics research laboratory is an advantage as is relevant research experience. However, above all else, we value a genuine interest, motivation, energy and excitement about research.

Formal application process: Applicants must apply using the UCL online application system found here, and must be marked with “Optical Networks Group”. If your application is shortlisted, we will email you to arrange an interview.

Applications must include:

• CV
• Cover letter which includes a description of how your profile, knowledge, and skills suits either ONG’s research or the specific PhD project
• The names of two referees with their email addresses. After your application is submitted, your referees will be provided with an email with instructions to submit a reference for you using UCL’s application system. We expect references to be submitted in a timely manner (no more than 1 week following the closing date for applications)

Informal inquiries: We also welcome questions and informal inquiries. To make informal inquiries, please feel free contact Dr Kari Clark ([email protected]) who will be happy to answer any questions. An attached CV with your informal inquiry is helpful but not required.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion: We believe that our research thrives thanks to our diversity – our research is driven forward by talented researchers and PhD students that come from countries and backgrounds across the globe. Almost a quarter of our members are female – about 10% higher than the UK average in engineering – and indeed have been extremely successful, including Wenting Yi, one of our PhD students who won the IEEE Photonics Society Award as well as an IEEE Women in Photonics Travel Grant in 2022. We also have a trained mental health first aider (MHFA) in the group.

We therefore strongly encourage applications from underrepresented backgrounds to apply – ONG is a great place for you to study.