PhD Position in Ultra-reliable UAV-assisted Vehicular Communication Networks Catholic University of Leuven

Project

Drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs, are becoming increasingly popular for various applications. One of them is providing a bird-eye view on the traffic situation for autonomous cars. UAVs, cars, and sensors deployed along the road infrastructure will form an ultra-dynamic communication network. Reliable wireless communication is critical for such applications and safe transportation systems of the future. Understanding the reliability of those systems requires accurate channel, propagation and interference models since communication conditions are changing very fast for a vehicle moving through a complex environment. However, state of the art channel and performance models cannot reproduce this propagation behavior and resulting end-to-end system reliability.

The final objective of this project is to design algorithms for ultra-reliable UAV-assisted vehicular communication networks. We will propose the guidelines for optimal positioning and mobility for UAVs and assess the achievable performance of such networks deployed in complex real-world environments. As a tool for achieving this ambitious objective, we will create channel models (it will be done by our partners in Ghent university) considering the mobile nature of both aerial and ground nodes, understanding the impact of mobility far beyond the state of the art radio channel models focusing on static base stations. These models will be based on series of electromagnetic simulations and measurements performed by the equipment designed during the project.

Profile

The applicant should have a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering and should meet the minimum eligibility criteria for a PhD at KU Leuven, namely having very good grades as well as mature mastering of English, both oral and in writing. The applicant should preferably have a background in wireless communication, performance modelling or optimisation. Experience in telecommunication equipment design would be an added advantage.

Offer

• We offer a PhD scholarship up to four years (subject to positive intermediate evaluations). If the applicant does not have a EU master, also up to 1 year pre-doc will be supported. 
• An exciting research environment, working on the intersection between theory and implementation, in a very multi-disciplinary research environment
• A PhD title from a highly-ranked university (after approximately 4 years of successful research)
• A thorough scientific education, the possibility to become a world-class researcher
• A KU Leuven affiliation, one of the largest research universities of Europe
• The possibility to participate in international conferences and collaborations

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Sofie Pollin, tel.: +32 16 32 10 51, mail: sofie.pollin@kuleuven.be or Dr. Evgenii Vinogradov, tel.: +32 16 37 20 96, mail: evgenii.vinogradov@kuleuven.be.

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