Closing date: March 07, 2006

The Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) has the following vacancy2 PhD positions on ‘MIMO in a mass market’ at TU/e (1,0 fte) (V36.284)at Department of Electrical Engineering.

The Department of Electrical Engineering concerns the research and education of the Electrical Engineering discipline. Electrical Engineering covers the application of electrical phenomena with respect to energy transfer, telecommunication, and calculation and processing of information and the technology involved. Both hardware, in the form of electronic circuits and accessories, and software, in the form of system software for electro-technical application, are the subject of study. Existing and new electrical components and systems are analyzed, designed and realized. In addition, the maintenance of these systems is the subject of research, as is the relevance for society of electrical engineering and informatics.

Tasks
In indoor environments such as homes and offices, wireless communication technology is spreading rapidly. To enable increased throughput, this technology will increasingly exploit multiple antennas at both the transmitting and receiving ends of the communication system. This approach is often referred to as MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output). The first WLAN (wireles local-area network) products using MIMO technology have recently entered the market. As yet these products are relatively costly and power-hungry, and have limited resistance to (ever increasing) interference. For MIMO technology to attain mass-market appeal, these drawbacks need to be overcome. The present project aims to make an important step in this direction by joint optimization of the radio-frequency (RF) and baseband (BB) parts of the transceiver. These parts are normally designed largely independently, and a joint optimization is expected to enable substantially lower power dissipation, lower cost, and higher resilience to interference. Possible approaches include:
a) Novel transceiver topologies, with e.g. fewer RF front-ends than antennas, and a redefinition of the RF/BB borderline.
b) Dealing with RF imperfactions in the BB part of the transceiver, rather than preventing them at RF. This approach is sometimes called `dirty RF’.
c) Inclusion in the RF part of calibrations (of e.g. components or bias currents), based on information extracted at baseband. In this way the RF front-end can accept considerably higher intrinsic tolerances, potentially resulting in significant reductions of complexity/cost and power Dissipation.
d) Dynamic adaptation of the RF part of the transceiver in response to conditions of the communication channel as estimated at baseband. This would, for example, require a high power dissipation only during the small fraction of the time when reception conditions are poorest.

Exploitation of these possibilities requires a collaborative effort between experts in RF transceiver technology and in baseband signal-processing. For this reason the project involves two Ph.D. positions, one focusing on RF technology and embedded in the mixed-signal microelectronics (MSM) group at TU/e, and the other one focusing on baseband signal processing, embedded in the signal processing systems (SPS) group. The project is based partly at TU/e and partly at the Connectivity Solutions group at Philips Research Laboratories. It involves experts from TU/e and Philips and forms part of a broader effort, together with the Universities of Delft and Twente, towards a demonstrator of a `mass-market’ MIMO system. This demonstrator should incorporate some of the approaches developed within the project.

Requirements
Candidates for these positions should have a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Physics with excellent grades (first class honors or equivalent). For the position in the MSM group a specialization in mixed-signal electronics and circuit design is required, along with a demonstrable interest in signal processing. For the position in the SPS group, a strong basis in mathematics, signal processing, information theory or control systems is required, along with a serious interest in circuit design, and an ability to capture the essential behaviour of circuits in simple mathematical signal-processing models. For both positions, other key attributes include good analytic, synthetic, experimental and (object-oriented) programming skills, excellent social and team working skills, and an ability to turn chaos into order.

Appointment and Salary
The appointment is for four years. As an employee of the university you will receive a competitive salary as well as excellent secondary benefits (holiday allowance, etc.). The research in this project must be concluded with the attainment of a Ph.D. degree. A salary is offered starting at Euro 1877,00 per month (gross) in the first year and increasing up to Euro 2407,00 per month (gross) in the last year. Moreover 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) is provided annually. Assistance for finding accommodation can be given.

Information
For further information on (and to apply for) the MSM position please contact Prof. Peter Baltus (peter.baltus@philips.com; room EH5.26). For the SPS position please contact Dr. Frans Willems(F.M.J.Willems@tue.nl; room EH3.09).For information concerning employment conditions you can contact Ms. F. Verheggen, personnel officer ( f.verheggen@tue.nl), +31 04 2474796.

Application
If you are interested in this Ph.D. position, please send a detailed curriculum vitae, an explanation of your interest in the proposed research topic, a publication list, your course programme and corresponding grades, references and all other information that might be relevant to your application to the address below, mentioning vacancy number V36.284.

Eindhoven University of Technology
f.a.o. dr.ir. P.G.M. Baltus (EH 5.26) or
dr.ir. F.M.J. Willems (EH 3.09)
P.O. 513
5600 MB Eindhoven
The Netherlands