Research position to investigate on satellite-to-ground communication protocols

Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) is becoming one of the relevant IoT technologies that is being extended in different domains. Its application in satellite systems is currently being discussed. These systems can provide global coverage and ubiquitous services to terrestrial devices. One of the main challenges that needs to be tackled is the interaction between satellites and ground stations. These interfaces are typically characterized by temporal connections in which data transfer capacity is limited. Therefore, it is crucial to optimize those contacts to transfer as much data as possible. 

This temporality provokes the following constraints:

1. Data cannot be transferred following ground techniques, like connection-oriented ones

2. Aprioritization of the data types (or operations) must be conducted to properly use the contact

3. Half duplex interfaces emphasizes this problem.

For this reason, the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) entity standardized different sat-to-ground protocols that considered these challenges. These protocols were defined to interact with traditional satellites (e.g. for Earth Observation), which generate data over a target area and can be planned. In the context of the project, this situation may conflict with NB-IoT data flows (e.g. user data, signaling, etc.), which were not defined with those constraints. Therefore, it is important to evaluate how the CCSDS standards match with these new data flows, and which extensions are required to achieve this integration. 

The candidate will investigate techniques for integrating NB-IoT data flows with CCSDS standards. For this reason, the candidate shall review and understand current technologies that address this challenge, and extend it with novel approaches. It is expected to develop solutions that could be deployed in future satellite missions.

As a summary, the tasks associated to this job are the following ones:

- Review the state of the art related to CCSDS

- Investigate in novel technologies to manage NB-IoT flow

- Design and implement a software solution

- Study the limitations and enhancements of the proposed solution

- Publish the research results in conferences and Q1/Q2 journals

Who we are:

i2CAT Foundation is a non-profit research and innovation centre that promotes mission oriented R&D activities on advanced Internet architectures, applications and services. The centre stands for a new open innovation framework, fostering the collaboration between companies, public administration, the academic environment and end-users.

i2CAT’s activities span the areas of Research, playing a key role in the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation; Strategic Projects, leading local initiatives that strengthen the digital policies of public administration, and Technology Transfer, fostering R&D collaboration with companies to develop innovative market-oriented solutions.

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