PhD positions on ultra-reliable intra-aircraft wireless communication

The Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven (CWTe) of the Electrical Engineering (EE) department of TU/e has an open Ph.D. position as part of the recently granted project RHIADA (Reliable Hybrid Intra Aircraft Data network Architectures).  The project is a cooperation between Fokker Elmo, the Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR) and TU/e and is financially supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

One of the technologies for hybrid data distribution that RHIADA will investigate is ultra- reliable wireless communication. In the case of avionics, the most important advantages of wireless systems are weight reduction, resulting in less fuel consumption, flexibility, ease of layout, maintenance and modification. Despite their advantages, wireless technologies have been hardly adopted in aviation where most intra-aircraft connectivity relies on wired technologies. The use of wireless technologies is limited to in-flight online interconnectivity for passengers and in-flight entertainment. The main reason for this is that current wireless technologies are not able to provide the reliability, security, and guaranteed low-latency levels needed to effectively support the operation of the various aircraft applications.

Building on the results of our ongoing European project ADENEAS (https://www.adeneas-project.eu), RHIADA will further investigate techniques to guarantee high levels of reliability in wireless networks inside aircraft, comprising their robustness to interference, failures and attacks, the capability to achieve high levels of availability and flexibility, and the ability to deal with stringent latency constraints. The main idea is to combine in-network intelligence with diversity at several layers of the protocol stack. It is the intention to investigate intelligence mechanisms embedded in the network that, in addition to supporting self-configuration, self-organization and self-healing, will be able to detect, localize, analyze, and predict connectivity disruptions and attacks and consequently take the necessary countermeasures. An important aspect of this research is to investigate up to which level 3GPP, IEEE and SAE standards, new or in preparation, support the stringent reliability and latency requirements of avionics communication and what extensions and modifications will be necessary to satisfy them. The proposed techniques will be validated using simulations and experiments.

Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven (CWTe)

The CWTe is a collaboration of five research groups of the Electrical Engineering department of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e): Electromagnetics (EM), Integrated Circuits (IC), Signal Processing Systems (SPS), Electronic Systems (ES) and Electro-optical Communication (ECO). Ultra-dense Ultra-scale and AI-driven Networks

The Center focuses on four programs: Ultra-High Data-Rate Systems, Ultra-dense Ultra-scale and AI-driven Networks, Terahertz Technology, and Radio Astronomy. Together, these programs cover a range of topics such as antenna design, wireless power transfer, data conversion, RF circuit design, signal processing, communications baseband algorithms, and optical and wireless access network design. CWTe continuously develops a vision for each of the programs, their applications, and supporting technologies.

The Ultra-High Data-Rate Systems program covers network architectures and system design for high-speed, high-capacity wireless communications aiming at solutions for pushing data rates toward terabits per second. The Ultra-dense Ultra-scale and AI-driven Networks program focuses on the spectrum and energy efficiency in IoT deployments, such as ultra-low-power circuitry and protocols as well as in-network intelligence. The goal is to develop enabling techniques for massive and dependable energy-efficient communication networks. The Terahertz Technology program is working on the next step to realize miniaturized and affordable terahertz systems. It will be these systems that will bring the wealth of terahertz applications from the laboratory to the real world where companies, medical centers and consumers will profit from the special detection and imaging properties of this frequency range. Finally, the Radio Astronomy program focuses on designing the next generation of radio telescopes. The universe has never been properly mapped at low frequencies (below 30 MHz), and this research contributes to a space-based radio telescope with the goal to look deeper into space.

The CWTe integrates various laboratories designed for research on wireless antennas covering an area of 700 square meters: from near-field scanning (the testing of antennas in a small space), to the testing of new chips on wafers. The facilities include a fully shielded metal room in which the most sensitive electronics can be measured. In a system integration lab, chips can be linked to other components.  There is a traditional anechoic chamber of 28m² facilitates antenna measurements from 500MHz till 40GHz. Next to classical far-field measurements it also supports planar near-field measurements of large connectorized antenna systems. In particular, the combination of the various laboratories and the clustering of the associated expertise in one place make the CWTe unique in Europe.