Research Associate in mmWave Radio Systems

A Research Associate position is available on the newly funded Yorkshire Open Radio Access Networks (YO-RAN) project to develop millimetre wave Open-RAN radio units (O-RUs) operating in the 24-30GHz bands.

YO-RAN is a prestigious £7.3M project funded by DCMS as part of the UK government’s Future Open Networks Research Challenge (FONRC). The partners in YO-RAN will develop new Open RAN technology aimed at diversifying the UK radio access network (RAN) supply chain. YO-RAN’s vision is to develop an Open RAN neutral host network incorporating Open Networking principles, which will ensure they are embedded in future neutral host networks by default.

YO-RAN will operate within the expected Open RAN network architecture, comprising the Radio Unit (O-RU), Distributed Unit (O-DU), Centralised Unit (O-CU), Core, RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and transport/hosting technology, including the fronthaul connections between the O-RU and the O-DU. The focus of the YO-RAN project is the development of new O-RU and RIC technologies.

A key challenge in deploying public neutral host services on Open RAN technology is the availability of Radio Units (RUs) with the appropriate capabilities, including configurable multiband and wideband capabilities at mm-wave frequencies. This requires challenging advances in the mm-wave technology incorporated into the O-RU. The main objectives of the research at Sheffield relevant to the post are to:

1. Develop mm-wave O-RUs with configurable multiband and wideband capabilities.
2. Integrate the mm-wave O-RUs into an over-the-air hardware-in-the-loop testbed.
3. Evaluate the performance of the mm-wave O-RUs.

The Research Associate will work on the design, manufacture and testing of mm-wave Open RAN radio units operating in the 24-30GHz bands. The main roles of the Research Associate are to: a) design configurable multiband and wideband mm-wave radio units incorporating both RF and digital front ends; b) manufacture and characterise the designed radio units; and c) integrate the radio units into an over-the-air hardware-in-the-loop testbed and evaluate their end-to-end transmission performance.

Sheffield’s partners on YO-RAN include the University of York, ADVA, AMRC North West, AQL, BT, CellNex, Jet Engineering, Radio Design, Safenetics and Slipstream Engineering Design.

The YO-RAN project strongly contributes to the University’s strategy to maintain its position as one of the leading centres for radio systems research in the UK focusing on 5G and 6G communications systems.

The University of Sheffield is one of the best not-for-profit organisations to work for in the UK. The University’s Total Reward Package includes a competitive salary, a generous Pension Scheme and annual leave entitlement, as well as access to a range of learning and development courses to support your personal and professional development.

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

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