PhD Studentship: Distributed Radar Synchronisation Techniques in a Maritime Environment

Almost all radar systems currently transmit from the same location. A drastic departure from this sensing architecture is distributed radar – enacted by a coherent network of spatially distributed sensors that can be independently transmitting, receiving, or both. By acting in unison, rather than in isolation, they can utilise temporal and spatial diversity whilst simultaneously exploiting shared, intelligent adaptive signal processing whose combined performance and resilience can easily exceed that of the sum of their parts.

Distributed radar systems require a common sense of time, frequency and phase to operate as a coherent network. This requirement can be theoretically fulfilled in a number of ways, including hardware approaches, e.g. the (wired or wireless) dissemination of the same clock signal, or signal processing approaches, such as those utilising the direct Tx/Rx breakthrough signal. However, in a maritime environment, some of these approaches are either degraded or they become altogether unsuitable, while the utility and performance of others remains an open question.

The aim of the PhD is to derive synchronisation techniques suitable for deployment into a maritime radar sensor network. To achieve the project aim will require the following objectives to be fulfilled:

• Problem definition, including the derivation of synchronisation requirements for a maritime radar network of moving platforms based on priority use cases
• Comparative analysis of signal synchronisation techniques applied to defined problem. Those will include signal processing (e.g. through direct Tx/Rx signal analysis), hardware (e.g. locking oscillators to a common source) but also hybrid methods
• Analysis of target Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) achievable through effective signal synchronisation against use cases

The synchronisation approaches we will derive will be tested using the ADvanced Radar Network (ADRAN) facility at the University of Birmingham campus. Among the possible synchronisation methods the project will consider the use of ultra-stable photonic and Quantum timing sources.

The project covers UK tuition fees and the standard UKRI PhD stipend and it is co-funded by the Quantum Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT) and BAE Systems. The academic supervision team have a track record of more than 20 years on distributed radar research. The project is aligned to our strategic priority of expanding our critical mass on distributed radar, which is currently supported by prestigious and large initiatives including QuSIT and a newly awarded Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Research Chair on distributed radar systems. Finally, it will benefit from world-leading infrastructure uniquely suited to support the programme, i.e. a fully operational network of Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) primary surveillance radars specially modified to support fundamental distributed radar research that is available on campus.

Funding notes:

Only Home (UK citizens) students are eligible for this kind of scholarship. Successful candidates will have an excellent background in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Physics or a related subject area (first class degree or equivalent). We invite applications from highly motivated individuals, able to master complex subjects and eager to undertake research in a system- level approach with both theoretical and experimental thrusts of activities, publish research papers and advance research as part of a team of researchers working in the area.

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