The Electronics Research Group investigates the performance of packet radio links (e.g. mobile and satellite links used for Internet access). There are on-going research projects in digital video broadcast, optimisation of TCP, multicast communication, and the development of new Internet protocols. The group has an excellent record in both developing leading-edge solutions, standardisation. and publishing technical articles. The University of Aberdeen is among the UK's top research universities in the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) - a year long independent evaluation of the quality of research undertaken across Britain's universities. The University provides a set of web pages that describe the University or Aberdeen and why students should consider studying in Aberdeen's world-leading research environment.
Currently Available Postgraduate Projects
| Start Date | Information | |
| Short Term Research Assistant/Internship or Exchange | To start February 2010 Duration 2 to 6 months |
The project will analyse the feasibility of TV broadcasting using Internet techniques, with a focus on bootstrap methods to discover services and identify the security and transport requirements for a set of use cases. |
| To start Jan 2010
Duration 3.5 Years |
Research will analyse the impact of new methods and their applicability for rural pervasive and ubiquitous networking, including both broadband Internet provision and support for emergent applications. | |
|
Radio Resource Management for Next Generation Broadband Satellite |
To start April 2010
Duration 3.5 Years |
Research will analyse the impact of new methods and their applicability for both broadband Internet provision and support for emergent applications. |
Short Term Research Appointment: Research Assistant/Internship/Exchange
Duration: 2-6 Months
The University of Aberdeen plans to advertise a new short-term full-time post in the School of Engineering. The post is created as a result of expansion of the research group. This position is ideally suited to a established researcher seeking an opportunity to work in a new and challenging environment. The successful applicant will work in the ERG laboratories in the School of Engineering
This position is linked to a European Space Agency research project exploring the technical issues raised by the use of an all-IP digital broadcast system. The ESA project seeks to analyse whether it is feasible to transition satellite TV broadcasting away from a system built upon the MPEG-2 Transport Stream to one that is wholly centred on Internet techniques. If successful, the project will contribute to the relevant DVB standardization groups (e.g. DVB GBS), reflecting the outcomes of the entire project (including recommendations for the design of technical solutions to support GSE, dissemination of the results from performance assessments, and technical recommendations intended to help define appropriate signaling for generic stream only systems).
The research appointment will explore a candidate design for an all-IP signalling system, with a focus on bootstrap methods to discover available services and is expected to identify the security and transport requirements. Working with a postdoctoral fellow, the researcher will propose a suitable signaling scheme, seeking to harmonize the proposed solutions across different use cases. This must be integrated within a simulation environment or as a part of the existing DVB testbed.
Award
This position is a funded position to be appointed at the UK national rates for research assistants. The position is available to UK applicants or nationals of other EU states. The starting date and duration are to be confimed, prior to formal advertisement, but initial enquires are invited from Jan 2010.
The successful candidate will have a First Class Degree in Engineering or Computer Science. Applicants are expected to also possess or have completed a Master of Science (or equivalent) postgraduate degree/diploma in computer science or electronic engineering. She/He will be expected to have or gain skills in simulation and practical experimentation.
Rural Digital Economy Research Hub Studentships
The University of Aberdeen is inviting applications for a number of PhD studentships on offer as a result of the development of a new Rural Digital Economy Research Hub funded by the UK Research Councils. The Aberdeen Digital Economy Hub is one of three such centres in the UK. An award of £12.4M will fund a programme of research over the next five years, which will explore how digital technologies can be developed to enhance the delivery of crucial services such as healthcare and transport in rural areas across the UK. Around 60 research staff and students will be based in the Hub. Each student will be provided with office space in a dedicated environment within the Hub located in the King's College campus supported by the ERG laboratories and testbed facilities in the School of Engineering.
Topics of study include:
Awards
Studentships are available from January 2010. Each studentship will cover the cost of fees and a maintenance stipend (starting at £13,290 p.a) for three and a half years. Studentships are available to UK applicants or nationals of other EU states. Non-EU citizens may apply for additional funding to cover the additional fees, subject to availability.
The successful candidate will have a First Class Degree in Engineering or Computer Science, a Masters in a related topic or equivalent experience. She/He will be expected to have or gain skills in simulation and practical experimentation and be able to develop an understanding of technologies relating to the Future Internet.
Radio Resource Management for Next Generation Broadband Satellite
The University of Aberdeen is inviting applications for PhD study to support an existing programme of research. The work will use simulation tools, supported by the ERG laboratories and testbed facilities in the School of Engineering.
DVB-RCS is a key European standard for satellite broadband. It is defined and maintained by Digital Video Broadcast forum. Following approval by the DVB commercial module, the DVB technical module started development of a Next Generation RCS (RCS-NG) Specification in mid 2009. The first stage of standardisation, to be completed in mid 2010 will define new physical layer methods - primarily to increase flexibility and reduce costs. A medium-term project will define a Higher Layer Specification (HLS), including interaction with Internet QoS.
Research will analyse the impact of new methods and their applicability for both broadband Internet provision and support for emergent applications. This is expected to inform this standards activity and can then build upon the standards to define and analyse methods. This research support is crucial to evolving large-scale markets and assuring support across a breadth of applications. Topics of immediate concern are definition of advanced radio management techniques that can support higher-rate consumer systems, use of the Generic Stream Encapsulation to drive down operating cost, and integration in a QoS subsystem to allow the network to be tailored to specific applications.
The work will focus on Layer 2 protocol design and be primarily simulation-based using ns2, although it is expected to be supported by practical experimentation to explore real system characteristics and to validate the results of the simulation. The student will work as a part of a team, with other team members working on higher layer protocols. The work will be assisted by a senior postdoctoral research fellow (supported by industry funding) leading work on developing a next generation simulation environment.
Award
The successful candidate will have a First Class Degree in Engineering or Computer Science, a Masters in a related topic or equivalent experience. She/He will be expected to have or gain skills in simulation and practical experimentation and be able to develop an understanding of technologies relating to the Future Internet. Applications are invited with a start date on or after April 2010.
Students are normally expected to meet their own costs. (Proposals for industrial funding are also in preparation and may be applicants may be elligible, please request deatails).
Finding out more and applying to study in the group
Interested applicants requiring additional information about
the projects and positions should contact Prof. Gorry Fairhurst. Please include a CV and provide details of programming experience. Files should be sent as text files, PDF, or postscript.
All applications should be made via the University postgraduate admissions procedure, naming Prof. G. Fairhurst as the expected supervisor for the studies. All applicants for PhD study are expected to register initially for a MSc, and transfer to the PhD programme on proof of satisfactory progress.