PhD Position Available
Digital Communications For Polar Regions Via High Frequency Radio (HF)
British Antarctic Survey and the University of Leicester
Application Deadline: Friday, 8 June 2007
Apply online at: http://www.le.ac.uk/graduateoffice/
For more information, please go to:
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_BAS/Cambridge/Divisions/PSD/studentsh…
In remote parts of the world with little or no infrastructure, High
Frequency (HF), short-wave radio has long been used as the principal
means of communications between isolated communities - whether they be
farmers in Australia or scientists in Antarctica. In recent years,
however, digital satellite communications technology has largely
replaced HF as it can provide a more reliable service and the ability to
connect to the internet. HF has the advantage that it is free to use.
Its drawback is that it relies upon reflecting signals off the
ionosphere, a highly variable layer of charged particles in the upper
atmosphere. The highly unpredictable and variable nature of the
ionosphere has limited the use of HF for digital communications,
particularly in polar regions where the ionosphere is at its most
dynamic and disturbed.
Nevertheless, potential applications of digital HF communications in
polar regions are considerable and diverse, spanning operational
communications between manned and powered research stations though to
recovery of data from very remote unmanned instrumentation. However,
polar regions present a particular challenge to digital HF
communications; in addition to the highly variable ionosphere, remote
instrumentation has limited power, and cold temperatures and high winds
present engineering difficulties. Each application requires a different
trade off between operating parameters such as bandwidth, communication
predictability, and power consumption. These differing requirements and
constraints may mean that different technologies and different operating
strategies are applicable in different cases.
Recent advances in digital signal processing, ionospheric modelling, and
the emergence of standards for HF digital communication, have raised the
prospect of a much expanded role for digital communications via HF in
polar regions. This PhD project will examine the various potential
applications and the solutions that could be adopted or developed to
fulfill them, matching technologies onto various scenarios (statistical
properties of ionosphere, predictability of power availability, etc),
this would be taken through to modelling proof of concepts trials and
system design. It may include some hardware where appropriate but is
unlikely to involve system testing in polar regions.
The student will be based at the British Antarctic Survey but will spend
time at the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester. No
fieldwork is planned as part of the studentship. The ideal student will
have an excellent degree in Electronic Engineering or similar, and a
strong interest in communication systems.
Applicants should apply online at:
http://www.le.ac.uk/graduateoffice/
For more information, including full announcement, please go to:
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_BAS/Cambridge/Divisions/PSD/studentsh…