Postdoc Digital Transmitter (DTX) System Integration

Postdoc position: Digital Transmitter (DTX) System Integration

Job description

Wireless communication has made fantastic progress. However, the biggest concern is the exponential increase in energy consumption of next-generation 5G/6G networks that use “massive Multi-Input/Multi-Output (mMIMO)” techniques. Without a breakthrough, these networks are expected to consume a significant portion of global electricity production by 2030. The main culprits are analog-oriented radio frequency (RF) transmitters (TX), which consume significant energy (even with minimal data traffic) to meet the high-quality requirements of the transmission signal.

This Postdoc position is part of the “ERC Synergy Grant” awarded project DISRUPT, which aims to realize a revolutionary all-digital signal generation in the time domain using new materials, transistors, and design techniques. This approach will, for the first time, deliver the required RF transmission powers using only digital techniques and will be the first to benefit from the theoretical 3000x better RF switching performance of III-Nitride semiconductors compared to silicon.

Foreseen breakthroughs of the DISRUPT project are:

1. New material and transistor concepts for digital RF power generation.
2. Innovative CMOS controllers in combination with revolutionary (gate-)segmented LDMOS/GaN technologies, containing thousands of small RF-power transistors, that can be individually controlled with picosecond accuracy.
3. Broadband coherent signal generation using new waveforms.
4. New distributed RF-power signal generation and combining, enabling wideband and highly energy-efficient transmitters.
5. Seamless integration of serial high-speed digital data transport, clock recovery, signal processing (DSP), wideband low-power error detection using novel ADC architectures, and artificial intelligence-based error correction.

The unique DISRUPT approach offers unprecedented functionality, integration, and efficiency for wireless systems in terrestrial and satellite applications. When DISRUPT is successful, the energy consumption of wireless networks is expected to be reduced by 50% compared to following current technological development paths. This Post Doc position, in the DISRUPT framework, is focused on Digital Transmitter (DTX) System Integration.

You will coordinate with the PIs on the overall integration of the various DTX demonstrators. As such, you:

• Coordinate/plan the sub-block definitions in terms of: naming, pin numbering, dimensions, top-level description.
• Coordinate the simulation-based verification of the sub-block in the context of the overall system.
• Coordinate the DTX top-level with its IO configuration.
• Define together with the PhDs the various supply domains with their decoupling strategies.
• Coordinate the testing of the DTX demonstrators.

You will be part of a leading team in wireless transmitters within the Electronic Research Laboratory (ELCA) of the Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands. The daily supervision team consists of Dr. Morteza Alavi and Prof. Dr. Leo de Vreede (IEEE Fellow) from ELCA, complemented by DISRUPT partners at UCD and Fraunhofer IAF/IZM, as well as various experts from the wireless industry. Fostering an inspiring, friendly, and supportive environment, we meet regularly, educate you on solving complex problems, share ideas and knowledge, team up, and provide the support you need to evolve as a scientist.

Job requirements

To be successful in this project, you have:

• Completed a PhD in RFIC design.
• 5 years of experience or more in IC design.
• Familiarity with Cadence and ADS.
• Experience in RF/wireless.
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python/C/C++.
• Familiarity with the digital design flow.
• Familiarity with RF equipment.
• Good oral and written skills in English.
• Enjoy working in an international and interdisciplinary research group.

To thrive in this project as the coordinating PD, it’s crucial that you are a team player and enjoy training/helping PhD students to tackle technical/scientific challenges and make them grow on the job. You take responsibility (together with the PIs) for the realization and coordination of the DISRUPT project demonstrators with all their facets. You clearly communicate, coordinate, check, and give directions where needed. You have a research mindset, are curiosity-driven, open to evaluating new ideas, and are passionate about achieving the DISRUPT goals. Doing so, you will change how wireless communication is done in the future. Your gained experiences and your newly built extensive professional network will create a wealth of great opportunities for you, inside or outside academia.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

You will work at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) within the Electronic Research Laboratory (ELCA) and in collaboration with DISRUPT partners.