PhD Position Power-Digital Transmitter (DTX) Design

PhD position in Power-Digital Transmitter (DTX) design

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 PhD 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 PhD project (PhD C) in the DISRUPT framework focuses on Power-Digital Transmitter (DTX) design.

It addresses the following scientific challenges and provides hardware solutions for:

• Low-loss RF-power switch banks layouts
• CMOS-LDMOS and CMOS-GaN high-density interconnect schemes
• Novel RF-power combiner topologies/schemes fully exploring DTX functionality
• Wideband efficiency-enhancement schemes for deep power back-off operation
• Ultra-low form-factor / novel package integration
• Thermal design of RF-power DTX

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. Within ELCA we share a drive to pioneer novel RF/wireless solutions at the device, circuit, and system levels. The daily supervision team consists of Dr. Morteza Alavi and Prof. Dr. Leo de Vreede (IEEE Fellow) from ELCA, complemented by our esteemed 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

In order to be successful in this project, you bring:

• MSc in Electrical Engineering
• Experience in IC design (Cadence)
• Knowledge of RF/wireless and RF design tools (ADS)
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python/C/C++
• You are familiar with implementing a digital design flow
• Good oral and written skills in English
• Enjoys working in an international and interdisciplinary team and research group

To thrive as a PhD candidate in this project, it’s crucial that you are a team player and have a strong research mindset driven by curiosity and passion for your topic. Reflecting on your motivation for pursuing a PhD trajectory is essential, as this path involves unique challenges and uncertainties inherent to scientific exploration. Success requires dedication, adaptability, the ability to analyze/design complex problems, effective time management, innovation, and resilience under pressure. Combined with the ability and willingness to work independently and collaborate well, these qualities are indispensable for a fulfilling PhD journey. These experiences will build you as an independent researcher, expand your professional network, and pave the way for diverse paths, inside or outside academia.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

#EUfunded

This is an EU-funded Horizon ERC Synergy Grant, call reference ERC-2025-SyG, acronym DISRUPT.