About the project
Future wireless networks will do more than connect people: they will sense, compute, and adapt intelligently. This PhD explores signal processing for next generation wireless systems, including integrated sensing and communications, over-the-air computation, and holographic MIMO, developing new methods to support faster, smarter, and more reliable wireless systems.
Future wireless networks are expected to do far more than provide faster data communications. They will need to sense the environment, support distributed intelligence, and enable high reliability communication. This PhD project addresses the challenges that arise when communication systems must also perform sensing, computation, and adaptive decision-making.
The research will focus on next-generation wireless technologies, such as integrated sensing and communications, over-the-air computation, and holographic MIMO. Key research problems may include the waveform design and beamforming methods that support both sensing and communication, how to exploit the wireless channel for efficient distributed computation, and how to model, process, and optimise signals in extremely large antenna systems.
The intended outcomes include new mathematical models, algorithms, and simulation-based performance evaluations for future wireless systems. The project may involve tools from digital communications, statistical signal processing, optimisation, information theory, and machine learning. You will develop methods that improve spectral efficiency, sensing accuracy, reliability, scalability, and energy efficiency in emerging 6G and beyond networks.
Future wireless infrastructure will be central to smart cities, connected transport, industrial automation, robotics, immersive services, and edge intelligence. A standout feature of the project is its breadth across several timely and rapidly developing research areas, giving the student scope to shape the direction of the PhD according to their strengths and interests while contributing to internationally relevant wireless communications research.
The School of Electronics & Computer Science is committed to promoting equality, diversity inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break. The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.
