Maynooth University Department of Electronic Engineering

Principal Investigators:  Dr Bryan Hennelly / Dr Rudi Villing / Professor John Ringwood

PROJECTS
Nanoscale Biophotonics:
Brain Computer interface / Raman Spectroscopy for Bladder and Prostate cancer diagnostics and multi component blood analysis /Cellular imaging using 3D holographic microscopy with nanometre resolution.htm

Signal Processing: Fast and Accurate Calculations of Cohen-Class Distributions and Applications / Mobile EEG Monitoring / Non-contact Actigraphy Based Sleep Monitoring /Daily Activity Monitoring and Intervention in a Smart Home Environment

Modelling & Control Systems: Modelling of Blood Pressure Control Systems in the Body / Modelling patient-robot interaction dynamics (Game Theory)

 

COER main website: https://coer.maynoothuniversity.ie

France's Highest Academic Honour
Ambassador Stéphane Crouzat and Professor John Ringwood Wednesday, October 4, 2017- 10:30 ... Professor John Ringwood from the Department of Electronic Engineering has been awarded France’s Chevalier ... Professor Ringwoodwas named as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Ambassador of France to ...

How one man's journey to wave energy came via a kayak
Prof John Ringwood from the Department of Electronic Engineering at and a principal investigator at the SFI-funded MaREI centre for marine and renewable energy research tells us about his journey.

Hydrodynamic Control of Wave Energy Devices
Co-Authored by Professor John Ringwood from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Maynooth University, and Professor ​Umesh A Korde of ​South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, USA.​

Maynooth academics named among Ireland’s Champions of EU Research
 ‘Champions of EU Research.’ Professors David Stifter, Professor John Ringwood and Malcom Maclachlan.

The research domain covered by the Dynamics and Control Group covers the broad area of dynamical systems science, considering 'systems' as collections of components and using the techniques of problem abstraction, analysis and design to improve our understanding of such systems and to, in many cases, alter the system behavior. Mathematical modeling forms an important part of the problem abstraction phase, and this involves the development of expertise and collaboration with practitioners in many disciplines, including the many disciplines of engineering, chemistry, biology, physics and the social sciences.... for more information please contact one of the following researchers:

Academic Researchers:
Prof. John Ringwood
Dr. Seamus McLoone
Dr. Sean Doherty

Principal Investigators: Dr. John Dooley, Prof. Ronan Farrell, Dr. Indrakshi Dey
 
Welcome to the Wireless Communication Systems Research Group at Maynooth University.
Our mission is to graduate the engineers that will deliver the solutions of tomorrow for mmWave 5G, 6G, Sat Comms and the myriad of other wireless communication systems that will emerge in the coming years. To do this the group has built up research expertise to analyse wireless systems at Network Level, System Level and Component Level. It is because of this breadth of knowledge that we are ideally positioned to tackle the challenges of future communication networks with low latency, high capacity and power efficiency.  
    

• World class Wireless Communication Systems research
• We work with Industry on all projects (either Informed or Led)
• We Experimentally Validate our research
• Our projects range from sub 1GHz to THz region 

RADIOSPACE - National radio test facility based at Maynooth University
RadioSpace, a new national radio test facility, located at Maynooth University, is among 21 exemplary research projectsto be funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland.

The Future of Networks
Dr Ronan Farrell, head of RadioSpace and the SFI CONNECT Centre at Maynooth University, believes 5G will not arrive as fast or as easily as people think.​

Education and Public Engagement Activities
Ballon National School visit by the CONNECT group 

Recent Projects
 

Experimental validation and all that it entails is a key learning outcome of our graduates. As such every effort is made to provide access to the latest test and measurement equipment and evaluation modules. Building wireless communication systems requires fundamental understanding of digital and RF sub-systems and their respective limitations. A small selection of our past, current and future research projects listed below, clearly demonstrate our work spans a broad range of the frequency spectrum from sub 1GHz to Tera-Hertz region.

Frequency Range 1 (Sub 6-GHz)
[A picture containing text, table, worktable, cluttered Description automatically generated]
Fig. High Efficiency Outphasing PA Testbench for 4G

Power Amplifier Design for High Efficiency Broadband Operation
Outphasing and Digital Doherty PA Design
Adaptive Digital Predistortion for Software Defined Radios 

 
Ku-Band (12GHz to 18GHz)
[Diagram Description automatically generated]
Fig. Comparison of encrypted transmission and standard transmission

Physical Layer Encryption for Satellite Communication Systems.
Frequency Interleaving of Wideband Wireless Communication Signals

 
Frequency Range 2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz)
Multi-path Compensation for Arrays of Power Amplifiers
Hybrid Beamformer Digital Pre-distortion

Fig. Equipment inside a Robinson 44 helicopter

Two-way High Datarate Wireless Air-to-Ground Communication Link
Developed a two-way wireless communication link between aircraft and station on the ground. This system was experimentally validated over a distance of 20km to/from a helicopter and the North campus of Maynooth University.

Optical Wireless Communications
Novel Modulation Schemes for Low-latency and Robust Optical Wireless Communications
This work is demonstrated on a physical bench in the lab.Cellular Network Analysis
[A picture containing text, stage, display Description automatically generated]
Fig. Graphical representation of cellular network usage in Ireland for peak and lowest demand

Estimating Movement from Mobile Telephony Data
Localised Near Horizon Predictive Models of Cellular Load.

 
 

FacilitiesTest & Measurement Equipment

RadioSpace   (Funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number 15/RI/3225. )

• 6m x 6m x 10m anechoic chamber  (certified for 800MHz to 86GHz)
• SMW200A Vector Signal Generator
• FSW43 Signal and Spectrum Analyser
• ZVA40 Vector Network Analyser
• Maturo-controller
• Antenna Mast
• Turntable
• Terahertz Frequency VNA Measurement Facility

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Sub 6GHz RF Lab

• SMU200A Vector Signal Generator
• FSQ Signal and Spectrum Analyser
• ZVB20 Vector Network Analyser
• Programmable DC Power Supplies
• E4438C Signal Generators
• FSL 6GHz Spectrum Analyser
• Infiniium High Speed Oscilloscope – 2.5GHz  

New Equipment in Early 2022…
Evaluation Boards/Modules
Working on projects with major multi-national semi-conductor companies we get access to many evaluation modules and some pre-commercial release hardware.   
Digital Baseboards from Xilinx and Texas Instruments. The FPGAs include: RFSOC ZCU111, ZC709, ZC707, ZC706, Zedboard, PYNQ, Nexys4, Basys3
Mixed Signal Boards include: DAC boards up to 2.5Gsps and ADC boards up to 4Gsps.   
Integrated RF Transceiver Boards: FMCOMMS1, FMCOMMS3, FMCOMMS5, ADRV-DPD1 

[A picture containing text, indoor, computer, desk Description automatically generated]
Fig. FMCOMMS3 board used to implement Digital Pre-Distortion on a 10W PA
Current Vacancies
We currently have 5 PhD positions open for applications. If you are interested in applying to one of these positions, please forward your CV with a cover letter to: [email protected]
1. 6G Power Amplifier Hardware Optimisation 
2. 6G Network Operations Optimisation
3. RF Power Amplifier Design for High Frequency/Efficiency/Capacity Operations  
4. Machine Learning for Wireless Communications

Contact Details:
Radio and Wireless Communications,
Maynooth University,​ 
Maynooth,
Co. Kildare,
Ireland.
Email: [email protected]

 

RadioSpace, a new national radio test facility, located at Maynooth University, is among 21 exemplary research projects to be funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland.
Full details: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/radiospace

Robotics @ Maynooth - full project listings including academic profiles
 

We have recently been awarded a Science Foundation Ireland Infrastructure grant to develop a multi-application mobile and collaborative research laboratory and this will be home to a mobile manipulator service robot and a collaborative robot in addition to existing robot platforms we have. Our areas of interest in this laboratory include human robot interaction, collaborative robotics, the control and behaviour of robots for Ambient Assisted Living and mobile handling in indoor environments, and multi-robot coordination amongst other areas. We are particularly interested in applying machine learning and adaptive techniques to develop robots that are more robust and flexible in the face of dynamic environmental conditions.

 

Additionally, we have been looking at high performance, low-latency, high reliability communications for UAVs and autonomous vehicles (air and sea). This includes self-adaptive robotic systems for tracking systems and robust communication systems. We are collaborators in the recently launched U-Flyte SFI-funded strategic partnership researching innovative U-Space/UTM solutions for drone operations & applications.

 

 

Electronic Engineering and Computer Science departments have also collaborated to field a RoboCup Standard Platform League robot soccer team since 2009 using humanoid Softbank NAO robots. We use this platform to explore multi-agent behaviour and the implementation of real-time intelligent systems on a constrained embedded computer platform.   For more information about any of our Robotics activities please contact one of our principal investigators. 

 

Principal Investigator Dr Rudi Villing 
 

 

 

Principal Investigators: Dr Bob Lawlor, Dr Erivelton Nepomuceno, Dr John Dooley, Dr Mustafa Kishk.

Research Topics:

The main theme of this research group is the design and analysis of energy efficient circuits and systems to promote the sustainable development. Some of the current topics are:

• Efficient algorithms in signal processing
• Energy efficient pseudo-random number generator
• Energy efficient wireless networks
• Green and sustainable next generation cellular networks
• Green computing
• Lightweight encryption schemes
• Sustainable IoT

Contact: [email protected]

• COER Research Seminars - Centre for Ocean Energy weekly seminar series, all welcome, including online attendees