Reader in Wireless Communications
Department:
Engineering
Faculty:
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Research Expertise:
- Novel design and application of Radio Frequency (RF) technology (including non-communications applications)
- High reliability radio links for power constrained devices, such as in future IoT nodes and networks
- Indoor/outdoor user position detection systems, using energy-effective and cost-effective concepts
Contact:
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 5839
Email: E.A.Ball@sheffield.ac.uk
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Biography
Prior to starting at Sheffield University in November 2015, my career has been entirely in industry:
- Tunstall Healthcare Ltd (Principal RF Engineer, Radio System Architect) 2011-2015
- Cambridge Consultants Ltd (Principal RF Engineer in Wireless Business Unit) 1996 – 2011
My industrial expertise is in designing innovative, bespoke wireless & RF systems that require a balanced and holistic view of constituent and allied technologies, to achieve best partitioning for performance vs cost trade-off. I’m very experienced in hardware design for both high and low volume manufacture.
My reach extends from the pre-specification concept creation stage, through all theoretical aspects of RF design, to the practical lab bench development and field test; all core to the creation of a mass producible item.
Current Research Projects:
The following relevant research topics are being formed:-
High-Reliability Radio Systems (for robust and dependable transmission of infrequent message events, such as applied to alarm systems)
RF systems for identifying user locations in indoor & outdoor scenarios associated with a dwelling (low power and cost effective radio technology, incorporating cloud processing for user position detection)
Additionally, the following themes are also being created:
Next-Generation Software Defined Radio architectures & subsystems (high-performance radio systems built using analogue RF hardware, digital hardware and DSP)
Millimetre Wavelength & Microwave RF Transceivers and Systems (high performance circuit concepts for future radio system and integrated circuit design)