Congratulations, Dr. Sandra George!
BI researcher Dr. Sandra George has successfully defended her PhD in Electrical Engineering. Her dissertation, "Reconfigurable RF Receiver Frontend for Joint Communication and Sensing in the 5G-NR Band," explores how future wireless devices can combine communication and radar sensing within a single, reconfigurable receiver. The work was supervised by Prof. Dr. Corrado Carta (Technische Universität Berlin and IHP – Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics) and Dr. Padmanava Sen, Senior Research Group Leader of the RF Design Enablement (RFDE) Group at the Barkhausen Institut.
The research addresses a challenge that will become increasingly important for future wireless systems. Instead of relying on separate hardware for communication and sensing, Sandra George developed a receiver architecture that supports both functions in a single compact circuit. This reduces hardware complexity while enabling more efficient use of spectrum and system resources.
"Future wireless devices will increasingly need to communicate and sense their surroundings at the same time. A single reconfigurable receiver can support both functions while reducing hardware complexity and making more efficient use of available resources," explains Sandra George.
An important aspect of the research is privacy. Because radio sensing can reveal detailed information about people, their movements, and their surroundings, the proposed receiver architecture is designed to adapt the amount of sensing information already at the hardware level. Depending on the application, only the information required for a specific task needs to be provided.
"The receiver can adjust the amount of sensing information at the hardware level, allowing systems to provide only the level of information required for a particular application," says George.
The research contributes to technologies that could enable future applications ranging from autonomous systems and smart factories to smart homes and next-generation mobile networks.
With her successful defense, Sandra George also reaches an institutional milestone: she is the first doctoral researcher to have started and completed her PhD entirely at the BI since the institute was founded.
Reflecting on her time at the institute, she particularly highlights the collaborative environment:
"What stands out most is the supportive, positive, and motivating environment at the Barkhausen Institut. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Padmanava Sen, as well as my teammates and colleagues for their guidance, support, and the many inspiring discussions throughout my PhD journey."
The Barkhausen Institut congratulates Dr. Sandra George on this important achievement and wishes her every success in the next stage of her career.