PhD Position (f/m/d) - New Waveforms for Automotive Radar

This PhD position focuses on developing novel radar waveforms for automotive imaging radar sensors, moving from frame-based to continuous transmission. The research aims to enable uninterrupted environmental sensing, minimize temperature fluctuations, and support adaptive receiver processing. Key challenges include designing micro-frame chirp sequences for reduced ambiguous velocity and MIMO, and developing dynamic receiver processing strategies to effectively handle the continuous chirp stream for scene perception.

Must Have

• Masters degree in Electrical Engineering or related field
• Strong background in signal processing algorithms and underlying mathematics
• Strong mathematical background
• Programming experience in Matlab and/or Python
• 80 %-time commitment within a 3-year period
• Conscious and reliable way of working for security-related tasks

Good to Have

• Radar domain knowledge

Perks & Benefits

• Online and offline learning opportunities for career development
• Programs focused on diversity, inclusion and equality

Automotive imaging radar sensors are becoming essential for driving assistance and self-driving cars. With increasing market penetration and higher resolution of imaging radars, it is expected that new types of radar waveforms will be required. These waveforms aim to maximize perceived detail and operational robustness of radar sensors, under cost constraints.

Proposed Research

You will develop a novel radar waveform based on continuous transmission rather than a frame-based transmission. This approach aims to enable uninterrupted environmental sensing, minimize temperature fluctuations, and support adaptive processing at the receiver side. The receiver dynamically constructs the “frame” by selecting how many chirps to process for velocity and angle estimation.

The key challenges to address include:

• Radar Waveform Design: Typical automotive radar systems divide time into distinct frames, each consisting of a regular chirp sequence. Devise alternate design: A micro-frame may consist of a limited set of chirps to accommodate reduced maximum ambiguous velocity and support MIMO schemes for transmit antenna separation.
• Receiver Processing: A conservative strategy might retain conventional frame-based processing. Alternatively, a more dynamic approach could update the scene perception with each incoming chirp. The challenge lies in balancing these extremes—or exploring hybrid strategies—to effectively process the continuous chirp stream.

Requirements for this role:

• Masters degree in Electrical Engineering or related field
• Strong background in signal processing algorithms and underlying mathematics
• Strong mathematical background
• Radar domain knowledge is an advantage
• Programming experience in Matlab and/or Python
• 80 %-time commitment within a 3-year period, as this position is part time (80%) limited to 3 years.

Please note: The successful candidate may/will be responsible for security related tasks. The assignment may/will be in scope of security certifications, therefore a conscious and reliable way of working is necessary.

Interested in joining our team?

You will be working alongside NXP’s Radar Development team in Dresden. The scientific work is done in cooperation with the University of Cottbus, chair of Electronic Systems and Sensors.

Submit your CV and personal background and let us talk about it!

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