THESE - Physical Layer Security using Directional Modulation -F/H

This PhD thesis project focuses on physical layer security for emerging satellite networks, aiming to develop quantum-resistant safeguards against eavesdropping and jamming. It involves an interdisciplinary approach combining RF hardware and signal processing techniques, with a focus on adaptive antenna design, beamforming, and frequency agility. The project will identify use cases, investigate suitable analogue, RF, and digital technologies, and demonstrate performance through experimental and simulated results over 36 months, split between Thales Alenia Space and Heriot-Watt University.

Must Have

• Identify a use case where physical layer security can provide added value to existing or emerging satellite services
• Investigate suitable analogue, RF and digital technologies that provide pertinent solution for this use case
• Demonstrate by means of experimental and simulated results the performance of the proposed physical layer security system
• Skills in Antenna and Microwave Engineering
• Skills in Signal processing
• Skills in Embedded systems
• Programming skills (Matlab, C, C++, Python, LabVIEW)

Perks & Benefits

• Attractive compensation package
• Continuous skills development: training courses, internal academies and internal communities
• Inclusive, benevolent environment respecting employee balance
• Recognized societal and environmental commitment

Let's build a future of trust together

Thales is a global leader in high technology specializing in three sectors: Defense & Security, Aerospace & Space, and Cyber & Digital. It develops products and solutions that contribute to a safer, more environmentally friendly, and more inclusive world. The Group invests nearly 4 billion euros per year in Research & Development, particularly in key innovation areas such as AI, cybersecurity, quantum, cloud technologies, and 6G. Thales has nearly 81,000 employees in 68 countries.

Our commitments, your benefits

• Success driven by our technological excellence, your experience, and our shared ambition
• An attractive compensation package
• Continuous skills development: training courses, internal academies, and internal communities
• An inclusive, benevolent environment respecting employee balance
• Recognized societal and environmental commitment

Your daily life

The Toulouse Champollion site brings together activities in satellite systems engineering, design and production of payloads, development and qualification of ground segments. It integrates a research center and an industrial accelerator for start-ups and ventures, as well as activities dedicated to low-temperature science, specifically the development and production of micromechanical coolers for demanding markets.

Physical layer security is becoming increasingly critical in emerging satellite networks, which support vital services like global communications, Earth observation, and resilient navigation. Unlike traditional encryption methods that rely on computational complexity and are vulnerable to future quantum attacks, physical layer wireless security technologies encrypt the conveyed information through the physical properties of radio signals themselves.

This can be achieved by employing either the inherently random nature of wireless channels or the purposely generated random signals. This approach offers a quantum-resistant safeguard, as it does not depend on mathematical problems that quantum computers could crack efficiently. In satellite systems, where long-range links and open broadcast environments heighten exposure to eavesdropping and jamming, physical layer security provides a lightweight, scalable, and inherently robust defence mechanism. As satellite constellations expand and interconnect, embedding security directly into the physical transmission layer ensures enduring protection against both current and next-generation threats.

Advancing physical layer security in satellite networks requires an interdisciplinary approach, with a strong emphasis on the joint development of radio frequency (RF) hardware and signal processing techniques. Unlike terrestrial systems, satellites operate in highly dynamic and often unpredictable environments, where rapidly changing channel conditions and long-range vulnerabilities can be exploited by adversaries. Achieving secure and reliable communication under these conditions demands RF front-ends capable of adapting to environmental variations while maintaining signal integrity and confidentiality—necessitating innovations in antenna design, beamforming, and frequency agility. At the same time, signal processing methods must evolve to compensate hardware imperfection and signal dynamics, e.g. the changing Doppler effects. The role of AI is also an emerging enabler. Because hardware performance and algorithmic strategies are deeply interdependent, independent development is inadequate; instead, integrated design methodologies are essential to create practical and resilient physical layer security solutions across diverse satellite architectures and mission requirements.

The project will include the following core activities:

1. Identify a use case where physical layer security can provide added value to existing or emerging satellite services

2. Investigate suitable analogue, RF and digital technologies that provide pertinent solution for this use case

3. Demonstrate by means of experimental and simulated results the performance of the proposed physical layer security system

Research field:

• Electronic engineering
• Telecommunication Engineering

Required skills:

• Antenna and Microwave Engineering
• Signal processing
• Embedded systems
• Programming (Matlab, C, C++, Python, LabVIEW)

The Thesis will include 12 months at Thales Alenia Space in Toulouse, followed by 24 months at the Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, Edinburgh, and than a 6 months secondement at Thales Alenia Space in Toulouse. In total the PhD will span 36 months.

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