THESE - Spectrum Sharing between MS & MSS -F/H

This PhD thesis project focuses on spectrum sharing between mobile services (MS) and mobile satellite services (MSS), addressing the increasing demand for wireless connectivity and the need for efficient spectrum use. The project will identify emerging use cases, develop a modeling framework to predict interference, and investigate interference management techniques across radio, digital, and network technologies. It involves studying propagation characteristics, dynamic spectrum access, and coordination mechanisms to ensure reliable and equitable spectrum utilization.

Must Have

• Orbital analysis
• Wireless communication systems
• Numerical simulation programming (Matlab)

Perks & Benefits

• Success driven by technological excellence, experience, and shared ambition
• Attractive compensation package
• Continuous skill development: training courses, internal academies and communities
• Inclusive, benevolent environment respecting employee balance
• Recognized societal and environmental commitment

Location: Toulouse, France

Let's build a future of trust together

Thales is a global leader in high technologies specializing in three sectors of activity: Defense & Security, Aeronautics & 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 skill 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, the design and production of payloads, the 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, more precisely to the development and production of micromechanical coolers for demanding markets.

The growing demand for wireless connectivity is driving increasing pressure on the radio frequency spectrum, leading to the need for more efficient spectrum use and coexistence strategies between different services. An immediate concern arises in the coordination between heritage Geostationary Satellite Orbit and the rapidly growing Low Earth Orbit constellations operating at the same frequency band. Looking ahead, an emerging research area focuses on frequency sharing between terrestrial mobile services (such as 5G and future 6G networks) and mobile satellite services (MSS), which operate in overlapping or adjacent frequency bands.

This topic explores how these systems can coexist without harmful interference, enabling both to deliver high-performance communication capabilities. It involves studying propagation characteristics, interference management, dynamic spectrum access, and coordination mechanisms between ground and space segments to ensure reliable, efficient, and equitable spectrum utilization in an increasingly congested radio environment. These aspects have been the focus of both emerging regulation as week as research. Regulators, such as the ITU and national spectrum authorities, are developing frameworks that support dynamic and coordinated spectrum use across satellite and terrestrial networks. On the research side, stateof-the-art efforts are focusing on interference modelling, cognitive radio techniques, and advanced beamforming and power control algorithms to enable real-time coexistence between terrestrial and satellite systems. Emerging studies also explore the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for adaptive spectrum management, as well as network access and optimization across space and ground segments.

The project will include the following core activities:

1. Identify an emerging use case where frequency coordination across satellite and terrestrial networks is emerging as a priority

2. Develop a modelling framework for the associated use case that enables to predict interference

3. Investigate interference management techniques across radio, digital and network technologies

Research field:

• Telecommunication engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Aerospace engineering

Required skills:

• Orbital analysis
• Wireless communication systems
• Numerical simulation programming (Matlab)

The Thesis will include 18 months at Thales Alenia Space in Toulouse, followed by 18 months at the Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, Edinburgh, and than a 6 months secondement University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany.

Thales, a Handi-Engaged company, recognizes all talents. Diversity is our best asset. Apply and join us!