Kenny Barlee

Telecommunications engineer working in software defined radio, cognitive radio, shared spectrum, community and privately owned 4G/5G. Built one of the UK's first 5G networks. In Orkney. Not London.

 

I am a researcher in the Software Defined Radio Laboratory at the University of Strathclyde. I received my BEng (Hons) degree from the University in 2014. My PhD research focused on the development of HDL compatible Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC) based SDR radio transceivers for use in secondary user Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) applications. Focusing on the PHY, the cognitive radios I have developed are able to identify empty spectral bands, decide which are most suitable for use, and then use dynamic non-contiguous modulation in order to establish communications channels in them. I designed these transceivers from within MATLAB and Simulink, and deployed them onto realtime ZynqSDR devices (Xilinx Zynq based FPGA/ARM SoC dev board + Analog Devices SDR front end).

 

I played a key role in 5G RuralFirst; testbeds and trials for rural 5G mobile connectivity across sites in the Orkney Islands, Shropshire and Somerset. Myself and the team designed, developed and with the help of partners delivered an end to end mobile network for 5G RuralFirst in 5 months. From SIM cards to custom UEs, eNBs and ePCs, radio spectrum planning and network orchestration; we have proved that it is possible to make mobile coverage in rural areas affordable, using shared and licensed spectrum, neutral hosting and software defined radio.

 

In this project I worked as part of the small team that designed the mobile network, carrying out interoperability testing with third party ePCs, the programming of basestations, RF planning and network design, and developed bespoke security and management solutions for the basestation equipment. I was lead developer of the "PiFi" modem kits used on drones for agritech use cases and on tour buses in Orkney. I also took the lead on Orkney basestation installations, commissioning and subsequent drive testing campaigns, spending more than 3 months of 2019 with colleagues at CloudNet IT Solutions Ltd, a project partner and local wireless internet service provider, who deployed the equipment and backhaul solutions. I led on the development of a generator powered popup 5G network trailer mast; featuring a software defined remote radio head and sector antenna mounted on a pneumatic mast, and a baseband unit that is both performing R15 eNB/gNB PHY processing and running the core network. I used this (Ofcom licensed) popup 5G network to perform RF coverage trials and help refine RF propagation simulation parameters throughout summer 2019.

 

I am one of the authors of a free, 670 page 12 chapter SDR textbook, 'Software Defined Radio using MATLAB & Simulink and the RTL-SDR'. You can download a copy by checking out http://www.desktopSDR.com

 

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethbarlee