electrical engineering
Work description
The proposed research focuses on the development of communication systems based on the semantic communications paradigm for long-range and/or capacity-constrained scenarios, exploring communication technologies characterized by significant limitations in bandwidth, data rate, or resource availability, such as HF, LoRaWAN, and underwater acoustic links. The goal is to develop mechanisms capable of transmitting information efficiently by prioritizing its semantic content and the information that is most relevant to the application, rather than reproducing the original data in full. The research will explore techniques for the semantic representation, compression, transmission, and reconstruction of information, leveraging artificial intelligence models and generative AI techniques. The aim is to dynamically adapt the transmitted content to the characteristics of the communication channel, the available communication resources, and the application requirements, enabling the transmission of different types of information, such as text, images, audio, video, or sensor data, over highly capacity-constrained links. The work will include, in particular: • Semantic representation and compression of information, through the development and evaluation of mechanisms capable of identifying, selecting, and representing the information that is most relevant to the application; • Semantic transmission over long-range and/or low-data-rate communication technologies, including the adaptation of transmission mechanisms to the characteristics of different communication media and technologies, particularly HF, LoRaWAN, and underwater acoustic communications; • Information reconstruction and recovery at the receiver, exploring artificial intelligence models and generative AI techniques to recover the transmitted content and improve robustness against losses, errors, and channel limitations; • Evaluation and validation through simulation and experimental platforms, as well as testing over real communication systems, considering different propagation environments, available capacities, and types of content, including activities carried out in collaboration with SINTEF Ocean in Trondheim, Norway. The work will be carried out between INESC TEC in Porto, Portugal, and SINTEF Ocean in Trondheim, Norway. The expected outcome is to contribute to the development of a new generation of efficient, adaptive, and robust semantic communication systems for communication-constrained environments, including maritime and underwater scenarios, where conventional technologies face significant limitations in coverage, bandwidth, data rate, and availability.
Academic Qualifications
• Hold a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field, with valorization in Electrical Engineering or a related field, and have a scientific and professional CV that demonstrates a suitable profile for the activities to be carried out.
Preference factors
The candidate's experience will be especially valued in one of the following research lines: semantic communications using generative artificial intelligence, and long-range radio networks..
Application Period
Since 01 Oct 2026 to 15 Oct 2026
Centre
Telecommunications and Multimedia
Scientific Advisor
Rui Lopes Campos