University of Oulu opens new professorship in System on Chip Technologies

Together with locally present ICT companies’ support, University of Oulu opens new professorship in System on Chip Technologies for wireless systems. The five-year position is directed to investigate and develop the design of SoC technologies with an emphasis on wireless applications of SoCs to enable data rates toward 1 Tbits/s rates for 6G.

The professorship will be established with the support of three partner companies: Nokia, MediaTek and Nordic Semiconductor. The need for SoC specific professor in Oulu is immense.

“The ICT ecosystem in Oulu has been among the world leaders in the creation of wireless technology for 3G, 4G and 5G. Now we are pioneering 6G, which will change the world again probably even more than the previous cellular generations have done. The system on chip technology is the work horse putting 5G to wide use now and it will be doing the same for 6G in 2030s”, says Professor Markku Juntti from Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu.

For companies this is not just a way to invest money and support research but to deepen the co-operation in many ways and enable research projects in this field. This is how the companies see their role and the significance of the new professorship:

”At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together, hence deepening our decades-long collaboration with the University of Oulu is important milestone to jointly define and shape the future of 5G and beyond. Oulu’s new SoC professorship will strengthen the development of future wireless networks and related business opportunities designed to develop disruptive concepts in wireless connectivity.  In addition, it helps to attract and grow SoC skilled personnel in Oulu region to further develop our cutting-edge ReefShark SoC platform,” says Erja Sankari, Vice President of Nokia Mobile Networks Supply Chain.

“At Nordic Semiconductor we make the world’s best chips and development solutions for low power wireless IoT connectivity.  We do this across a variety of protocols from proprietary to Bluetooth to Wi-Fi and all the way to LTE. Cooperating with research institutions, such as the University of Oulu, on a professorate on SoC, is a great opportunity to contribute towards research and the innovation for future wireless technology,” says CTO of Nordic Semiconductor, Svein-Egil Nielsen and continues:

“Oulu is a hotbed for wireless technology with a long history of wireless innovation. We expect the professorate to provide new and exciting industry leading research and enable new building blocks for future IoT radios, including domains from system design and algorithms up to embedded SW and SoC reference implementations. We also believe the professorate will further enhance the interest in wireless education at the Oulu University”.

“Innovation starts with great minds, and great minds are often born in universities and research labs. MediaTek is committed to supporting academic-led research efforts driving next-generation semiconductor technologies for wireless systems through this position sponsorship at the University of Oulu. We strongly believe the research that will come from this team will help define impactful, infrastructural wireless standards for future smartphones and beyond,” says MediaTek CTO Kevin Jou.

Application period ends on 31st of October. More information about the position from University of Oulu recruiting portal.