Access profile

Ideal applicants are holders of master’s degrees in Information and Communication Technologies, and preferably Telecommunications Engineering. However, the multidisciplinary nature of some of the Department’s research groups makes it desirable to consider admitting candidates with other degrees in the fields of physics, computing, biology and computational linguistics.

In addition to this academic profile, certain characteristics are considered important for applicants to have, including interest in the research projects being carried out in the Department, having critical and analytical abilities, having initiative, being consistent and persistent in their work and being able to work in a team.

Degree classifications:

• Direct admission: European Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies (MERIT) and Master of Science in Communication and Network Engineering (COMNET). This last programme has not been submitted for verification, but it is expected to be verified very soon.
• Preferential admission: other postgraduate programmes in the field of ICT engineering: telecommunications engineering, telematic engineering, computer sciences and photonic technologies.
• Others: depending upon the presence of other multidisciplinary research groups in the Department, applicants with degrees from other programmes that do not coincide with the aforementioned profiles will also be considered: informatics, physical sciences, chemistry, mathematics, biology and computational linguistics.

An appropriate level of English is required for this programme.

Output profile

Doctoral candidates who complete a doctoral degree will have acquired the following competencies, which are needed to carry out quality research (Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies):

a) A systematic understanding of the field of study and a mastery of the research skills and methods related to the field.
b) An ability to conceive, design or create, put into practice and adopt a substantial process of research or creation.
c) An ability to contribute to pushing back the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
d) A capacity for critical analysis and an ability to assess and summarise new and complex ideas.
e) An ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general as regards their fields of knowledge in the manner and languages that are typical of the international scientific community to which they belong.
f) An ability to foster scientific, technological, social, artistic and cultural progress in academic and professional contexts within a knowledge-based society.

The award of a doctoral degree must equip the graduate for work in a variety of settings, especially those requiring creativity and innovation. Doctoral graduates must have at least acquired the personal skills needed to:

a) Develop in contexts in which there is little specific information.
b) Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
c) Design, create, develop and undertake original, innovative projects in their field.
d) Work as part of a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary context.
e) Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgements with limited information.
f) Offer criticism on and intellectually defend solutions.

Finally, with respect to competencies, doctoral students must:
a) have acquired advanced knowledge at the frontier of their discipline and demonstrated, in the context of internationally recognised scientific research, a deep, detailed and well-grounded understanding of theoretical and practical issues and scientific methodology in one or more research fields;
b) have made an original and significant contribution to scientific research in their field of expertise that has been recognised as such by the international scientific community;
c) have demonstrated that they are capable of designing a research project that serves as a framework for carrying out a critical analysis and assessment of imprecise situations, in which they are able to apply their contributions, expertise and working method to synthesise new and complex ideas that yield a deeper knowledge of the research context in which they work;
d) have developed sufficient autonomy to set up, manage and lead innovative research teams and projects and scientific collaborations (both national and international) within their subject area, in multidisciplinary contexts and, where appropriate, with a substantial element of knowledge transfer;
e) have demonstrated that they are able to carry out their research activity in a socially responsible manner and with scientific integrity;
f) have demonstrated, within their specific scientific context, that they are able to make cultural, social or technological advances and promote innovation in all areas within a knowledge-based society;
g) have demonstrated that they are able to participate in scientific discussions at the international level in their field of expertise and disseminate the results of their research activity to audiences of all kinds.

Number of places

30

Duration of studies and dedication regime

Duration
The maximum period of study for full-time doctoral studies is three years, counted from the date of admission to the programme to the date of submission of the doctoral thesis. The academic committee of the doctoral programme may authorise a doctoral candidate to pursue doctoral studies on a part-time basis. In this case, the maximum period of study is five years, counting from the date of admission to the programme to the date of submission of the doctoral thesis. For calculating these periods, the date of admission is considered to be the date of the first enrolment for tutorials, and the date of submission the moment in which the Doctoral School officially deposits the doctoral thesis.

For full-time doctoral candidates, the minimum period of study is two years, counted from the date of an applicant's admission to the programme until the date on which the doctoral thesis is deposited; for part-time doctoral candidates it is four years. When there are justified grounds for doing so, and the thesis supervisor and academic tutor have given their authorisation, doctoral candidates may request that the academic committee of their doctoral programme exempt them from the minimum period of study requirement.

The calculation of periods of study will not include periods of absence due to illness, pregnancy or any other reason provided for in the regulations in force. Students who find themselves in any of these circumstances must notify the academic committee of the doctoral programme, which, where appropriate, must inform the Doctoral School. Doctoral candidates may also temporarily withdraw from the programme for up to one year, and this period may be extended for an additional year. Doctoral candidates who wish to interrupt their studies must submit a justified request to the academic committee of the doctoral programme, which will decide whether or not to approve the request. Each programme will establish conditions for readmission to doctoral studies.

Extension
If full-time doctoral candidates have not applied to deposit their thesis by the end of the three-year period of study, the academic committee of the programme may authorise an extension of up to one year. In exceptional circumstances, a further one-year extension may be granted, subject to the conditions established by the corresponding doctoral programme. In the case of part-time doctoral candidates, an extension of two years may be authorised. In both cases, in exceptional circumstances a further one-year extension may be granted by the Doctoral School's Standing Committee, upon the submission of a reasoned application by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.

Dismissal from the doctoral programme
A doctoral candidate may be dismissed from a doctoral programme for the following reasons:

• The doctoral candidate submitting a justified application to withdraw from the programme.
• The maximum period of study and of extensions thereof ending.
• The doctoral candidate not having enrolled every academic year (unless he or she has been authorised to temporarily withdraw).
• The doctoral candidate failing two consecutive assessments.
• The doctoral candidate having disciplinary proceedings filed against him or her that rule that he or she must be dismissed from the UPC.

Dismissal from the programme implies that doctoral candidates cannot continue studying at the UPC and the closing of their academic record. This notwithstanding, they may apply to the academic committee of the programme for readmission and the committee must reevaluate them in accordance with the criteria established in the regulations.

Organization

• Muñoz Medina, Olga

• Ferrus Ferre, Ramon
• Mateu Mateu, Jordi
• Muñoz Medina, Olga
• Vall-Llossera Ferran, Mercè
• Villares Piera, Nemesio Javier

• Department of Signal Theory and Communications (PROMOTORA)

Doctoral Unit - ICT North Campus Management and Support Unit (UTGCNTIC)

C. Jordi Girona, 1-3. Building B4-003 (North Campus)
Tel.: 934 017 233
E-mail: doctorat.tsc@upc.edu

Access profile

Ideal applicants are holders of master’s degrees in Information and Communication Technologies, and preferably Telecommunications Engineering. However, the multidisciplinary nature of some of the Department’s research groups makes it desirable to consider admitting candidates with other degrees in the fields of physics, computing, biology and computational linguistics.

In addition to this academic profile, certain characteristics are considered important for applicants to have, including interest in the research projects being carried out in the Department, having critical and analytical abilities, having initiative, being consistent and persistent in their work and being able to work in a team.

Degree classifications:

• Direct admission: European Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies (MERIT) and Master of Science in Communication and Network Engineering (COMNET). This last programme has not been submitted for verification, but it is expected to be verified very soon.
• Preferential admission: other postgraduate programmes in the field of ICT engineering: telecommunications engineering, telematic engineering, computer sciences and photonic technologies.
• Others: depending upon the presence of other multidisciplinary research groups in the Department, applicants with degrees from other programmes that do not coincide with the aforementioned profiles will also be considered: informatics, physical sciences, chemistry, mathematics, biology and computational linguistics.

An appropriate level of English is required for this programme.

Access requirements

Applicants must hold a Spanish bachelor’s degree or equivalent and a Spanish master’s degree or equivalent, provided they have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits on the two degrees (Royal Decree 43/2015, of 2 February)

In addition, the following may apply:

• Holders of an official degree awarded by a university in Spain or any other country in the European Higher Education Area, pursuant to the provisions of Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes official university course regulations, who have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits on official university degrees, of which at least 60 must be at the master's degree level.
• Holders of an official Spanish bachelor’s degree comprising at least 300 credits, as provided for by EU regulations. Holder of degrees of this kind must complete bridging courses unless the curriculum of the bachelor’s degree in question included research training credits equivalent in value to those which would be earned on a master's degree.
• Holders of an official university qualification who, having passed the entrance examination for specialised medical training, have completed at least two years of a training course leading to an official degree in a health-sciences specialisation.
• Holders of a degree issued under a foreign education system. In these cases, homologation is not required, but the UPC must verify that the degree certifies a level of training equivalent to an official Spanish master's degree and qualifies the holder for admission to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued. Admission on this basis does not imply homologation of the foreign degree or its recognition for any purpose other than admission to doctoral studies.
• Holders of a Spanish doctoral qualification issued under previous university regulations.

Note 1: Doctoral studies entrance regulations for holders of an undergraduate degree awarded before the introduction of the EHEA (CG 47/02 2014)

Note 2: Governing Council Decision 64/2014, which approves the procedure and criteria for assessing the fulfilment of academic admission requirements for doctoral studies by holders of non-homologated foreign degrees (CG 25/03 2014)

Admission criteria and merits assessment

• Appropriateness of academic background with the activities carried out in the proposed research group: 25%.
• Knowledge of the English language: 20%.
• Quality of university from which previous degree was awarded: 10%.
• Motivation letter/letters of recommendation: 10%.

An assessment will be considered positive is an applicant is given a score of 3 or more out of 5.

Based on the content of the motivation letter and the applicant’s preparedness, the Postgraduate Committee will assign a thesis supervisor.

If candidates do not have a degree in some kind of ICT engineering, they will have to take the bridging courses recommended by their supervisors and the programme, whether courses from the associated master’s programmes (MET, MATT) or other ones.

Training complements

The Postgraduate Committee of the Signal Theory and Communications Department may require candidates to complete specific bridging courses. In this case, the Committee will monitor the bridging courses and set up appropriate criteria to limit their length.

The courses shall involve training in research, but in no case will candidates be required to enrol in 60 or more ECTS credits (according to the academic regulations for doctoral studies, bridging courses could include transversal education, but there are plans to change to this so that these bridging courses exclusively provide research credits, especially in cases involving doctoral programmes with 300 ECTS credits).

Depending on the activities completed by the candidates, the Postgraduate Committee of the Signal Theory and Communications Department may propose measures, in addition to those established by current regulations, that would disassociate candidates who do not meet the established requisites.

The Postgraduate Committee may require candidates who are to be admitted to complete certain bridging courses in order to better adapt their profiles to the programme’s requirements regarding the knowledge necessary to properly complete the doctoral studies.

No bridging courses will be required for those who graduated from the MET, MASTEAM or MATT programmes, or any of the other previously mentioned ICT programmes.

For those who completed other programmes, the bridging coursework required will depend upon their backgrounds and the activities carried out by the research groups in which they will participate, and it could be up to 30 ECTS.

The courses to be taken are offered by the MET, MASTEAM or MATT programmes.

Also, depending on the characteristics of some of the Department’s research groups, courses from the following UPC programmes will also be considered:
• Master’s programme in Telecommunications Engineering
• Master’s programme in Electrical Engineering
• Master’s programme in Photonics
• Master’s programme in Innovation and Research in Informatics
• Master’s programme in Artificial Intelligence

After consulting with candidates’ supervisors, it will be the sole responsibility of the TSC Department’s Postgraduate Committee to determine which courses students will have to take to complete these bridging courses. In any case, the aim of the courses will always be to fill in the gaps that students are seen to have in their academic transcripts with regard to the activities carried out by the research group in which they will participate.

Enrolment period for new doctoral students

Students enrolling in the doctoral programme for the first time must do so by the deadline specified in the admission decision.
Unless otherwise expressly indicated, enrolments corresponding to admission decisions issued from the second half of April on must be completed within the ordinary enrolment period for the current academic year.

More information at the registration section for new doctoral students

Enrolment period

Ordinary period for second and successive enrolments: first half of October.

More information at the general registration section

Procedure for the preparation and defense of the research plan

Doctoral candidates must submit a research plan, which will be included in their doctoral student activity report, before the end of the first year. The plan may be improved over the course of the doctoral degree. It must be endorsed by the tutor and the supervisor, and it must include the method that is to be followed and the aims of the research.

At least one of these annual assessments will include a public presentation and defence of the research plan and work done before a committee composed of three doctoral degree holders, which will be conducted in the manner determined by each academic committee. The examination committee awards a Pass or Fail mark. A Pass mark is a prerequisite for continuing on the doctoral programme. Doctoral candidates awarded a Fail mark must submit a new research plan for assessment by the academic committee of the doctoral programme within six months.

The committee assesses the research plan every year, in addition to all of the other activities in the doctoral student activity report. Doctoral candidates who are awarded two consecutive Fail marks for the research plan will be obliged to definitely withdraw from the programme.

If they change the subject of their thesis, they must submit a new research plan.

Formation activities

Activity: Tutorial.
- Hours: 288.
- Type: compulsory.

Activity: Mobility.
- Hours: 480.
- Type: optional.

Activity: Assessment based on doctoral student activity report (DAD) and research plan.
- Hours: 4.
- Type: compulsory.

Activity: Training in information skills.
- Hours: 1,5.
- Type: compulsory.

Activity: Research methodology.
- Hours: 12.
- Type: compulsory.

Activity: Innovation and creativity.
- Hours: 8.
- Type: optional.

Activity: Language and communication skills.
- Hours: 18.
- Type: optional.

Activity: Courses and seminars.
- Hours: 50.
- Type: optional.

Activity: Workshops.
- Hours: 8.
- Type: optional.

Procedure for assignment of tutor and thesis director

The academic committee of the doctoral programme assigns a thesis supervisor to each doctoral candidate when they are admitted or enrol for the first time, taking account of the thesis supervision commitment referred to in the admission decision.

The thesis supervisor will ensure that training activities carried out by the doctoral candidate are coherent and suitable, and that the topic of the candidate’s doctoral thesis will have an impact and make a novel contribution to knowledge in the relevant field. The thesis supervisor will also guide the doctoral candidate in planning the thesis and, if necessary, tailoring it to any other projects or activities undertaken. The thesis supervisor will generally be a UPC professor or researcher who holds a doctoral degree and has documented research experience. This includes PhD-holding staff at associated schools (as determined by the Governing Council) and UPC-affiliated research institutes (in accordance with corresponding collaboration and affiliation agreements). When thesis supervisors are UPC staff members, they also act as the doctoral candidate’s tutor.

PhD holders who do not meet these criteria (as a result of their contractual relationship or the nature of the institution to which they are attached) must be approved by the UPC Doctoral School's Standing Committee in order to participate in a doctoral programme as researchers with documented research experience.

The academic committee of the doctoral programme may approve the appointment of a PhD-holding expert who is not a UPC staff member as a candidate’s thesis supervisor. In such cases, the prior authorisation of the UPC Doctoral School's Standing Committee is required. A UPC staff member who holds a doctoral degree and has documented research experience must also be proposed to act as a co-supervisor, or as the doctoral candidate’s tutor if one has not been assigned.

A thesis supervisor may step down from this role if there are justified reasons (recognised as valid by the committee) for doing so. If this occurs, the academic committee of the doctoral programme will assign the doctoral candidate a new thesis supervisor.

Provided there are justified reasons for doing so, and after hearing any relevant input from the doctoral candidate, the academic committee of the doctoral programme may assign a new thesis supervisor at any time during the period of doctoral study.

If there are academic reasons for doing so (an interdisciplinary topic, joint or international programmes, etc.) and the academic committee of the programme gives its approval, an additional thesis supervisor may be assigned. Supervisors and co-supervisors have the same responsibilities and academic recognition.

The maximum number of supervisors of a doctoral thesis is two: a supervisor and a co-supervisor.

For theses carried out under a cotutelle agreement or as part of an Industrial Doctorate, if necessary and if the agreement foresees it this maximum number of supervisors may not apply. This notwithstanding, the maximum number of supervisors belonging to the UPC is two.

More information at the PhD theses section

Permanence

The academic committee of the programme may authorise an extension of up to one year for full-time doctoral candidates who have not applied to deposit their thesis by the end of the three-year period of study, in the terms outlined in the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. In the case of part-time candidates, an extension of two years may be authorised. In both cases, in exceptional circumstances a further one-year extension may be granted by the Doctoral School's Standing Committee, upon the submission of a reasoned application by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.

A doctoral candidate may be dismissed from a doctoral programme for the following reasons:

• The doctoral candidate submitting a justified application to withdraw from the programme.
• The maximum period of study and of extensions thereof ending.
• The doctoral candidate not having enrolled every academic year (unless he or she has been authorised to temporarily withdraw).
• The doctoral candidate failing two consecutive assessments.
• The doctoral candidate having disciplinary proceedings filed against him or her that rule that he or she must be dismissed from the UPC.

Dismissal from the programme implies that doctoral candidates cannot continue studying at the UPC and the closing of their academic record. This notwithstanding, they may apply to the academic committee of the programme for readmission and the committee must reevaluate them in accordance with the criteria established in the regulations.

International Mention

The doctoral degree certificate may include International Doctorate mention. In this case, the doctoral candidate must meet the following requirements:

a) During the period of study leading to the award of the doctoral degree, the doctoral candidate must have spent at least three months at a respected higher education institution or research centre outside Spain to complete courses or do research work. The stays and activities carried out must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor and authorised by the academic committee of the programme. The candidate must provide a certifying document issued by the person responsible for the research group of the body or bodies where the stay or activity was completed. This information will be added to the doctoral student’s activity report.
b) Part of the thesis (at least the summary and conclusions) must be written and presented in one of the languages commonly used for science communication in the relevant field of knowledge, which must not be an official language of Spain. This rule does not apply to stays and reports in Spanish or to experts from Spanish-speaking countries.
c) At least two PhD-holding experts belonging to a higher education institution or research centre outside Spain must have issued officially certified reports on the thesis.
d) The thesis examination committee must have included at least one PhD-holding expert from a higher education or research institution outside Spain who was not responsible for the candidate’s stay abroad (point a) above).
e) The thesis defence must have taken place on UPC premises or, in the case of joint programmes, at the location specified in the collaboration agreement.

List of authorized thesis for defense

• PORTAL GONZALEZ, GERARD: Synergistic optical and microwave remote sensing approaches for soil moisture mapping at high resolution
  
  Author: PORTAL GONZALEZ, GERARD
  Thesis file: (contact the Doctoral School to confirm you have a valid doctoral degree and to get the link to the thesis)
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Temporary seizure
  Deposit date: 20/04/2022
  Reading date: 27/05/2022
  Reading time: 11:00
  Reading place: ETSETB - Aula Teleensenyament - Campus Nord UPC.
  Thesis director: VALL-LLOSSERA FERRAN, MERCEDES MAGDALENA | PILES GUILLEM, MARIA
  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: ZRIBI, MEHREZ
       SECRETARI: DUFFO UBEDA, NURIA
       VOCAL: MONTZKA, CARSTEN
  Thesis abstract: Soil moisture is an essential climate variable that plays a crucial role linking the Earth¿s water, energy, and carbon cycles. It is responsible for the water exchange between the Earth¿s surface and the atmosphere, and provides key information about soil evaporation, plant transpiration, and the allocation of precipitation into runoff, surface flow and infiltration. Therefore, an accurate estimation of soil moisture is needed to enhance our current climate and meteorological forecasting skills, and to improve our current understanding of the hydrological cycle and its extremes (e.g., droughts and floods). L-band Microwave passive and active sensors have been used during the last decades to estimate soil moisture, since there is a strong relationship between this variable and the soil dielectric properties.Currently, there are two operational L-band missions specifically devoted to globally measure soil moisture: the ESA¿s Soil Moisture and the Ocean Salinity (SMOS), launched in November 2009; and the NASA¿s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), launched in January 2015. The spatial resolution of the SMOS and SMAP radiometers, in the order of tens of kilometers (~40 km), is adequate for global applications. However, to fulfill the needs of a growing number of applications at local or regional scale, higher spatial detail (< 1 km) is required. To bridge this gap and improve the spatial resolution of the soil moisture maps, a variety of spatial enhancement or spatial (sub-pixel) disaggregation approaches have been proposed.This Ph.D. Thesis focuses on the study of the Earth¿s surface soil moisture from remotely sensed observations. This work includes the implementation of several soil moisture retrieval techniques and the development, implementation, validation and comparison of different spatial enhancement or downscaling techniques, applied at local, regional, and continental scale. To meet these objectives, synergies between several active/passive microwave sensors (SMOS, SMAP and Sentinel-1) and optical/thermal sensors (MODIS) have been explored. The results are presented as follows:- Spatially consistent downscaling approach for SMOS using an adaptive moving windowA passive microwave/optical downscaling algorithm for SMOS is proposed to obtain fine-scale soil moisture maps (1 km) from the native resolution (~40 km) of the instrument. This algorithm introduces the concept of a shape-adaptive window as a central improvement of the disaggregation technique presented by Piles et al. (2014), allowing its application at continental scales. - Assessment of multi-scale SMOS and SMAP soil moisture products across the Iberian PeninsulaThe temporal and spatial characteristics of SMOS and SMAP soil moisture products at coarse- and fine-scales are assessed in order to learn about their distinct features and the rationale behind them, tracing back to the physical assumptions they are based upon.- Impact of incidence angle diversity on soil moisture retrievals at coarse and fine scales An incidence angle (32.5°, 42.5° and 52.5°)-adaptive calibration of radiative transfer effective parameters single scattering albedo and soil roughness has been carried out, highlighting the importance of such parameterization to accurately estimate soil moisture at coarse-resolution. Then, these parameterizations are used to examine the potential application of a physically-based active-passive downscaling approach to upcoming microwave missions, namely CIMR, ROSE-L and Sentinel-1 Next Generation. Soil moisture maps obtained for the Iberian Peninsula at the three different angles, and at coarse and fine scales are inter-compared using in situ measurements and model data as benchmarks.
  

Last update: 19/05/2022 04:45:30.

List of lodged theses

Last update: 19/05/2022 04:30:24.

List of defended theses by year

• ESCOLANO PEINADO, CARLOS: Learning multilingual and multimodal representations with language-specific encoders and decoders for Machine translation
  
  Author: ESCOLANO PEINADO, CARLOS
  Thesis link: http://hdl.handle.net/10803/673982
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Reading date: 18/03/2022
  Thesis director: RUIZ COSTA-JUSSA, MARTA | RODRIGUEZ FONOLLOSA, JOSE ADRIAN
  

  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: LABAKA INTXAUSPE, GORKA
       SECRETARI: MARQUEZ VILLODRE, LUIS
       VOCAL: VINYALS ARGELAGUET, ORIOL
  Thesis abstract: This thesis aims to study different language-specific approaches for Multilingual Machine Translation without parameter sharing and their properties compared to the current state-of-the-art based on parameter-sharing. We define Multilingual Machine Translation as the task that focuses on methods to translate between several pairs of languages in a single system. It has been widely studied in recent years due to its ability to easily scale to more languages, even between pairs never seen together during training (zero-shot translation). Several architectures have been proposed to tackle this problem with varying amounts of shared parameters between languages. Current state-of-the-art systems focus on a single sequence-to-sequence architecture where all languages share the complete set of parameters, including the token representation. While this has proven convenient for transfer learning, it makes it challenging to incorporate new languages into the trained model as all languages depend on the same parameters. What all proposed architectures have in common is enforcing a shared presentation space between languages. Specifically, during this work, we will employ as representation the final output of the encoders that the decoders will use to perform cross-attention. Having a shared space reduces noise as similar sentences at semantic level produce similar vectorial representations, helping the decoders process representations from several languages. This semantic representation is particularly important for zero-shot translation as the representation similarity to the languages pairs seen during training is key to reducing ambiguity between languages and obtaining good translation performance. This thesis is structured in three main blocks, focused on different scenarios of this task. Firstly, we propose a training method that enforces a common representation for bilingual training and a procedure to extend it to new languages efficiently. Secondly, we propose another training method that allows this representation to be learned directly on multilingual data and can be equally extended to new languages. Thirdly, we show that the proposed multilingual architecture is not limited only to textual languages. We extend our method to new data modalities by adding speech encoders, performing Spoken Language Translation, including Zero-Shot, to all the supported languages. Our main results show that the common intermediate representation is achievable in this scenario, matching the performance of previously shared systems while allowing the addition of new languages or data modalities efficiently without negative transfer learning to the previous languages or retraining the system.
  

• VILÀ MUÑOZ, IRENE: Contribution to the modelling and evaluation of radio network slicing solutions in 5G
  
  Author: VILÀ MUÑOZ, IRENE
  Thesis link: http://hdl.handle.net/10803/674243
  Programme: DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SIGNAL THEORY AND COMMUNICATIONS
  Department: Department of Signal Theory and Communications (TSC)
  Mode: Normal
  Reading date: 06/04/2022
  Thesis director: UMBERT JULIANA, ANNA | SALLENT ROIG, JOSE ORIOL
  

  Committee:
       PRESIDENT: VALDOVINOS BARDAJÍ, ANTONIO
       SECRETARI: GELONCH BOSCH, ANTONIO JOSE
       VOCAL: GIUPPONI, LORENZA
  Thesis abstract: Network slicing is a key feature of 5G architecture that allows the partitioning of the network into multiple logical networks, known as network slices, where each of them is customised according to the specific needs of a service or application.Thus, network slicing allows the materialisation of multi-tenant networks, in which a common network infrastructure is shared among multiple communication providers, acting as tenants and each of them using a different network slice. The support of multi-tenancy through slicing in the Radio Access Network (RAN), known as RAN slicing, is particularly challenging because it involves the configuration and operation of multiple and diverse RAN behaviours over the common pool of radio resources available at each of the RAN nodes. Moreover, this configuration needs to be performed in such a way that the specific requirements of each tenant are satisfied and, at the same time, the available radio resources are efficiently used. Therefore, new functionalities that allow the deployment of RAN slices are needed to be introduced at different levels, ranging from Radio Resource Management (RRM) functionalities that incorporate RAN slicing parameters tofunctionalities that support the lifecycle management of RAN slices. This thesis has addressed this need by proposing, developing and assessing diverse solutions for the support RAN slicing, which has allowed evaluating the capacities, requirements and limitations of network slicing in the RAN from diverse perspectives.Specifically, this thesis is firstly focused on the analytical assessment of RRM functionalities that support multi-tenant and multi-services scenarios, where services are defined according to their 5G QoS requirements. This assessment is conducted through the Markov modelling of admission control policies and the statistical modelling of the resourc allocation, both supporting multiple tenants and multiple services. Secondly, the thesis addresses the problem of slice admission control by proposing a methodology for the estimation of the radio resources required by a RAN slice based on data analytics. This methodology supports the decision on the admission or rejection of new RAN slice creation requests.Thirdly, the thesis explores the potential of artificial intelligence, and specifically, of Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) to deal with the capacity sharing problem in RAN slicing scenarios. To this end, a DRL-based capacity sharing solution that distributes the available capacity of a multi-cell scenario among multiple tenants is proposed and assessed. The solution consists in a Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) approach based on Deep Q-Network. Finally, this thesis discuses diverse implementation aspects of the DRL-based capacity sharing solution, including considerations on its compatibility with the standards, the impact of the training on the achieved performance, as well as the tools and technologies required for the deployment of the solution in the real network environment.
  

Last update: 19/05/2022 05:01:04.

Research groups

• ANTENNALAB-Antennas and Wireless Systems Laboratory
• CommSensLab-UPC-Centre Especific de Recerca en Comunicacio i Deteccio UPC
• CSC-Components and Systems for Communications Research Group
• GCO-Optical Communications Group
• GPI-Image and Video Processing Group
• GRCM-Mobile Communication Reserach Group
• RF&MW-Laboratory of RF & microwave systems, devices and materials
• RSLAB-Remote Sensing Lab
• SPCOM-Signal Processing and Communications Group
• VEU-Speech Processing Group
• WiComTec-Wireless Communications and Technologies Research Group

Teachers

• Aguasca Sole, Alberto
• Agusti Comes, Ramon
• Alonso Zarate, Lluis
• Artigas Garcia, David
• Barlabe Dalmau, Antoni
• Belmonte Molina, Aniceto
• Bertran Alberti, Eduard
• Blanch Boris, Sebastián
• Broquetas Ibars, Antoni
• Cabrera Bean, Marga
• Camps Carmona, Adriano Jose
• Casadevall Palacio, Ferran
• Casas Pla, Josep Ramon
• Collado Gomez, J.Carlos
• Comellas Colome, Jaume
• Comeron Tejero, Adolfo
• Corbella Sanahuja, Ignasi
• Dios Otin, Victor Federico
• Duffo Ubeda, Nuria
• Fabregas Canovas, Francisco Javier
• Fernandez Rubio, Juan-Antonio
• Ferrus Ferre, Ramon
• Garcia Lozano, Mario
• Garcia Vizcaino, David
• Gasull Llampallas, Antoni
• Gelonch Bosch, Antoni
• Gene Bernaus, Joan M.
• Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluis
• Giro Nieto, Xavier
• Gonzalez Arbesu, Jose Maria
• Heldring, Alexander
• Hernando Pericas, Francisco Javier
• Jofre Roca, Lluis
• Junyent Giralt, Gabriel
• Lagunas Hernandez, M. A.
• Lamarca Orozco, Meritxell
• Lazaro Villa, Jose Antonio
• Lopez Martinez, Carlos
• Mallorqui Franquet, Jordi Joan
• Marques Acosta, Ferran
• Mateu Mateu, Jordi
• Monte Moreno, Enric
• Montoro Lopez, Gabriel
• Moreno Bilbao, M. Asuncion
• Morros Rubio, Ramon
• Muñoz Medina, Olga
• Nadeu Camprubi, Climent
• Najar Marton, Montse
• O'callaghan Castella, Joan
• Olmos Bonafe, Juan Jose
• Pages Zamora, Alba
• Pardas Feliu, Montse
• Pascual Iserte, Antonio
• Perez Neira, Ana Isabel
• Perez Pueyo, Rosanna
• Perez Romero, Jordi
• Perez Torres, Juan
• Pradell Cara, Lluis
• Prat Goma, Josep
• Rey Micolau, Francesc
• Riba Sagarra, Jaume
• Rius Casals, Juan-Manuel
• roca cl,
• Rocadenbosch Burillo, Francisco
• Rodriguez Fonollosa, Javier
• Rodriguez Fonollosa, Jose Adrian
• Rodriguez Gomez, Alejandro
• Romeu Robert, Jordi
• Ruiz Boque, Silvia
• Ruiz Costa-Jussa, Marta
• Ruiz Hidalgo, Javier
• Ruiz Moreno, Sergio
• Sala Alvarez, Josep
• Salembier Clairon, Philippe
• Sallent Roig, Jose Oriol
• Santos Blanco, María
• Sicard, Michaël
• Soneira Ferrando, M. Jose
• Spadaro, Salvatore
• Tarres Ruiz, Francisco
• Torner Sabata, Lluis
• Torres Torres, Francesc
• Torres Urgell, Luis
• Ubeda Farre, Eduard
• Valenzuela Gonzalez, Jose Luis
• Vall-Llossera Ferran, Mercè
• Vazquez Grau, Gregori
• Vidal Manzano, Josep
• Vilaplana Besler, Veronica
• Villares Piera, Nemesio Javier