Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Electronic and Electrical Engineering embraces telecommunications, computer networking, broadcasting and electrical machines and drives.
The areas of research interest include the design, optimisation and development of both wired and wireless telecommunication systems, the design, operating and applications of computer networks, digital broadcasting with a particular focus on television and the development of new electrical machines and control systems for railways.
Computer Networking
The group undertakes both pure and applied research in the general field of telecommunications and computer networking including computer networking technologies, wireless systems, networked multimedia applications, quality of service, mobile networking, intelligent buildings, context driven information systems and communication protocols. Much of this work is funded through research grants and supported by industry. In addition, members of the group are actively involved in a range of public engagement programmes which aim to raise the awareness of these subjects for the general public and in schools.
Research areas
- Wireless technologies and sensor networks
- Context and location based information systems
- Intelligent buildings and energy monitoring
- Communication protocols, traffic routing and quality of service
- Network planning, traffic modelling and optimisation
- Ubiquitous and ambient technology
- Information security and computer forensics
- Public Awareness
Engaging with communications
From the development of spoken language and early cave paintings, communications in all of its forms has enabled humankind and society to develop and prosper. The story of communications, how it functions, what its capabilities are and how it impacts on society is both a fascinating and exciting one. Given the significance of communications technology in today’s world we believe that it is important for people young and old to have an awareness of how the technology functions and what it can do for you.
Our goal is to raise awareness of communications technology across a broad range of age groups.Our activities and resources include:
- Family Telecommunications Days are free events held at the University of Salford’s MediaCityUK campus and showcase technologies including television, retro computing and telecommunications technology
- Our innovative mi-Guide system guides you around the Connecting Manchester Gallery at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester helping you see how communications has played an essential part in the development and growth of Manchester.
- History of communications and technology collection takes you from the birth of telecommunications in 1837 right through the developments of the telephone and other communications technologies
This work is led by Computer Networking and Telecommunications researchers working in the Engineering Research Centre in the School of Computing, Science & Engineering at the University of Salford. We work in partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, SETPOINT Greater Manchester and BT Connected Earth.
Archaeology of Communications Conference
Find out more about the Archaeology of Communications Conference
Telecommunications
Within Telecommunications, current research includes:
- Development for algorithms for the efficient handover of connectivity between mobile networks;
- Ultra wide band;
- Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) systems;
- Network Functions Virtualisation;
- Quality of service provision within domestic broadband access networks.
Broadcasting
The broadcasting industry has undergone enormous change since the switch to digital with television and radio now being increasingly accessed via the Internet and smart phones.
Ultra-high definition television
Current research is investigating the impact of the move to ultra-high definition television (4K and 8K) which offers picture qualities far in excess of that achieved with current high definition standards. The challenge is being able to transmit high quality digital pictures efficiently over both wired and wireless networks. Therefore current work is assessing the relative performance of codecs, the optimisation of those codecs and an assessment of the consequent traffic loads generated on the delivery networks.
IPTV
Internet TV and the emergence of the smart TV has resulted in a huge increase in the amount of television content that a given user can now access. The challenge for content providers is to provide the user with an easy to access interface for navigating, searching and selecting relevant content. Current research is therefore examining the use of meta-data to aid searching, the design of new intelligent search algorithms and the development of new and potentially virtualised set top boxes which allows for the more rapid deployment of new services and channels.
Hyperlocal
Community TV is a well established concept for delivering content that has been generated within the local community and intended to be consumed by the local community. However, with the move to digital services, hyperlocal has taken on a new lease of life with content now being able to be generated by individuals and embedded with location information. Research is therefore investigating how hyperlocal services can be reinvented for today’s audience. This requires the ability to appropriately tag content with location information, to catalogue such content to form a virtual channel and to develop search algorithms which can locate content that has a relevance to your location.
Electrical Machines and Drives
The main focus of our research lies in:
- Electrical architectures;
- Electrical machines and drives;
- Electrical and Electro-mechanical actuators;
- Power electronic energy converters;
- Distributed generation;
- Energy efficiency;
- Multi-objective optimization.