Sr. Communication Systems Design Engineer

Project Kuiper Systems Engineer

Project Kuiper is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. As a systems engineer, this role is primarily responsible for the design, development and integration of Ka band and S/C band communication payload and customer terminal systems.

The role involves being part of the team defining the overall communication system and architecture of Project Kuiper's broadband wireless network. This is a unique opportunity to innovate and define groundbreaking wireless technology with few legacy constraints. The team develops and designs the communication system of Kuiper and analyzes its overall system level performance such as for overall throughput, latency, system availability, packet loss, etc.

This role in particular will be responsible for leading the effort in designing and developing advanced technology and solutions for communication system. This role will also be responsible for developing advanced L1/L2 proof of concept HW/SW systems to improve the performance and reliability of the Kuiper LEO network. In particular, this role will be responsible for using concepts from digital signal processing, information theory, wireless communications to develop novel solutions for achieving ultra-high performance LEO network. This role will also be part of a team and develop simulation tools with particular emphasis on modeling the physical layer aspects such as advanced receiver modeling and abstraction, interference cancellation techniques, FEC abstraction models, etc.

This role will also play a critical role in the design, integration and verification of various HW and SW sub-systems as a part of system integration and link bring-up and verification.

In this role you will:

• Design advanced L1/L2 algorithms and solutions for the Kuiper communication system.
• Work with ASIC development teams to build power/area efficient L1/L2 HW accelerators to be integrated into Kuiper SoCs.
• Provide specifications and work with implementation teams on the development of embedded L1/L2 HW/SW architectures.
• Work with multi-disciplinary teams to develop advanced solutions for time, frequency and spatial acquisition/tracking in LEO systems, particularly under large uncertainties.
• Develop link-level and system-level simulators and work closely with implementation teams to evaluate expected performance and provide quick feedback on potential improvements.
• Develop proof-of-concepts for critical communication payload components using SDR platforms consisting of FPGAs and general-purpose processors.
• Develop testbeds consisting of digital, IF and RF components while accounting for link-budgets and RF/IF line-ups. Previous experiences with VSAs/VSGs, channel emulators, antennas (particularly phased-arrays) and anechoic chamber instrumentation are a plus.
• Work with development teams on system integration and debugging from PHY to network layer, including interfacing with flight computer and SDN control subsystems.
• Be willing to work in a fast-paced environment and take ownership that goes from algorithm specification, to HW/SW architecture definition, to proof-of-concept development, to testbed bring-up, to integration into the Kuiper system.
• Be a team player and provide support when requested while being able to unblock themselves by reaching out RF, ASIC, SW, Comsys and Testbed supporting teams to move forward in development, testing and integration activities.
• Ability to adapt design and test activities based on current HW/SW capabilities delivered by the development teams.

Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.