Statement of Purpose - PhD Engineering (SOP)

A dedicated, detailed and capable research fellow with Fifteen years of teaching
experience in Under-graduate & Post-graduate level. Extensively published in science
& engineering journals, with related expertise in VLSI & Mobile Communication. A
confident presenter at conferences and teacher in classrooms, able to explain complex
information to audiences of all levels.

I have completed my two year Masters of Technology program at the National

Institute of Science &Technology, Berhampur, Odisha, India. I Postgraduate in July
2005 with a masters degree in Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. Many of
my courses and research activities were in the field of Communication Engineering and
Microelectronics with a strong focus on Mobile communication & VLSI. I am presently
working in NM Institute of Engineering & Technology, an academic institute that is
involved in the areas of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Engineering students as an
Assistant Professor. I am applying for admission and financial aid to the Ph.D. program
in VLSI & wireless Communication at your Institute. Detailed information about my
academic record and my research and other experience is attached to this statement.

I have also completed my four year Bachelor of Engineering program at the

Institute of Technology under Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, India. I graduated in July
2002 with a degree in Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering.

I was introduced to mathematics and the physical sciences while at school and
it was in high school that I considered a career in this area. The desire to study the
applied physical sciences and mathematics prompted me to take the Joint Entrance
Examination (JEE) for admission to the Utkal University.

My undergraduate and postgraduate education has not only given me a certain

set of skills but has also helped me understand my fields of interest and my academic
strengths and weaknesses. This understanding has made me realize that though the
applied physical sciences appeal to me, my strengths lie in applied mathematics and in
abstractions of reality. In particular, I am interested in the mobile communication. This
interest developed during my junior year seminar titled ‘Recent Advances in Wireless
Communication Technology’ in which I explored the relationship between Wireless
communication and human civilization. I continued further research in this area through
my senior year project titled ‘SOME DEVELOPMENTS IN DECISION WEIGHTED ADAPTIVE
ALGORITHMS WITH APPLICTIONS TO WIRELESS CHANNEL ESTIMATION’ which sought
to investigate various wireless channels using adaptive algorithms. The project also
enabled me to appreciate the interaction between fixed channel and adaptive channels.
The reading of certain outstanding books during the course of my research finally
convinced me to pursue a Ph.D. in wireless communication and an academic career
thereafter.
 My past work in the area of wireless communication engineering was
characterized by studies novel modifications to the least mean square (LMS) and
weighted recursive least square (WRLS) or Weighted RLS) adaptive algorithms to
estimate the impulse response of a wireless communications channel blindly without the
aid of a training or probe sequence. We use knowledge of receiver decision quality to
weight the LMS and WRLS estimators to increase their robustness to hard decision
errors and channel noise. We propose two classes of those decision weighted
algorithms: 1) Soft decision weighted, where algorithm weights are a function of
receiver soft decisions; and 2) ideal decision weighted, where algorithm weights are a
function of decision error knowledge. We compared the performance of these
decisions-weighted estimators to there non-weighted blind and non-blind counterparts
through simulations over free-space propagation three path (Rummler) and mobile radio
channel models. Our results show that the decisions weighted LMS (DWLMS) has
significant advantages over ordinary LMS in environments with low signal-to-noise
ratios (SNR) and high symbol error rates (SER). The decisions weighted recursive least
squares, however, had mixed results. The soft decisions weighted RLS (IDWRLS) had
similar performance to other WRLS. To improve the performance of the SDWRLS, we
also propose and simulate modifications to its estimator update structure. These
modifications allow the SDWRLS to perform similar to the soft decision weighted
LMS.

I believe that I have the qualities to be a good researcher and teacher. I am a

creative person and often think in a contemplative way about various issues of practical
importance. Being able to identify patterns and relationships that are not obvious to
others is perhaps my greatest strength. This will prove very valuable because an integral
part of being a researcher and teacher is to perceive the balance between theory and
practice, analytical rigor and intuition. My communication skills are good and I like
expressing ideas and concepts both in oral and written form - an ideal platform for the
dissemination of knowledge in my chosen field of specialization.

Your institute is one of the best in the world with a strong orientation towards
research. The diversity of research interests in the Wireless communication group is of
particular interest to me. The eminent faculty and the individualized nature of the
doctoral program will definitely bring out the best in me. I would like to reiterate that I
possess the background, the ability and the motivation to make a significant
contribution to Wireless communication. I hope you will take a favorable decision
regarding my admission to the Ph.D. program and I look forward to joining your
institute.