Professor Eddie Ball
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (2021-2028)
e.a.ball@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5839
+44 114 222 5839
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Full contact details
Professor Eddie Ball
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
I am a Professor in RF Engineering, in the Communications Research Group.
Prior to starting at The University of Sheffield in 2015, my career has been as a practising RF Engineer in industry:-
- Tunstall Healthcare Ltd (Principal RF Engineer & Radio System Architect) 2011-2015
- Cambridge Consultants Ltd (Principal RF Engineer, in Wireless Business Unit) 1996 - 2011
My industrial expertise is in building innovative, bespoke, wireless systems that require a balanced and holistic view of RF / Digital / DSP / Protocol aspects to achieve best partitioning for performance vs cost trade-off. I am experienced in adapting COTS radio protocols and creating bespoke protocols.
I am particularly experienced and passionate about hardware design, for both high volume and low volume manufacture.
My reach extends from the pre-specification creation process, through all theoretical aspects of RF design, to the practical lab bench development and field test; all core to the creation of a mass producible item. I’m also experienced at talent identification and selection for developing high capability teams.
- Qualifications
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- Ph.D (University of Sheffield 2024)
- M.Eng (University of York 1996, 1st class)
- Chartered Engineer
- Research interests
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My industrial expertise and academic research interests span 3 broad, overlapping themes:-
- Novel RF circuit design
- Novel RF system design, including DSP and Software Defined Radio
- Novel applications of RF and radio technology (including non-communications applications)
I am investigating new fields of radio transceiver design, applied to modern commercial & industrial applications for:-
- Future IoT radios
- Millimetre wavelength radios
- RF MMIC and RF SiGe design
If you are a researcher looking to work in areas related to these fields, please contact me.
If you are an industrial organisation with desire to better exploit these fields, or address existing complex technical issues, please contact me.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- An Ultra-low Cost and Accurate AMC Algorithm and its Hardware Implementation. IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, 1-8.
- Low Area and Low Power FPGA Implementation of a DBSCAN-Based RF Modulation Classifier. IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, PP(99), 1-12.
- Multifunctional Reconfigurable Millimeter-Wave Array Antenna. IEEE Access, 1-1.
- Design and Measurements of Circularly Polarized Millimeter-Wave Phased Array Antenna Using Time Delay Transmission Lines. IEEE Access, 1-1.
- A Portable 28 GHz Channel Sounder Platform & Measurement Results from Close-to-Ground Field Tests. IEEE Open Journal of Instrumentation and Measurement, 1-1.
- Series-Fed Millimeter-Wave Antenna Array Based on Microstrip Line Structure. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 1-1.
- Receive Mode Time Modulated Antenna Array Incorporating Subsampling -Theoretical Concept and Laboratory Investigation. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 1-1.
- A Scalable and Accurate Chessboard-based AMC Algorithm with Low Computing Demands. IEEE Access, 1-1.
- HDPoA : Honesty-based distributed proof of authority via scalable work consensus protocol for IoT-blockchain applications. Computer Networks, 217. View this article in WRRO
- Predicting the performance of a 26 GHz transconductance modulated downconversion mixer as a function of LO drive and DC bias. Electronics, 11(16).
- A Secure Blockchain Platform for Supporting AI-Enabled IoT Applications at the Edge Layer. IEEE Access, 10, 18583-18595.
- The use of blockchain to support distributed AI implementation in IoT systems. IEEE Internet of Things Journal. View this article in WRRO
- The meta distribution of the SIR for LoRaWANs with power control. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. View this article in WRRO
- A technique to control the harmonic levels in time modulated antenna arrays - theoretical concept and hardware verification platform. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. View this article in WRRO
- Latency and performance analyses of real-world wireless IoT-blockchain application. IEEE Sensors Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Highly portable, low cost SDR instrument for RF propagation studies. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. View this article in WRRO
- Design and field trial measurement results for a portable and low cost VHF / UHF channel sounder platform for IoT propagation research. IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation. View this article in WRRO
- A mmWave Transmitting Time Modulated Array using Bespoke GaAs Integrated Circuits – Prototype Design and Laboratory Trials at 73 GHz. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation.
- 28GHz Rural Close-to-Ground Propagation Field Test Results and Models. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation.
- On-Chip Circularly Polarized Circular Loop Antennas Utilizing 4H-SiC and GaAs Substrates in the Q/V Band. Sensors, 24(2), 321-321.
- Cost-Effective Design of Polarization and Bandwidth Reconfigurable Millimeter-Wave Loop Antenna. Sensors, 23(24), 9628-9628.
- A tractable stochastic geometry model of coverage and an approach to energy efficiency estimation in LPWAN networks. International Journal of Sensor Networks. View this article in WRRO
- IoT focused VHF and UHF propagation study and comparisons. IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation.
- Automatic Modulation Classification Using Techniques from Image Classification. IET Communications.
Chapters
- A Novel Method of Automatic Modulation Classification with an Optimised 1D DBSCAN, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (pp. 960-967). Springer Nature Switzerland
Conference proceedings papers
- Impact of Via Placement on Reflection Coefficient in Reflective Metasurfaces. 2025 19th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP) (pp 1-4), 30 March 2025 - 4 April 2025.
- Concurrent Dual-Band, Low-Power O-RAN Compliant Radio for 5G Neutral Host Base Stations. 2025 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) (pp 1-6), 24 March 2025 - 27 March 2025.
- Demonstration of a Concurrent Dual-Band Radio for Neutral Host 5G Base Stations. 2025 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) (pp 1-3), 24 March 2025 - 27 March 2025.
- Aerosol Jet Printing on Kapton for Affordable Millimeter Wave Antenna Prototyping. 2024 IEEE Microwaves, Antennas, and Propagation Conference (MAPCON) (pp 1-4), 9 December 2024 - 13 December 2024.
- Analysis of Bond Wires and Proposal for Compensation Circuits in 73 GHz Applications. 2024 IEEE Microwaves, Antennas, and Propagation Conference (MAPCON) (pp 1-4), 9 December 2024 - 13 December 2024.
- A Low-Profile Fully Planar Loop Antenna for Polarization Reconfigurability. 2024 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and INC/USNC‐URSI Radio Science Meeting (AP-S/INC-USNC-URSI) (pp 189-190), 14 July 2024 - 19 July 2024.
- Silicon Carbide Antenna for Polarization Agility in Constrained Environments. 2023 IEEE Conference on Antenna Measurements and Applications (CAMA), 15 November 2023 - 17 November 2023.
- Monolithic Frequency-Reconfigurable Antenna on Silicon Carbide for Constrained Environments. 2023 IEEE Conference on Antenna Measurements and Applications (CAMA), 15 November 2023 - 17 November 2023.
- Performance Evaluation of a Circularly Polarized Circular Loop Antenna Printed on GaAs, InP, and 4H-SIC Substrates in the Q/V band Frequencies. 2023 17th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), 26 March 2023 - 31 March 2023.
- Deep Learning Applied to Automatic Modulation Classification at 28 GHz (pp 403-414)
- An Investigation into the Isolation and Bandwidth Characteristics of X-Band Chireix Power Amplifier
Combiners. ICAMT 2022: XVI(1307-6892) (pp 18-21). Online, 9 December 2022 - 10 December 2022.
- Adding Hardware Security into IoT-Blockchain Platforms. 2022 IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications (LATINCOM), 30 November 2022 - 2 December 2022.
- Securing IoT-Blockchain Applications Through Honesty-Based Distributed Proof of Authority Consensus Algorithm. 2021 International Conference on Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics and Assessment (CyberSA), 14 June 2021 - 18 June 2021. View this article in WRRO
- Ethereum Blockchain for Securing the Internet of Things: Practical Implementation and Performance Evaluation. Cyber Science: Cyber Situational Awareness for Predictive Insight and Deep Learning 2019 (pp 81-85). United Kingdom, 3 June 2019 - 4 June 2019. View this article in WRRO
- Constant Envelope Transceivers in Millimetre-Wave Massive MIMO: EVM and Link Budget Considerations. 2018 IEEE Sensor Array and Multichannel Signal Processing Workshop (SAM) (pp 84-88), 8 July 2018 - 11 July 2018. View this article in WRRO
- Highly portable software defined radio test bed for dual band propagation studies. IET Conference Publications, Vol. 2018(CP746)
- A cost-effective technique for concurrent IQ stream capture for prototyping phased arrays. IET Digital Library, 13 November 2017 - 14 November 2017. View this article in WRRO
- Antenna Beam Steering Without Phase Shifters – an ‘Old’ Technique Revisited. Proceedings of Automated RF & Microwave Measurement Society (ARMMS), 13 November 2017 - 14 November 2017. View this article in WRRO
- Wireless as Enabler of Innovation in 21st Century Health and Social Care. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, Vol. 242 (pp 80-85). Netherlands View this article in WRRO
- Portable and Low Cost Channel Sounding Platform for VHF / UHF IoT Propagation Research. Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference (LAPC 2017) View this article in WRRO
- Channel sounder for 5.5 GHz wireless channels. IEE Proceedings - Communications, Vol. 150(4) (pp 253-253)
- 73 GHz pHEMT Pumped Transconductance RX Mixer with Low Local Oscillator Drive Power. Proceedings of The 50th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 18 August 2025 - 18 August 2025.
- Microwave Subsampler Using Cascaded Cold pHEMTs. Proceedings of The 50th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 18 August 2025 - 18 August 2025.
- Dual-Mode E-Band Mixer for 6G mmWave Front-Ends: Simple structure with reconfigurable PT/Resistive Operation for Optimized Gain and Linearity. Proceedings of The 50th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 18 August 2025 - 18 August 2025.
- A 73 GHz Time Modulated Array with Beam Steering and Direct Vector Modulation of QPSK / 8PSK / 16QAM. Proceedings of IEEE International Mediterranean Conference on Communications and Networking, 7 July 2025 - 7 July 2025.
- Bridging 5G and 6G: A Low-Complexity Dual-Band mmWave Down-Converter Mixer (28/73 GHz) for 6G. Proceedings of IEEE International Mediterranean Conference on Communications and Networking, 7 July 2025 - 7 July 2025.
- Multiple Bondwires for E Band MMIC to Antenna Array Interconnections for Beamforming. 19th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP)
- A Steerable 8 Element 73 GHz Transmitting Time Modulated Array. EuCAP 2025 19th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation. Stockholm, 31 March 2025 - 31 March 2025.
- The Time Modulated Array for Channel Sounding Measurements – Concept and Initial Field Tests. 18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation
- Subsampling Time-Modulated Array for Reduced Hardware down Conversion and Beamforming. Proceedings of 18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, 18 March 2024 - 22 March 2024.
- Antenna Array and GaAs Phase Shifter MMIC for Millimeter Wave Beamforming - Co-Simulation and Measurements. Proceedings of 18th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, 18 March 2024 - 22 March 2024.
- Discrete Tuned Millimeter Wave SIW Resonators in GaAs and on PCB. German Microwave Conference 2024, 11 March 2024 - 13 March 2024.
- Design and Measurement of a GaAs MMIC for use in a 73 GHz Time Modulated Array. IEEE International Conference on Antenna Measurements and Applications (IEEE CAMA)
- Wireless as Enabler of Innovation in 21st Century Health and Social Care. AAATE 2017 Conference Proceedings, 11 September 2017 - 15 September 2017.
- A Secure Distributed Blockchain Platform for Use in AI-Enabled IoT Applications. 2020 IEEE Cloud summit, 21 October 2020 - 22 October 2020. View this article in WRRO
- Investigation into Series-Fed Microstrip Patch Arrays at 26 GHz, 28 GHz and 48 GHz – Design, Simulation and Prototype Tests. 2021 IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems. Texas, 18 May 2021 - 20 May 2021.
- Investigation into the Relationship Between Conversion Gain, Local Oscillator Drive Level and DC Bias in a SiGe Transistor Transconductance Modulated Mixer at 24-28 GHz. 2021 IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems. Texas, 18 May 2021 - 20 May 2021.
- Automatic Modulation Classification Based on Machine Learning. Mechanisms and Machine Science
- An Ultra-low Cost and Accurate AMC Algorithm and its Hardware Implementation. IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, 1-8.
- Research group
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Electromagnetics, Wireless Hardware & RF Devices
- Teaching activities
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- I created and teach EEE6239 “RADIO TRANSCEIVER SYSTEM & CIRCUIT DESIGN” to final year M.Eng. and MSc students. In this course we explore contemporary aspects of RF circuit design and Software Defined Radio and then investigate them in the lab.
- I created and teach “VHF SYNTHESISER FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS” as part of the 2nd year Design Exercise EEE262.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- SMIEE
- MIET
- Other responsibilities
Theme Lead for Electromagnetics, Wireless Hardware & RF Devices. Director of UKRI National mmWave Measurement Facility.