Ny topprekrytering till STC Forskningscenter ‑ Peter Karlsson, u‑blox

New Top Recruitment at STC Research Centre

- Peter Karlsson Appointed Adjunct Professor at Mid Sweden University 

Peter began his career as a PhD-student within wireless communications at Lund University. After his dissertation, he joined Telia Research in Malmö 1995, focusing on developing and standardizing short-range communication for indoor applications and the next generation of mobile systems.

In the early 2000s, Peter got a PostDoc position at the University of Bristol in England. There, he supervised PhD-students focused on developing enhanced Wi-Fi and cellular 3G and 4G systems for particularly difficult and challenging environments. After his years in England, Peter returned to Sweden and got a position as an innovation manager at Telia on advancing public mobile networks. The next step was embarking Sony Ericsson, where he concentrated on new features in mobile devices.

With one foot in the research community

Throughout his career, Peter has maintained a contact with the research community, as a supervisor of PhD-students, as chairman of a research program for industrial PhD-students, and leading research initiatives.

- I think research is fun and have realized that you can't do everything by yourself, it takes collaboration and sharing of information to achieve success. I want to take part of the latest research results and contribute with my experiences, it is a mutual learning process, tells Peter Karlsson.

In 2012, Peter led a research group at Sony focused on 5G for mobile applications, and this is where he first got in contact with Prof. Mikael Gidlund from Mid Sweden University. Mikael also conducted research on wireless mobile communication for industrial applications, where 5G created entirely new possibilities. 

Using hybrid fusion for wireless communication

Since 2019, Peter has been at u-blox, a spin-off company from ETH Zürich, which employs over 1,400 people globally. The core of u-blox is GPS and satellite-based positioning chips and modules but specializes in short-range radio technology in Malmö office. The short-range Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies are mainly indoor connectivity systems but, are also explored for positioning — combined with GPS, 5G, AI, and Machine Learning. Their products serve a diverse clientele, from automotive, large industries to the healthcare sector.

- u-blox develops technology to connect and position various items, everything from cars to hospital beds to industrial machines. The research challenges include making these connections robust, energy-efficient, and cost-effective with hybrid fusion as a next step, Peter explained.

These challenges align with the research challenges that Prof. Mikael Gidlund and his research team is working with and where Mikael and Peter found a new collaboration.

- We complement each other well. That’s why we applied for funding from the Knowledge Foundation to deepen our cooperation, share experiences, and conduct joint research initiatives, tells Prof. Mikael Gidlund.

Co-supervising PhD-student in the International Research School 

At u-blox, Peter is responsible for a team of researchers and developers located in Malmö, Berlin and Athens. Now he looks forward to meeting the research team at Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall and to co-supervising the new PhD-student Hamed Talebian, who recently joined Mid Sweden University’s International Research School - IRS TransTech. 

- I am excited about this collaboration and my new formal role as an Adjunct Professor. I look forward to meeting the entire research team in Sundsvall and working with talented researchers. Over the years, I have supervised several PhD-students, and it will be interesting to supervise Hamed, who will also be part of our research team at u-blox, Peter Karlsson concluded.