Research fellow demonstrates next generation trainable radios
Dr Ismail Shakeel recently completed a Chief Defence Scientist (CDS) Fellowship, during which he made significant contributions to the field of "Trainable Radios" that use artificial intelligence to autonomously optimise radio frequency (RF) communications in contested environments.
A Trainable Radio concept demonstrator built during his fellowship allowed Dr Shakeel to show how such a radio senses the operating RF channel and automatically learns and builds the necessary protocols for reliable communication. This technology is expected to automate the radio development process, significantly reduce technology deployment time and produce more optimised, secure, adaptive and reconfigurable communication protocols to support mission-critical communications in a variety of operating environments.
'Building on the success of the concept demonstrator, I secured funding from the Australian Army in 2022 to further mature the Trainable Radios technology,' reports Dr Shakeel.
During his fellowship, Dr Shakeel became an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Queensland, further cementing his standing in the academic community. He actively mentored and supervised two students who received postgraduate scholarships in AI-enabled communications as part of the fellowship.
Accelerated learning opportunity
According to Dr Shakeel, the fellowship was a valuable chance to step back from his regular role as a defence scientist and focus for an extended period on a technology of potentially great value to Defence. During the fruitful three years he fostered collaborative research partnerships with RMIT University, the University of Southern Queensland, Flinders University and the University of Sydney in an effort to advance the understanding and application of Trainable Radios for resilient communications. Ten research reports were generated, including publications in journals, conference papers, and feasibility investigations. Outputs like this contributed to the academic and practical knowledge-base in the realm of AI-enabled communication systems.
'Beyond the research, I took the opportunity to participate in numerous STEM promotional activities during my fellowship,' says Dr Shakeel. This included engaging with undergraduate and postgraduate students, developed and supervised projects in AI-enabled communications, and played a pivotal role in guiding and mentoring postgraduate internships, industry experience students, and summer vacation placement students.
'I wish to thank DSTG for this unique, valuable and much appreciated opportunity to focus on an important, emerging area of technology.'
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