Senior Systems Engineer
About The Position
Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.'s Connectivity Hardware Systems team is seeking an engineer with a foundation in digital communications, signal processing, and wireless systems to characterize, validate, optimize, and debug next-generation Wi-Fi products. The role involves working with hardware, PHY, RF, firmware, and systems engineering teams to understand wireless performance from theoretical models through implementation and silicon measurements. It is described as suitable for a new graduate or early-career engineer interested in applying communication theory and signal-processing concepts to wireless systems.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field and at least 2 years of Systems Engineering or related work experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and at least 1 year of related work experience; or a PhD in one of these fields.
- Solid academic foundation in digital communications and digital signal processing.
- Understanding of digital modulation and demodulation, OFDM, Fourier transforms and spectral analysis, sampling and filtering, noise and communication-channel fundamentals, and probability/random processes as applied to communications.
- Coursework or project experience with MATLAB and/or Python.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Interest in hands-on wireless system characterization and debugging.
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree or PhD with coursework or research in wireless communications, communication theory, or signal processing.
- Understanding of OFDM/OFDMA, MIMO, and beamforming.
- Familiarity with IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi PHY or MAC.
- Academic, internship, or project experience involving wireless communications, DSP, SDR, or MATLAB simulation.
- Familiarity with RF concepts and basic RF test equipment.
- Python scripting and data-analysis experience.
- Exposure to embedded systems, firmware, FPGA/RTL, or hardware/software debugging.
Responsibilities
- Characterize and analyze Wi-Fi PHY and system performance across operating conditions.
- Apply digital communications and DSP fundamentals to understand and debug wireless performance issues.
- Analyze PHY concepts including OFDM/OFDMA, QAM, MIMO, beamforming, channel estimation, equalization, synchronization, coding, and link adaptation.
- Analyze EVM, PER, sensitivity, throughput, and transmit/receive performance metrics.
- Develop MATLAB and Python scripts for simulation, data processing, visualization, test automation, and characterization.
- Compare theoretical and simulated performance with measurements from Wi-Fi hardware.
- Analyze firmware, hardware, and PHY logs to identify performance issues and help determine root causes.
- Work with HWS, PHY, RF, firmware, and design engineers to debug complex wireless-system problems.
- Develop an understanding of IEEE 802.11 PHY/MAC behavior and next-generation Wi-Fi features.
- Participate in lab characterization and system-level validation of wireless chipsets.
Benefits
- Competitive annual discretionary bonus program.
- Opportunity for annual RSU grants, except for employees on sales-incentive plans.
- Competitive benefits package designed to support employees at work, at home, and at play.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
