Dr Kenny Barlee

Research Associate

Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Contact

Personal statement

Telecommunications engineer working in software defined radio, cognitive radio, shared spectrum, community and privately owned 4G/5G. Built one of the UK's first 5G networks. In Orkney. Not London.

I am a researcher in the Software Defined Radio Laboratory at the University of Strathclyde. I received my BEng (Hons) degree from the University in 2014. My PhD research focused on the development of HDL compatible Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC) based SDR radio transceivers for use in secondary user Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) applications. Focusing on the PHY, the cognitive radios I have developed are able to identify empty spectral bands, decide which are most suitable for use, and then use dynamic non-contiguous modulation in order to establish communications channels in them. I designed these transceivers from within MATLAB and Simulink, and deployed them onto realtime ZynqSDR devices (Xilinx Zynq based FPGA/ARM SoC dev board + Analog Devices SDR front end).

I played a key role in 5G RuralFirst; testbeds and trials for rural 5G mobile connectivity across sites in the Orkney Islands, Shropshire and Somerset. Myself and the team designed, developed and with the help of partners delivered an end to end mobile network for 5G RuralFirst in 5 months. From SIM cards to custom UEs, eNBs and ePCs, radio spectrum planning and network orchestration; we have proved that it is possible to make mobile coverage in rural areas affordable, using shared and licensed spectrum, neutral hosting and software defined radio.

In this project I worked as part of the small team that designed the mobile network, carrying out interoperability testing with third party ePCs, the programming of basestations, RF planning and network design, and developed bespoke security and management solutions for the basestation equipment. I was lead developer of the "PiFi" modem kits used on drones for agritech use cases and on tour buses in Orkney. I also took the lead on Orkney basestation installations, commissioning and subsequent drive testing campaigns, spending more than 3 months of 2019 with colleagues at CloudNet IT Solutions Ltd, a project partner and local wireless internet service provider, who deployed the equipment and backhaul solutions. I led on the development of a generator powered popup 5G network trailer mast; featuring a software defined remote radio head and sector antenna mounted on a pneumatic mast, and a baseband unit that is both performing R15 eNB/gNB PHY processing and running the core network. I used this (Ofcom licensed) popup 5G network to perform RF coverage trials and help refine RF propagation simulation parameters throughout summer 2019.

I am one of the authors of a free, 670 page 12 chapter SDR textbook, 'Software Defined Radio using MATLAB & Simulink and the RTL-SDR'. You can download a copy by checking out http://www.desktopSDR.com

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethbarlee

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Area of Expertise

  • Software Defined Radio (SDR)
  • Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA)
  • Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
  • MATLAB/ Simulink SDR Implementations
  • RTL-SDR and USRP SDR Hardware
  • FPGA and Zynq development

Qualifications

I studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, and graduated in June 2014 with a First Class (Hons) Bachelor's Degree. Following this I studied for a PhD in the EEE Department at the University of Strathclyde. I successfully defended my thesis in December 2020, which presented a cognitive dynamic spectrum radio solution implemented on programmable ZynqSDR hardware, that enabled secondary user access to the FM Radio band.

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Publications

Rapid prototyping and validation of FS-FBMC dynamic spectrum radio with simulink and ZynqSDR
Barlee Kenny W, Stewart Robert W, Crockett Louise H, MacEwen Neil C
IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society Vol 2, pp. 113-131 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCOMS.2020.3039928
Control and visualisation of a software defined radio system on the Xilinx RFSoC platform using the PYNQ framework
Goldsmith Joshua, Ramsay Craig, Northcote David, Barlee Kenneth W, Crockett Louise H, Stewart Robert W
IEEE Access Vol 8, pp. 129012-129031 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3008954
Low latency wireless broadcast production over 5G
Yoffe Samuel R, Allan Douglas G, Barlee Kenneth W, Anderson Dani, Muir Damien, Brew Malcolm R, Speirs Cameron, Stewart Robert W, Waddell Mark B, Kröger-Mayes Jonas, Stante Giulio
NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference 2025 (2025)
Off-piste 5G in the Broadcast Auxiliary Service band
Allan Douglas G, Yoffe Samuel R, Barlee Kenneth W, Anderson Dani, Chalmers Iain C, Brew Malcolm R, Speirs Cameron A, Stewart Robert W, Breant Nicolas, Tastet Jeremy, Roques Sebastien, Chague Bastien
NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference 2025 (2025)
Using a private 5G network to support the international broadcast of the coronation of HM King Charles III
Yoffe Samuel R, Brew Malcolm R, Allan Douglas G, Barlee Kenneth W, Anderson Dani, Ighagbon Odianosen, Muir Damien, Goldsmith Joshua, Speirs Cameron, Stewart Robert W, Wagdin Ian, Waddell Mark B, Gandhu Purminder, Reed Andy, Ashton Simon
2024 BEIT Conference Proceedings (2024)
5G standalone non-public networks : modernising wireless production
Waddell M B, Yoffe S R, Barlee K W, Allan D G, Wagdin I, Brew M R, Butler D, Stewart R W
IBC 2023 Conference (2023)

More publications

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Contact

Dr Kenny Barlee
Research Associate
Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Email: kenneth.barlee@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 2605