Are you a student eager to apply your theoretical knowledge and fresh perspectives to real-world challenges? At Saab, we believe that innovation thrives on new ideas, and your master thesis project could be the spark that ignites our next technological breakthrough.
Your role
We recognize the immense value that students bring to our company. Your academic rigor, combined with your enthusiasm for cutting-edge technology, allows you to approach problems with a unique and insightful lens. At Saab, you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with experienced engineers and specialists, gaining invaluable practical experience while making a tangible contribution to our growth and development.
Background
The more antenna and amplifier gain the better – unless it leads to saturation in the analog to digital converter (ADC). To go beyond the normal limits determined by saturation we want to develop methods to estimate and reconstruct the saturated samples.
Systems that receive radio frequency signals, such as radars and electronic support measures (ESM), want to detect as distant and weak signals as possible to give warnings as early as possible, and they therefore want as much gain as possible. This can lead to problems if a much stronger signal appears, or if several signals happen to constructively interfere. In those cases, the received signal can be stronger than what the ADC can sample, leading to clipping/saturation where the amplitude of those digital samples is reduced to the ADC limit.
Saturation can be seen as the addition of a signal that is the inverse of the clipped amplitude from the samples. This leads in the best case to added white noise which reduces performance in a predictable way, but saturation can also lead to correlated noise which is much more difficult to handle. To avoid these problems gain is normally reduced until no or almost no saturation happens.
Description of the master thesis
To avoid having to reduce gain to avoid saturation we want to be able to handle a greater degree of saturation. By assuming there is some structure to the received signal (such as signals being limited to only certain frequencies and noise on other frequencies), it’s possible to estimate the value of saturated samples so that the structure remains as unaffected as possible. You can then replace the values of the saturated samples with the estimated values before doing any other processing.
Your task will be to investigate different methods to reconstruct estimated ADC samples, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can be effectively implemented on processing hardware such as FPGA, GPU, or DSP.
The thesis can also (depending on interest and time) include:
- Considering different signal environments with differently structured signals
- Automatically adapting or changing methods to work well for the current signal environment
- Determining an optimal gain for the amplifier for the current signal environment
- Optimizing the FPGA/GPU/DSP implementation
- Finding methods for systems with multiple antennas in an antenna array
Your profile
You are studying engineering physics, math, electrical engineering, or similar, and are approaching the end of your education and will start your thesis job during autumn 2026.
The project is suitable for a student who has taken courses in signal processing. Courses in microwave propagation are beneficial, but not necessary.
We provide the support and guidance you need to translate your theoretical knowledge into practical solutions. Join us and become a driving force behind Saab's technological advancements!
This position requires that you pass a security vetting based on the current regulations around/of security protection. For positions requiring security clearance additional obligations on citizenship may apply.
Kindly observe that this is an ongoing recruitment process and that the position might be filled before the closing date of the advertisement.
What you will be a part of
Explore a wealth of possibilities. Take on challenges, create smart inventions, and grow beyond. This is a place for curious minds, brave pioneers, and everyone in between. Together, we achieve the extraordinary, each bringing our unique perspectives. Your part matters.
Saab is a leading defence and security company with an enduring mission, to help nations keep their people and society safe. Empowered by its 26,100 talented people, Saab constantly pushes the boundaries of technology to create a safer and more sustainable world.
Saab designs, manufactures and maintains advanced systems in aeronautics, weapons, command and control, sensors and underwater systems. Saab is headquartered in Sweden. It has major operations all over the world and is part of the domestic defence capability of several nations. Read more about us here
Last application day
15-06-2026
Contact information
Neda Tooloutalaie, Head of Future Technologies
e-post, neda.tooloutalaie@saabgroup.com
073 446 00 55
Karl-Johan Hällgren, Master Thesis Supervisor
karl-johan.hallgren@saabgroup.com
+46 73-437 4607