Berker Pekoz

Title
Assistant Professor
Email
Department
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Dept
College
College of Engineering

Areas of Expertise

Wireless Communication, Signal Processing, Physical Layer/Hardware/Cyber Security, MIMO Communications, Non-terrestrial Networks Design Verification and Testing, Radionavigation
Berker Pekoz

Berker Peköz received the B.Sc. (MCL) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye with a focus on designing data structures and numerical signal processing methods for microprocessors targeting biomedical imaging and instrumentation applications. He then received the M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida with a focus on computing and security aspects of multicarrier mobile communication systems, particularly 5G cellular networks; founded on signal detection, estimation, and processing techniques such as data analytics, statistical inference, time series analysis and wavelet signal processing. He was awarded the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida for his dissertation introducing practical, secure & scalable adaptive MIMO waveform design & processing techniques that would enable co-existence of ultra-reliable low-latency vehicular networks and massive-machine type communications in the same band. He worked as a research assistant, teaching assistant and patent engineer intern during his graduate studies.

Dr. Peköz then joined Wireless Research & Development (WRD) division of Qualcomm Technologies as a Senior Wireless DSP/ASIC Systems Engineer to architect bit-exact DSP implementations for the physical random access and uplink control (and help architect the uplink shared) channel receiver systems of Qualcomm’s 2nd generation femtocell station modem, spearheading ASIC flows from RF inputs, through various integer-unit and vector coprocessors with VLIW/SIMD & RISC microarchitectures, to PCI-E output interfaces. He developed several automated single and mixed channel design verification test scenario generator and result-processing scripts that improved the modems resilience and capacity in several possible real-world scenarios by identifying performance bottlenecks and provided insights on dimensioning and arbitration of buses, memories and hardware while balancing the area, power and timeline budgets of the system-on-chip.

Following commercial success of Qualcomm’s FSM2xx and having established permanent residence in the US, Dr. Pekoz then joined what eventually grew to the Communications Design Department of CesiumAstro Space & Defense Systems as a Senior Communication Systems Engineer. At CesiumAstro, he prioritized and developed new algorithms, technologies, and approaches to solve leading edge problems in wireless communications with a strong focus on research, analysis, development, and test of satellite systems; such as algorithm development of an alternative positioning, navigation, and timing (APNT) payload.[ITAR compliant public description]

Dr. Pekoz now teaches and researches secure cyber-physical systems and hardware that will support PNT requirements of the nation’s future aerospace wireless communication networks.

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida
  • EE 307: Avionics I
  • CS 800: Dissertation
  • EE 327: Electrical Engineering Fund
  • EE 595E: Intro SatNav Software Def Rad
  • EE 395E: Intro SatNav Software Def Rad
  • CS 527: Sys Exploit and Penetrtion Tst
  • EE307 – Avionics I
  • EE327 – Electrical Engineering Fund
  • EE307 – Avionics I

Selected Journal Articles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[J6] M. Karabacak, B. Peköz, G. Mumcu, and H. Arslan, “Arraymetrics: Authentication through chaotic antenna array geometries,” IEEE Commun. Lett., vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 1801–1804, Jun. 2021, issn: 2373-7891. doi: 10.1109/LCOMM.2021.3063049.

[J5] B. Peköz, M. Hafez, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Reducing precoder/channel mismatch and enhancing secrecy in practical MIMO systems using artificial signals,” IEEE Commun. Lett., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 1347–1350, Jun. 2020, issn: 2373-7891. doi: 10.1109/LCOMM.2020. 2978058.

[J4] B. Peköz, Z. E. Ankaralı, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Non-redundant OFDM receiver windowing for 5G frames & beyond,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 676–684, Jan. 2020. doi: 10.1109/TVT.2019.2953233.

[J3] B. Peköz, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Extensionless adaptive transmitter and receiver windowing of beyond 5G frames,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 1888–1902, Feb. 2020. doi: 10.1109/TVT.2019.2961915.

[J2] A. F. Demir, B. Peköz, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Innovative telecommunications training through flexible radio platforms,” IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 57, no. 11, pp. 27–33, Nov. 2019. doi: 10.1109/MCOM.001.1900245.

[J1] Z. E. Ankaralı, B. Peköz, and H. Arslan, “Flexible radio access beyond 5G: A future projection on waveform, numerology & frame design principles,” IEEE Access, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 18 295–18 309, Mar. 2017, issn: 2169-3536. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2017.2684783.

Proceedings and Presentations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[C3] Panelist, “R&D activities on acceleration of interworking between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks for beyond 5G-based society,” Workshop at the 26th Int. Symp. Wireless Pers. Multimedia Commun. (WPMC2023), Tampa, FL, Nov. 21, 2023.

[C2] B. Peköz, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Adaptive windowing of insufficient CP for joint minimization of ISI and ACI beyond 5G,” in Proc. 2017 IEEE 28th Annu. Int. Symp. Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Commun., Montreal, QC: IEEE, Oct. 2017, pp. 1–5. doi: 10.1109/PIMRC.2017.8292389.

[C1] M. Elkourdi, B. Peköz, E. Güvenkaya, and H. Arslan, “Waveform design principles for 5G and beyond,” in Proc. 2016 IEEE 17th Annu. Wireless and Microwave Technol. Conf., Clearwater, FL: IEEE, Apr. 2016, pp. 1–6. doi: 10.1109/WAMICON.2016.7483859.

Patents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[P7] B. Pekoz, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “System and method for extensionless adaptive transmitter and receiver windowing,” U.S. Patent 11,050,449, Jun. 29, 2021.

[P6] B. Pekoz, Z. E. Ankaralı, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “OFDM reception under high adjacent channel interference while preserving frame structure,” U.S. Patent 10,547,489, Jan. 28, 2020.

[P5] B. Pekoz, M. Hafez, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “Using artificial signals to maximize capacity and secrecy of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication,” U.S. Patent 10,644,771, May 5, 2020.

[P4] B. Pekoz, M. Hafez, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “Using artificial signals to maximize capacity and secrecy of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication,” U.S. Patent 10,516,452, Dec. 24, 2019.

[P3] B. Pekoz, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “Combined minimization of intersymbol interference (ISI) and adjacent channel interference (ACI),” U.S. Patent 10,476,705, Nov. 12, 2019.

[P2] B. Pekoz, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “Combined minimization of intersymbol interference (ISI) and adjacent channel interference (ACI),” U.S. Patent 10,348,530, Jul. 9, 2019.

[P1] B. Pekoz, S. Kose, and H. Arslan, “Network-aware adjacent channel interference rejection and out of band emission suppression,” U.S. Patent 10,511,338, Dec. 17, 2019.

Book Chapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[B1] B. Peköz, S. Köse, and H. Arslan, “Flexibility through hybrid waveforms,” in Flexible and Cognitive Radio Access Technologies for 5G and Beyond, H. Arslan and E. Başar, Eds., Institution of Engineering and Technology, Oct. 22, 2020, ch. 4, pp. 99–142, isbn: 9781839530807. doi: 10.1049/pbte092e_ch4.

  • Qualcomm
  • CesiumAstro Space & Defense Systems
  • National Academy of Inventors
  • Tau Beta Pi