Opportunities for students

An industrial thesis (master's thesis with a company) is frequently regarded as a critical stepping stone in a student's professional development. They provide a bridge between academic learning and real-world experience. I just had the honor of conducting research at u-blox, a prestigious and prominent location and wireless communication solution provider to the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

I was greeted warmly and friendly when I walked into the office. The vibrant culture of the organization and the team's enthusiasm for their work were obvious. The initial orientation training taught me everything I needed about the company's beliefs, goals, and expectations. It laid the groundwork for a fascinating and fruitful thesis work experience.

While at u-blox, I worked on improving the security of u-blox's IoT modules using machine learning algorithms. I was entrusted with challenging and impactful assignments of investigating how machine learning can be embedded in resource-constrained IoT modules for anomaly and intrusion detection. My work included using generated u-blox datasets to train and build ML models for anomaly and intrusion detection and finding ways these models can be converted into compact C code and implemented in embedded devices with limited memory and computing power. Despite a challenging start with data collection from IoT devices due to a lack of experience in embedded devices. The guidance and support I received during my thesis work were exceptional. I had a supervisor and two other senior engineers who became invaluable resources throughout my journey. They provided regular feedback, answered my questions, and helped me navigate complex tasks, including helping set up the testbeds for data collection. The mentorship enhanced my technical abilities and instilled in me a sense of confidence and self-belief.

At u-blox, collaboration is ingrained in the company culture. The work environment fostered open communication and encouraged collaboration across teams. I worked with professionals from diverse backgrounds, each bringing their unique perspectives to the table. The collaborative nature of the workplace not only enriched my understanding but also reinforced the importance of teamwork in achieving collective goals.

The master's thesis work at u-blox has been a life-changing learning opportunity. In addition to the skills I learned, I was exposed to various industry tools, technologies, and best practices. Weekly seminars about project progress fostered my professional development. These learning experiences extended my views and gave me the abilities I needed to succeed in the industry.

During my time at u-blox, I got to network with experts from all departments and levels of the firm. This experience allowed me to broaden my professional network and get insight into other career choices. Engaging in dialogues with experienced persons proved invaluable, opening the door to potential future partnerships and mentorship opportunities.

My master's thesis work at u-blox was a fantastic adventure full of growth, learning, and significant friendships. It was a transformative experience because of the supportive environment, tough tasks, and the opportunity to work alongside dedicated experts. This thesis work not only improved my technical skills but also gave me professional confidence and self-belief. I am grateful for the chance and its long-term influence on my personal and professional growth.

University: Linnaeus University

Faculty of Technology, Department of Informatics

Program: Information Systems

As part of my studies in computer science, I successfully completed an internship at the u-blox office in Berlin. I decided to increase the duration by choice from a minimum of eight weeks to a total of five month. The reason was simple – a period of only two month would not have been enough to finish a serious task of any kind. Additionally, I wanted to learn and experience as much as possible. In retrospect, I am very glad for this decision.

Challenges

I received the chance to work on three very different projects and had to face technologies and tools I did not know before. My main task was the creation of a testbed for host based wireless modules, then I was requested by the hardware team to assist in automating measurements and last but not least I implemented a firmware update procedure for one of the host platforms. The main challenge for me was to adapt quickly to new requirements. Fortunately, I was able to use a lot of the methods and knowledge I gained at my time at the university but still I had to get used to reading technical specifications, the general workflow in the team and the regular status meetings.

Conclusion

I experienced a warm welcome in Berlin and soon felt like a part of the team, not least because all colleagues were very collaborative and professional. Because many different disciplines come together in Berlin, I gained valuable insights regarding the Linux kernel and radio drivers as well as hardware design and measurement equipment. Overall, the time at u-blox was more valuable and rewarding than I could have wished for.

Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:

I am originally from Czechia, where I completed my master’s degree in Computer Science at the VSB Technical University of Ostrava. After that, I continued to do a second  master’s degree in Computer Security. During my studies, I chose to be an intern at ublox to gain firsthand experience in hardware and software interaction at a foundational  level and to immerse myself in a new cultural environment. During my internship, I worked extensively on the STB project, focusing on improving software architecture and  implementing TDD within our coding processes on both the A7 and M4 cores.

Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:

Throughout the internship, I engaged in a variety of tasks centered on advancing software development practices and improving software architecture. I was involved in  studying and implementing Unit testing and Test-Driven Development (TDD), which I showcased through detailed presentations to my team. My efforts included refactoring the software for the M4 processor to enhance readability and functionality, as well as restructuring the M4 code architecture by adjusting layer dependencies and adding an extra layer. My collaborations were very nice. I worked closely with Zlatan Savic and Maciej Witek on addressing issues and adding new features to the M4, and with Jan-Erik Berger on refining the A7 processor's code in C++. Key challenges included ensuring robustness in the M4 code and effectively integrating the CppUTest harness with the A7 software. Last but not least, I must acknowledge the invaluable support of my boss, Dejan Lisinac. Throughout my internship, Dejan was always available to assist whenever 
I needed guidance. His knowledge and patient approach greatly facilitated my learning and adaptation to new challenges, making a significant impact on my professional  development during my time at u-blox.
 

Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:

This internship was very interesting. I particularly enjoyed the hands-on experience with both hardware and software, which deepened my understanding of low-level system operations. Learning and applying TDD significantly enhanced my development skills and contributed to my professional growth. Collaborating closely with knowledgeable colleagues like Zlatan Savic and Jan-Erik Berger not only helped me overcome technical challenges but also enriched my approach to software development. The opportunity to share my knowledge on clean code and solid coding principles was also fulfilling.

I’ve spent the first half of 2020 working with Angle of Arrival at u-blox Malmö. A subject that I had no previous experience with but had all knowledge needed in order to understand. Challenges I feel like I really understood how much work goes into these kinds of projects where so many people with different specialties are involved in order to together come up with a new product. This is something that university can never teach or show with the same end result. One has to experience it. More specifically I worked with antennas that should be used in an antenna array in order to measure Angle of Arrival. The goal was to reduce the size of the antenna array whilst still keeping the same performance. I got to simulate their performance as well as measuring the manufactured prototype to see if it performed as well as the simulated results. Measuring on my prototype and comparing the results with the simulated values and drawing conclusions about the design has been very useful for future projects. Conclusion My time at u-blox has been a great experience as I got to solve a problem that I had no experience with but had all the knowledge needed in order to solve. I got to solve the issues my own way with the guidance of my supervisors. There was no idea that was too stupid, as long as my ideas stayed on the path of solving the issue there was no hindrance from the supervisors. This is a really nice feeling as I truly felt like I came up with the idea to progress through the problem and I didn’t follow an already established path laid down by the supervisors. All in all I feel like the university’s goal of having us students complete a master thesis is to give us an experience of how an engineering workspace operates which I feel like I experienced during my time at u-blox.

During my internship at u‑blox AG in Thalwil I implemented a new test system for interfaces of the GNSS modules. To do so I was able to gain valuable skills about FPGAs, the Linux Kernel, Linux Drivers, C++ and how to integrate a test into a big framework. Team What I liked most about the internship was that I was free to decide on how to implement the system. On the other hand, when I needed to discuss the approach on how to implement a certain subsystem, I was always allowed to simply approach a colleague who had specialized in it. During those discussions we always tried to find the pros and cons of the different ways of how to implement the solution, but in the end I was still able to decide on my own which way was best for the project. I appreciated the freedom and responsibility that were given to me. Focus on Learning The focus was not only on how to get the test system to work as fast as possible, but also to look deeper into different fields and get familiar with them. I was able to spend a lot of time reading documentation and books in order to find the best solutions. There was little repetitive work to do, the focus was much more on gaining knowledge and skills. Conclusion It was a great and valuable experience for me to work at u‑blox AG not only because of the interesting technical challenges I had to tackle, but also because of my colleagues who integrated me very well into the team.

Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:
I am a B.Sc. electronic engineering student at Università di Trieste. I discovered u-blox through an event held at my university. I did my internship in Sgonico, where I developed and tested real-time operating system functionalities for u-blox cellular modules.

Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:
I worked with the Audio Team, which I found to be a stimulating environment. I familiarized myself with the structure of the cellular module, and I studied its components. Once I understood that, I started expanding and improving the existing code base to add the functionalities I was interested in. Finally, I tested my work on physical components and modules. Although it was challenging to work with a system that I previously did not know, I could always rely on my colleagues for explanations and resources.

Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:
At u-blox I found a professional environment, and friendly colleagues who were always ready to help me in case of need. I was encouraged to work autonomously, but my questions were always welcome and promptly answered. This experience has helped me get some invaluable insight into this field, and it has taught me many essential skills

Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:

I attended both the bachelor's and the master's at the University of Trieste. Towards the end of my
MSc studies in electronics and information technology (curriculum Networks and IoT), I decided
to spend some time working on a project at u-blox Italia S.p.a.

I was really excited to work on the topics discussed during the lessons, even if the reality is more
challenging. During this experience I worked with the protocol stack team on two major topics
like security and power consumption, indeed the title of my work was:”Secure User-Plane Socket
Connectivity and Power Consumption Scenarios in Cellular LPWA Environment”.

Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you
worked with?

As said before, the topic was about IoT security and power consumption. For what concern the
first one I have deepened how to establish a secure connection between the device under test and a
server, whereas for the second argument I measured the power consumption of the device with
different traffic profiles.

I didn’t have all the theoretical knowledge required, but thanks to the colleagues who were
always helpful and kind I could achieved my goals.

The environment in the team, despite the corona situation, was very active. Most of the time I had
the freedom and the responsibility to make my own decisions so that if I found a problem, my
colleagues were ready to help me.

Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn?

In this experience I was able to put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom. To
achieve the objectives initially set it was necessary to go through others and this makes you grow
a lot. This path was facilitated by colleagues who were always available and kind.
Therefore I would suggest it to all the students that have the willing and the possibility to spend
some time on any similar project in this enterprise.

Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:

I’m from Oderzo, a small town in the North-East Italy, near Venice. I’ve been studying in Trieste since 2016, which is the place where I did my internship this year. I had been chosen by U-Blox for a scholarship called ‘Talent Engineering’ which gave me the opportunity to work in the Audio R&D team. Since one of my favorite topic during my degree was Digital Signal Processing the object of my Internship was Echo Acoustic Cancellation and the study of Identification Algorithms.

Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:

I’ve started with the study of Acoustic Echo Cancellation and the algorithms used in System Identification since these topics weren’t treated during the traditional courses. Then, of course, it was time to apply what I had learnt. I’ve developed a small framework to test the algorithms performances under different circumstances, such as clipping and distortion. These simulations were performed first in a Matlab environment and then using Simulink. Since these type of programs are usually not dealt with during my lessons so for me it was pretty challenging to use them in the most efficient and correct way. As I said I was in the Sgonico’s Audio R&D department and I had the pleasure to be flanked by Vojko, Stefano and Giovanna who helped me during all my Internship. They were very kind and patients taking the time to clarify every single doubt I had.

Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:

I liked pretty much everything of my experience from the coffee breaks to the different challenges that occurred during my Internship. One of the things that I liked most was the relationship with the team, especially the fact that they treated me as a member more than a student. I’ve had my first glance of how a workplace is and in particular I’ve learnt how important is cooperation and teamwork in such environments.

Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:

I’m from Lucerne, a beautiful city not too far from the u-blox headquarters. After having completed my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering at EPFL in Lausanne, I decided to interrupt my studies for a year and gain some experience in the industry. Since I had a particular interest in Integrated Circuit (Digital) Design, I came across u-blox and got offered an interesting position as an IC validation intern. This led me to work on IC validation related topics, working mostly with FPGA’s.

Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:

In the first phase of the internship, I was working on a Python-based validation framework which allows for automated and robust testing of a design on different hardware platforms (FPGA, Emulation, ASIC, …) for different product lines.

In the second phase, I explored and worked on a FPGA-based validation technique where data and control information can be sent in real time to a running design on an FPGA. This included writing RTL in SystemVerilog, coding corresponding software in C and setting up a simulation environment to verify each development step.

Throughout the internship I was exposed to various workflows (firmware, FPGA, …) and numerous tools. The main challenge consisted in understanding and using them in an efficient way and integrating them into my development activities. Fortunately, I was very well supported by my line manager and my supervisor from my team and could reach out any time to other team members for help and clarification.

Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at u-blox, working with such innovative and open people, but also doing other activities such as sports and going for dinner with colleagues after work.

Apart from all the technical aspects, I learnt a lot about how to work in an industrial environment, where tasks are done for a specific purpose, as opposed to just the purpose of learning in the case of university. This leads to different requirements and asks for a different approach, and I definitely learnt to tackle challenges with a bigger focus on scalability, simplicity and maintainability in mind.

I was particularly happy that I was given the chance to present my work in front of the whole department and get valuable feedback and recognition for my work from experienced colleagues, which made me feel even more like a regular member of the company.