Daniel Ka Chun So is a Professor of Communication Engineering in the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at the University of Manchester, where he joined in 2003 as a Lecturer. He received the PhD degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong in 2003. He obtained the BEng degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (First Class Honor) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1996. From 1997 to 1998, he joined the Orion Systems NZ (now Orion Health) as software engineer, and was later promoted to senior software engineer.

His research interests includes green communications, Beyond 5G/6G networks, non-orthogonal multiple access, content centric network, heterogeneous networks, content-centric network, cognitive radio, massive MIMO, D2D communications, cooperative MIMO schemes, multihop communication, channel equalization and estimation techniques.  

Prof So is the Discipline Head of Education of EEE since 2019. He served as the Director of Postgraduate Taught in 2009-19, and the Course Director for MSc in Communication Engineering from 2009-2014.  He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of IET, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a Fellow of Higher Education Academy.

External Professional Activities

• Senior Editor, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (9/2020 - now)
• Editor, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (10/2017 - now)
• Editor, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (1/2016 - 9/2020)
• Lead Guest Editor, IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking (2021)
• Chair, IEEE Special Interest Group on Green Cellular Networks (2020 - now)
• Track Co-Chair, IEEE VTC Spring 2022 "Green Communications and Networks"
• Track Co-Chair, IEEE VTC Spring 2021 "Green Communications and Networks"
• Symposium Chair, IEEE Globecom 2020 "Green Communications Systems & Networks"
• Symposium Chair, IEEE ICC 2019 "Green Communications Systems & Networks"
• Track Co-Chair, IEEE VTC Spring 2018 "Green Communications and Networks"
• Track Co-Chair, IEEE VTC Spring 2017 "Multiple Antenna Systems and Services"
• Track Co-Chair, IEEE VTC Spring 2016 "LTE/LTE-A, 5G, and Wireless HetNets"
• College Member, EPSRC College
• Programme External Examiner for University of Exeter (2020 - now)
• Programme External Examiner for Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (2016-2020)
• External Course Advisor for UC Lancashire
• External PhD Examiner for a number of UK (incl. Oxford, Imperial, UCL, Kings, Newcastle, Leeds, Warwick, Kent) and overseas universities (incl. Melbourne, Helsinki, City University HK, IIS)
• Regular Technical Programme Committee members of various prestigious international conferences, including ICC, Globecom, VTC, & WCNC.  

• Chartered Engineer and Member of IET
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy
• Senior Member of IEEE

PhD (HKUST), BEng (Auckland), CEng

Dr D K C So has broad research interest in the field of wireless communications.  

Green Communication

• Energy efficient wireless communications
• Energy reduction for cellular network
• Energy efficiency and spectral efficiency tradeoff
• Resource efficiency optimisation

Beyond 5G/6G Networks

• Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)
• Heterogeneous networks and Dense small cell network
• UAV communication network
• Wireless caching
• Full duplex transmissions
• Machine learning for wireless communication
• Device-to-device communications

Multiple Antenna (MIMO) Wireless Communication Systems

• Massive MIMO
• Spatial multiplexing and diversity schemes
• Antenna selection algorithm
• Virtual receive antenna

Channel Equalization and Estimation Techniques

• Time and Frequency domain equalisation
• Turbo equalisation
• Expectation-Maximization algorithm (EM)
• Channel gain and order estimation algorithms

Current PhD Research Students (as main supervisor)

• Kevin Shen, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access with Wireless Caching, start 2018
• Changxiang Wu, Machine Learning for Internet of Things in NOMA Systems, start 2021 
• Yijing Ren, Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Mobile Edge Computing, start 2021 
• Dativa Tizikara, Resource Allocation for Cooperative-NOMA D2D Communications for Internet of Things, start 2021

Past Research Students

• Norfauzi Dani, PhD (2021) Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access in Content Centric Network, Lecturer in Universiti Teknologi Brunei
• Turki Alharbi, PhD (2021) Power Allocation for Full-Duplex Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access System, Lecturer in Taif University, Saudi Arabia
• Yanley Jimenez Licea, PhD (2021) Resource Allocation for Uplink Code  Domain Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access, Siemens UK
• Fakrulradzi Idris, PhD (2018), Resource Allocation for Energy Efficient Device to Device Communications, Lecturer in Technical University of Malaysia
• Ziad Al-Abbasi, PhD (2017), Resource Allocation for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access System, Lecturer in Middle Technical University, Iraq
• Edwin Mugume, PhD (2016), Green heterogeneous cellular networks, Lecturer in Makerere University, Uganda 
• Fahimeh Jasbi, PhD (2014), Resource allocation for cognitive radio network, Ettus Research, USA
• Warit Prawatmuang, PhD (2013), Cooperative spectrum sensing for cognitive radio, Cambridge Touch Technologies, UK
• Imran Rashid, PhD (2011), Multihop MIMO communications, Assistant Professor in National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan
• Sarmad Sohaib, PhD (2010), Energy efficient cooperative wireless communications. Associate Professor in University of Jeddah, Pakistan
• Antonis Phasouliotis, PhD (2010), Multicarrier CDMA systems with MIMO technology, SNC-Lavalin, UK
• Di Lu, PhD (2009), Antenna selection for MIMO spatial multiplexing system. Nokia Shanghai Bell, China
• Umar Khalid, MPhil (2009), Resource allocation for multiband SC-FDMA. Assistant Professor in National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan

Prospective students

Currently I do not have any studentship available. Prospective students interested in my field of research, and have their own funding or intend to apply for scholarships are welcomed to contact me.