Wireless Network Protocol Engineer

SDR-based wireless mesh network

Wireless Network Protocol Engineer

If you enjoy making packets survive over noisy RF links, tuning protocols at MAC level, and working close to the metal, this role is for you.

• Design & implement the radio MAC / link layer

  on top of our existing PHY:

Frame structure, sequence numbers, ARQ/retransmissions

Fragmentation / reassembly for larger packets

Basic QoS for voice, video, and file/data traffic

• Integrate the radio with Linux networking:

Linux network interface (netdev)

batman-adv

Support standard IP networking over the mesh

• Work with frequency hopping and scheduling:

frequency hopping patterns

Design a link-layer scheduler that respects QoS and slot timing

• Performance & reliability:

throughput, latency, and packet loss

Tune parameters (MTU, retries, timers, CW, etc.) based on real-world tests

• Collaboration:

hardware / SDR / FPGA team

application / AI / backend teams

• Documentation & testing:

Write clear documentation for protocols, APIs, and configuration

Develop test plans, simulation setups, and on-device tests for various topologies

• Strong proficiency in

  C

  for systems / embedded programming
• Solid understanding of

  computer networking fundamentals

  :
• Ethernet, ARP, IP, UDP/TCP
• L2 vs L3, routing vs bridging, MTU, fragmentation
• Hands-on experience with

  wireless protocols at MAC / driver level

  , for example:
• Wi-Fi (802.11), 802.11s mesh, Wi-SUN, LoRa/LoRaWAN, 6LoWPAN, ZigBee, or similar
• Experience with

  Linux networking

  :
• Working with network interfaces, routing, bridging
• Using tools like ip, tcpdump, wireshark, tc, etc.
• Exposure to at least one of:

• Mesh / ad hoc networking

  (batman-adv, OLSR, Babel, 802.11s, OpenWrt)

• Software Defined Radio (SDR)

  (USRP, GNU Radio, LimeSDR, etc.)

• Experience writing or modifying

  Linux network drivers

  (netdev):
• Familiarity with ndo_start_xmit, netif_rx, SKBs, and kernel networking APIs
• Knowledge of

  OFDM / COFDM

  , SNR, link budgets, and RF basics
• Experience with

  frequency hopping

  and time-synchronised TDMA or similar schemes
• Familiarity with

  OpenWrt

  or embedded Linux systems
• Experience with

  network security / crypto

  , such as:
• WireGuard, IPsec, TLS, or custom link-layer encryption
• Prior work on

  MANET research

  (ns-3 simulations, academic projects, theses, etc.)

• You like working

  close to the hardware

  , not just at the application layer
• You're comfortable debugging with

  tcpdump, Wireshark, logic analyzers, and RF tools

• You enjoy reading specs, protocol RFCs, and digging into kernel code when needed
• You can take a high-level we need voice + video over a mesh in bad RF conditions requirement and turn it into a concrete protocol and implementation plan