Newcastle University

Brief Biography 

Prof Oliver Hinton was appointed to Newcastle University in 1987 as Reader in Microelectronics and was promoted to Professor of Signal Processing in 1992.  He was appointed as Engineering Faculty Postgraduate Sub-Dean in 1997, Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering later in 1997, Head of the School of Electrical Electronic and Computer Engineering in 2002, and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Science Agriculture and Engineering in 2005.  During this period he has been involved in various University bodies, including: University Executive Board, Senate, Council, Court, University Research Committee, and many Appointment Committees.  Externally, he has been a member of the Defence Advisory Council, served on numerous International Conference Committees, undertaken External Examiner roles at a number of UK Universities, and is currently Chair of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Accreditation Committee.  His research interests lie in the areas of electronic signal processing, digital communications, and sub-sea acoustics; he has published over 150 papers in refereed journals and conferences and his work has resulted in a number of new products in the sonar sector.

Prof Hinton's academic specialism is digital signal processing including algorithms, architectures, and applications, the most significant contributions being in sub-sea acoustic signal processing and digital communications. In particular, The Underwater Acoustics Group that he established and led at Newcastle University has an international reputation for its research in underwater communications, positioning and sonar imaging, a field of increasing importance for ocean exploration, exploitation, and conservation. A number of funded research projects have resulted in new techniques tested in the ocean and results have been widely disseminated in high impact refereed journals and at key international conferences. Much of my former research is now being exploited by the UK based company Tritech Ltd under commercial licence.

However, during hisacademic career he has taken an eclectic approach to research and has made significant contributions in a number of other areas, including: theoretical signal processing, design of ASICs and associated CAD software, hierarchical control theory, mobile and wireless communications, and animatronics. Much of his research has been collaborative, both in multidisciplinary teams and in consortia with other academic institutions and industry from across Europe.

Prof Hinton has been Principal Investigator and taken a leading role in over 30 substantial projects funded from government, European Union (EU), and industry. Between 1995 and 2000 he played a leading role in the EU MAST programme of research, as a researcher, as Director of major research consortia, and as a technical reviewer.  He has successfully supervised 33 PhD research students, and has published over 140 refereed papers in Journals and Conference Proceedings.

• Shah CP, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Neasham JA, Hinton OR. Adaptive iterative receiver design for shallow water acoustic communications. In: The 10th European Conference on Underwater Acoustics (ECUA). 2010, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Aliesawi S, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M, Hinton OR. Adaptive multiuser detection with decision feedbackequalization based IDMA systems on underwateracoustic channels. In: The 10th European Conference on Underwater Acoustics (ECUA). 2010, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Feng X, Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS. Nonlinear multistage multiple access interference cancellation receiver for asynchronous DS/CDMA communication systems. In: 58th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference. 2003, Orlando, Florida, USA: IEEE.
• Sharif BS, Chuah TC, Hinton OR, Jimaa SA. Nonlinear RLS Algorithm for Impulsive CDMA Channels. In: Proceedings of SPIE: Internet Quality of Service. 2003, Orlando, Florida, USA: International Society for Optical Engineering.
• Ashmila EM, Dlay SS, Hinton OR. Statistical probabilistic and multiple carry prediction approach for performance improvements for an estimated carry adder. In: Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Circuits, Signals, and Systems. 2003, Cancun, Mexico: IASTED.
• Yeo HK, Sharif BS, Adams AE, Hinton OR. Implementation of multiuser detection strategies for coherent underwater acoustic communication. Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2002, 27(1), 17-27.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. Nonlinear multistage receiver for DS/CDMA communication systems. Electronics Letters 2002, 38(18), 1060-1061.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Turbo decoding for robust multiuser detection in impulsive noise channels. Electronics Letters 2002, 38(10), 459-461.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. 2D-Rake MMSE receiver for burst communications through multiple-access shallow-water channels. In: MTS/IEEE Oceans 2001. An Ocean Odyssey. 2001, Honolulu, HI , USA: IEEE.
• Balis PG, Hinton OR. Maximum likelihood differentiation between static and mobile users in cellular systems. Electronics Letters 2001, 37(18), 1136-1137.
• Sharif BS, Neasham J, Hinton OR, Adams AE, Davies J. Adaptive Doppler compensation for coherent acoustic communication. IEE Proceedings: Radar, Sonar and Navigation 2000, 147(5), 239-246.
• Morrison A, Sharif BS, Sali S, Hinton OR. An iterative DOA algorithm for a space-time DS-CDMA RAKE receiver. In: First International Conference on 3G Mobile Communication Technologies, 2000. 2000, London: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Yeo HK, Sharif BS, Adams AE, Hinton OR. Analysis of experimental shallow water network channel and theoretical channel model. In: Oceans 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. 2000, Rhode Island, USA: IEEE.
• Sharif BS, Neasham J, Hinton OR, Adams AE, Davies J. Closed loop Doppler tracking and compensation for non-stationary underwater platforms. In: Oceans 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. 2000, Providence, RI, USA: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Yeo HK, Sharif BS, Adams AE, Hinton OR. Comparison of adaptive algorithms performances for a multistage Recursive Successive Interference Cancellation (RSIC) multiuser detection strategy. In: Oceans 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. 2000, Providence, RI, USA: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Salles G, Adams AE, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Orr N, Tsiminedis C. High resolution analysis of ultra-shallow water acoustic travel time and gain perturbations. In: Oceans 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. 2000, Providence, RI, USA: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Yeo HK, Sharif BS, Hinton OR, Adams AE. Improved RLS algorithm for time-variant underwater acoustic communications. Electronics Letters 2000, 36(2), 191-192.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. Linear predictor based method for estimating Doppler in mobile radio communication systems. Electronics Letters 2000, 36(12), 1066-1067.
• Simmons SM, Hinton OR, Adams AE. Modeling of the non-linear acoustic response of bubbles by Volterra series analysis. In: Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, 2000. ICASSP '00. 2000, Istanbul. Turkey: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Woo WL, Sharif BS, Sali S, Hinton OR. New orthogonal adaptive equalizer based on block SVD-KLT. In: First International Conference on 3G Mobile Communication Technologies, 2000. 2000, London: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Nonlinear decorrelator for multiuser detection in non-Gaussian impulsive environments. Electronics Letters 2000, 36(10), 920-922.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Nonlinear space-time decorrelator for multiuser detection in non-Gaussian channels. Electronics Letters 2000, 36(24), 2041-2043.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. Spread-spectrum based adaptive array receiver algorithms for the shallow-water acoustic channel. In: OCEANS 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. 2000, Providence, RI, USA: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Yeo HK, Sharif Bayan S, Hinton Oliver, Adams AE. Analysis of a multi-element multi-user receiver for a shallow water acoustic network (SWAN) based on Recursive Successive Interference Cancellation (RSIC) technique. In: OCEANS '99. Riding the Crest into the 21st Century. 1999, Seattle, WA. USA: IEEE.
• Sharif Bayan S, Neasham Jeff, Hinton Oliver R, Adams Alan E. Doppler compensation for underwater acoustic communications. In: OCEANS '99 MTS/IEEE. Riding the Crest into the 21st Century. 1999, Seattle, WA , USA: IEEE.
• Tsimenidis C, Sharif BS, Le Goff S, Hinton O, Neasham J. Adaptive rake receiver for shallow-water acoustic channels. In: Oceans. 2007, Aberdeen, UK.
• Neasham JA, Menon R, Hinton OR. Broadband, ultra-sparse array processing for low complexity multibeam sonar imaging. In: OCEANS 2007 - Europe. 2007, Vancouver, Canada: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• Ashmila EM, Dlay SS, Hinton OR. Adder methodology and design using probabilistic multiple carry estimates. IEE Proceedings - Computers and Digital Techniques 2005, 152(6), 697-703.
• Wu X, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. An improved resource allocation scheme for plane cover multiple access using genetic algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation 2005, 9(1), 74-81.
• Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR, Adams AE. Analysis and modelling of experimental doubly-spread shallow-water acoustic channels. In: Oceans 2005 - Europe.2005,Brest, France:IEEE
• Balis PG, Hinton OR. Velocity-assisted paging in PCS through stochastic modelling of terminal displacement. IEE Proceedings: Communications 2005, 152(1), 39-44.
• Wu X, Sharif BS, Hinten OR. Adaptive channel allocation schemes for wireless PCN: A genetic algorithm approach. In: Joint Conference of the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications and the 5th International Symposium on Multi-Dimensional Mobile Communications.2004,Beijing, China:IEEE
• Wu X, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Genetic algorithm based optimal resource allocation for plane cover multiple access scheme. In: 2004 International Conference on Communications, Circuits and Systems (ICCCAS 2004). 2004, Chengdu, China: IEEE.
• Ashmila EM, Dlay SS, Hinton OR. Multiple carries prediction to enhance the performance of a 32-bit estimated carry adder. In: Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP).2004,University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
• Ashmila EM, Dlay SS, Hinton OR. Multiple carry asynchronous estimated adder. In: IASTED International Conference on Circuits, Signals, and Systems. 2004, Florida: IASTED.
• Polatoglou MH, Hinton OR. Passive navigation system using fixed position beacons for domestic applications. WSEAS Transactions on Computers 2004, 3(3), 642-646.
• Neasham J, Hinton O. Underwater Acoustic Communications - how far have we progressed and what challenges remain?. In: Invited Keynote paper, Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Underwater Acoustics.2004,Delft, Netherlands
• Yi SJ, Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS. Adaptive minimum bit error rate multiuser detection for asynchronous MC-CDMA systems frequency selective Rayleigh fading channels. In: 14th IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications. 2003, Beijing, China: IEEE.
• Wu X, Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Adaptive robust detection for CDMA using a genetic algorithm. IEE Proceedings: Communications 2003, 150(6), 437-444.
• Yi SJ, Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS. An adaptive multiuser detector for MC-CDMA systems in frequency-selective multipath-fading channels. In: Fourth International Conference on 3G Mobile Communication Technologies. 2003, London, UK: IEEE.
• Yi SJ, Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS. Computationally efficient adaptive MMSE receiver for synchronous MC-CDMA communication systems. Electronics Letters 2003,39 21 1539-1541.
• Petsis S, Sharif B, Tsimenidis C, Hinton O. MMSE-based receivers for asynchronous DS-CDMA communication systems in the presence of double-spread multipath channels. In: Proceedings of the 2003 10th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS 2003). 2003, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates: IEEE.
• Zhou H, Woo WL, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Nonlinear Subspace Blind Adaptive Multiuser Detection in Non-Gaussian Channel Using Kalman Filter. In: IEE Colloquium on DSP Enabled Radio. 2003, Livingston, Scotland.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Robust direction of arrival estimation for CDMA signals in impulsive noise. IEE Proceedings: Communications 2003, 150(2), 101-107.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Robust Direction of Arrival Estimation in Non-Gaussian CDMA Systems. IEE Proceedings - Communications 2003, 150(2), 101-107.
• Hinton OR, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS. Adaptive spatial and temporal diversity combining in spread spectrum, multi-access, sub-sea acoustic communication receivers. In: 14th International Conference on Digital Signal Processing (DSP). 2002, Santorini, Greece: IEEE.
• Seker H, Odetayo MO, Petrovic D, Naguib RNG, Bartoli C, Alasio L, Lakshmi MS, Sherbet GV, Hinton OR. An artificial neural network based feature evaluation index for the assessment of clinical factors in breast cancer survival analysis. In: Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering. 2002, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: IEEE.
• Woo WL, Sali S, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Nonlinear Blind Source Separation using Constrained Kullback-Leibler Divergence. In: Fourth Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications Conference. 2002, Lancaster, UK.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. Nonlinear multistage receiver for DS/CDMA communication systems. Electronic Letters 2002, 38(18), 1060-1061.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Robust CDMA multiuser detection using a neural-network approach. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks 2002, 13(6), 1532-1539.
• A. E. Adams,O. R. Hinton,B. S. Sharif,C. C. Tsimenidis,I. P. Morns,J. Neasham. Experiments in sub-sea acoustic communication networks. In: MTS/IEEE Oceans 2001. An Ocean Odyssey. Conference Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.01CH37295). Marine Technol. Soc. Part vol.4, 2001, pp.2059-64 vol.4. Washington, DC, USA.. 2001.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Performance of C-filter based adaptive spread spectrum receiver in non-Gaussian channels. In: IEE Proceedings: Communications. 2001.
• Yeo HK, Sharif BS, Adams AE, Hinton OR. Performances of multi-element multi-user detection strategies in a shallow-water acoustic network (SWAN). IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2001, 26(4), 604-611.
• Wallace WF, Dlay SS, Hinton OR. Probabilistic carry state estimate for improved asynchronous adder performance. IEE Proceedings: Computers and Digital Techniques 2001, 148(6), 221-226.
• I. P. Morns,O. R. Hinton,A. E. Adams,B. S. Sharif. Protocols for sub-sea communication networks. In: MTS/IEEE Oceans 2001. An Ocean Odyssey. Conference Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.01CH37295). Marine Technol. Soc. Part vol.4, 2001. 2001.
• Chuah TC, Sharif BS, Hinton OR. Robust adaptive spread-spectrum receiver with neural-net preprocessing in non-Gaussian noise. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks 2001, 12(3), 546-558.
• Chuah Teong Chee,B. S. Sharif,O. R. Hinton. Robust decorrelating decision-feedback multiuser detection in non-Gaussian channels. Signal Processing 2001, 81(9), 1997-2004.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Adams AE, Sharif BS. Underwater acoustic receiver employing direct-sequence spread spectrum and spatial diversity combining for shallow-water multiaccess networking. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2001, 26(4), 594-603.
• Sharif BS, Neasham J, Hinton OR, Adams AE. A computationally efficient Doppler compensation system for underwater acoustic communications. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2000, 25(1), 52-61.
• Sharif BS, Neasham J, Hinton OR, Adams AE. Closed loop Doppler tracking and compensation for non-stationary underwater platforms. In: Oceans 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. Conference Proceedings. 2000, Providence, RI, USA: Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.
• Tsimenidis CC, Hinton OR, Sharif BS, Adams AE. Linear predictor based method for estimating Doppler in mobile radio communication systems. IEE Electronic Letters 2000, 36(12), 1066-1067.
• Adams AE, Hinton OR, Valentine EM, Tweedy AD. An acoustic imaging system for the concurrent measurement of suspended sediment concentration and particle velocity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 104, No 4, 2160-2166 1998.
• Valentine EM, Adams A E, Hinton O R, Tweedy A D. An acoustic imaging system for the concurrent measurement of suspended sediment concentration and particle velocity. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 104, 2160-2166 1998.
• Hinton OR, Balis PG. Characterisation of mobile velocity in GSM using a simple feed-forward neural network. IEE Electronics Letters, 34, No 19, 1810-1811 1998.
• A.E. Adams,O.R. Hinton,E.M. Valentine,A.D. Tweedy. An acoustic imaging system for the concurrent measurement of suspended sediment concentration and particle velocity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 104, No 4, 2160-2166 1998.
• O.R. Hinton,P.G. Balis. Characterisation of mobile velocity in GSM using a simple feed-forward neural network. IEE Electronics Letters, 34, No 19, 1810-1811 1998.
• Hinton OR, Balis PG. UTD-based model for the prediction of propagation path loss and shadowing variability in urban mobile environments. IEE Proceedings. Microwaves Antennas and Propagation, 144, No 5, 367-371 1997.
• O.R. Hinton,P.G. Balis. UTD-based model for the prediction of propagation path loss and shadowing variability in urban mobile environments. IEE Proceedings. Microwaves Antennas and Propagation, 144, No 5, 367-371 1997.
• Adams AE, Sharif BS, Neasham J, Hinton OR. Performance of an adaptive multichannel combiner for long range underwater communications. IEE Electronics Letters, 32, No 3, 182-183 1996.
• Neasham JA, Thompson D, Tweedy AD, Lawlor MA, Hinton OR, Adams AE, Sharif BS. Combined equalisation and beamforming to achieve 20kbits/s acoustic telemetry for ROVs. In: Proceedings of IEEE Oceans 96. 1996, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
• A.E. Adams,B.S. Sharif,J. Neasham,O.R. Hinton. Performance of an adaptive multichannel combiner for long range underwater communications. IEE Electronics Letters, 32, No 3, 182-183 1996.
• Neasham JA,Thompson D, Sharif BS, Hinton OR, Adams AE. Performance of Coherent PSK Receivers using Adaptive Combining and Beamforming for Long Range Acoustic Telemetry. In: Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Underwater Acoustics. 1996, Heraklion, Greece.