Staff Profile

Dr Martin Johnston is a Senior Lecturer for the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. His areas of expertise are Information Theory and Error Control Coding.

Roles and Responsibilities within the School

Deputy Director of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Chair of Board of Studies

Accreditation Lead

Qualifications

PhD in the Design and Implementation of Algebraic-Geometric Codes over AWGN and Fading Channels (Newcastle University, 2006)

MSc in Electronic Engineering (Staffordshire University, 2001)

BSc(Hons) in Physics with Electronics (University of Birmingham, 1999)

Memberships

Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET)

Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Google scholar: Click here.

SCOPUS: Click here.

Martin is a member of the Intelligent Sensing and Communications group and his profile can be viewed on Google Scholar

Research Interests

The design and construction of binary and non-binary coding schemes for wireless and data storage channels.

Potential PhD Research Projects

• Design of new error correction decoding algorithms for non-Gaussian noise channels
• Non-binary error correcting codes
• New algebraic-geometric codes and low complexity decoding algorithms for current and emerging data storage devices

Current Work

I am working in the area of quantum error-correcting codes for quantum computing and quantum communication.

Previous Post-Doctoral Work

Research Associate on an EPSRC funded project from 2006 - 2009 entitled The construction of new algebraic-geometric and low density parity check (LDPC) codes suitable for future data storage devices, principle investigator Prof Rolando Carrasco. EPSRC grant reference: EP/D058813/1

MSc programme in Communications and Signals Processing

The Intelligent Sensing and Communications group offer a world-class postgraduate Masters programme in Communications and Signal Processing. It covers the most important topics in this area, from the fundamentals of cellular communications, security, source coding and error control coding, modulation and networking protocols, through to cutting-edge technologies such as fourth and fifth generation (4G/5G) cellular communication and the Internet of Things (IoT). This programme will provide students with the necessary skills and experience to become extremely competent communication engineers.

If you are interested in applying, please click here. 

Undergraduate Teaching

ENG1004: Electronics and Sensors

EEE2009: Signals and Communications

EEE3023: Digital Communication Systems

PHY8044: Quantum Information and Technology

• Articles

  • Abd-Alaziz W, Johnston M. Performance analysis of NB-convolutional coded OFDM on PLC channel. Engineering Letters 2021, 29(3), 1242-1247.
  • Stainton S, Johnston M, Dlay S, Haigh PA. Evm loss: A loss function for training neural networks in communication systems. Sensors 2021, 21(4), 1094.
  • Abdullah Z, Tsimenidis CC, Chen G, Johnston M, Chambers JA. Efficient Low-Complexity Antenna SelectionAlgorithms in Multi-User Massive MIMO Systemswith Matched Filter Precoding. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology 2020, 69(3), 2993-3007.
  • Alrubaye G, Tsimenidis C, Johnston M. Performance Evaluation of T-COFDM under Combined Noise in PLC with Log-NormalChannel Gain using Exact Derived Noise Distributions. IET Communications 2019, 13(6), 766-775.
  • Gao B, Lu P, Woo WL, Tian GY, Zhu Y, Johnston M. Variational Bayesian Sub-group Adaptive Sparse Component Extraction for Diagnostic Imaging System. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics 2018, 65(10), 8142-8152.
  • Yin J, Tiwari R, Johnston M. Robust GPS Carrier Tracking Model using Unscented Kalman Filter for a Dynamic Vehicular Communication Channel. IEEE Access 2018, 6, 26930-26938.
  • Xiang W, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Low-complexity power control and energy harvesting algorithms for wiretap channels employing finite-alphabet input schemes. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 2018, 13(2), 318-326.
  • Wu S, Chen L, Johnston M. Interpolation-Based Low-Complexity Chase Decoding Algorithms for Hermitian Codes. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2018, 66(4), 1376-1385.
  • Mei Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S, Chen L. Performance analysis of LDPC-coded diversity combining on rayleigh fading channels with impulsive noise. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2017, 65(6), 2345-2356.
  • Al-Rubaye GA, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M. LDPC-COFDM for PLC in Non-Gaussian Noise Using LLRs Derived from Effective Noise PDFs. IET Communications 2017, 11(16), 2425-2432.
  • Al-Mathehaji AY, Boussakta S, Johnston M, Harith F. Defeating SSDF Attacks With Trusted Nodes Assistance in Cognitive Radio Networks. IEEE Sensor Letters 2017, 1(4), 7500504.
  • Fakhrey H, Tiwari R, Johnston M, Al-Mathehaji YA. The Optimum Design of Location-Dependent Key Management Protocol for a WSN With a Random Selected Cell Reporter. IEEE Sensors Journal 2016, 16(19), 7217-7226.
  • Chu Z, Zhu ZY, Johnston M, Le Goff SY. Simultaneous Wireless Information Power Transfer for MISO Secrecy Channel. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology 2016, 65(9), 6913-6925.
  • Chu Z, Xing H, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Secrecy Rate Optimizations for a MISO Secrecy Channel with Multiple Multiantenna Eavesdroppers. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 2016, 15(1), 283-297.
  • Zhao JC, Chen L, Ma X, Johnston M. Progressive algebraic Chase decoding algorithms for Reed-Solomon codes. IET Communications 2016, 10(12), 1416-1427.
  • Zhao YY, Johnston M, Tsimenidis C, Chen L. Non-binary turbo-coded physical-layer network coding on impulsive noise channels. Electronics Letters 2016, 52(24), 1984-1985.
  • Mei Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S, Chen L. Finite Length Analysis of Low-Density Parity-Check Codes on Impulsive Noise Channels. IEEE Access 2016, 4, 9635-9642.
  • Chu Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S. SWIPT for wireless cooperative networks. Electronic Letters 2015, 51(6), 536-538.
  • Chu Z, Cumanan K, Ding ZG, Johnston M, Le Goff SY. Secrecy Rate Optimizations for a MIMO Secrecy Channel With a Cooperative Jammer. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology 2015, 64(5), 1833-1847.
  • Chu Z, Cumanan K, Ding Z, Johnston M, LeGoff S. Robust Outage Secrecy Rate Optimizations for a MIMO Secrecy Channel. IEEE Wireless Communications Letters 2015, 4(1), 86-89.
  • Chen L, Johnston M, Tian GY. Iterative Detection-Decoding of Interleaved Hermitian Codes for High Density Storage Devices. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2014, 62(10), 3401-3409.
  • Johnston M, Sharif BS, Tsimenidis C, Chen L. Sum-Product Algorithm Utilizing Soft Distances on Additive Impulsive Noise Channels. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2013, 61(6), 2113-2116.
  • Aliesawi SA, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M. Iterative Multiuser Detection for Underwater Acoustic Channels. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2011, 36(4), 728-744.
  • Chen L, Carrasco R, Johnston M. Soft-Decision List Decoding of Hermitian Codes. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2009, 57(8), 2169-2176.
  • Johnston M, Carrasco RA. Serial concatenation of Hermitian codes with ring-TCM codes. International Journal of Communication Systems 2008, 21(4), 419-434.
  • Chen L, Carrasco R, Johnston M. Reduced Complexity Interpolation for List Decoding Hermitian Codes. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 2008, 7(11), 4353-4361.
  • Johnston M, Carrasco RA. Performance of Hermitian codes using combined error and erasure decoding. IEE Proceedings: Communications 2006, 153(1), 21-30.
  • Chen L, Carrasco RA, Johnston M. List decoding performance of algebraic geometric codes. Electronics Letters 2006, 42(17), 986-988.
  • Johnston M, Carrasco RA. Construction and performance of algebraic-geometric codes over AWGN and fading channels. IEE Proceedings: Communications 2005, 152(5), 713-722.
  • Johnston M, Carrasco RA, Burrows BL. Design of algebraic-geometric codes over fading channels. Electronics Letters 2004, 40(21), 1355-1356.

• Authored Book

  • Carrasco RA, Johnston M. Non-Binary Error Control Coding for Wireless Communication and Data Storage. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

• Book Chapter

  • Al-Mathehaji AY, Boussakta S, Johnston M. Reliable Broadcast over Cognitive Radio Networks: A Bipartite Graph-Based Algorithm. In: Toni Trump, ed. Cognitive Radio. InTech, 2017.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Abdullah Z, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M. Quantum-inspired Tabu Search algorithm for antenna selection in massive MIMO systems. In: IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC). 2018, Barcelona, Spain: IEEE.
  • Al-Neami I, Al-Rubaye GA, Johnston M, Tsimenidis C. Optimal Threshold Calculation for Improved Impulsive Noise Mitigation in the Frequency Domain. In: 2018 11th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing, CSNDSP 2018. 2018, Budapest, Hungary: IEEE.
  • Abd-Alaziz W, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Non-binary trellis codes on the synthetic statistical MIMO power line channel. In: 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and its Applications, ISPLC 2018. 2018, Manchester, UK: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
  • Burton A, Zvanovec S, Ghassemlooy Z, Haigh PA, Darwazeh I, Minh HL. Investigation of WDM VLC Using Standard 5 mm RGB LEDs. In: 2018 11th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP). 2018, Budapest, Hungary: IEEE.
  • Al-Neami I, Healy CT, Johnston M, Tsimenidis C. Investigation into Impulsive Noise Techniques for a G.FAST System. In: 2018 11th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing, CSNDSP 2018. 2018, Budapest, Hungary: IEEE.
  • Alsudany SK, Boussakta S, Johnston M. Enhancements of IEEE802.15.4e DSME Model of Wireless Sensor Networks. In: International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks, ICUFN. 2018, Prague, Czech Republic: IEEE Computer Society.
  • Cao H, Mei Z, Johnston M, Goff SL. Construction of polar codes combined with physical layer security on impulsive noise channels. In: 18th International Conference on Communication Technology (ICCT 2018). 2018, Chongqing, China: IEEE.
  • Abd-Alaziz W, Mei Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Non-binary turbo-coded OFDM-PLC system in the presence of impulsive noise. In: 25th European Signal Processing Conference, EUSIPCO 2017. 2017, Kos, Greece: IEEE.
  • Yin J, Tiwari R, Johnston M. Low-cost dual polarized GPS antenna for effective signal acquisition in multipath environment. In: 2017 European Navigation Conference (ENC 2017). 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
  • Al-Rubaye GA, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M. Improved performance of TC-OFDM-PLNC for PLCs using exact derived impulsive noise PDFs. In: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops, ICC Workshops 2017. 2017, Paris, France: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
  • Abdullah Z, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M. Tabu search vs. bio-inspired algorithms for antenna selection in spatially correlated massive MIMO uplink channels. In: 2016 24th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO). 2016, Budapest, Hungary: IEEE.
  • Al-Mathehaji Y, Boussakta S, Johnston M, Hussein J. Primary receiver-aware opportunistic broadcasting in cognitive radio ad hoc networks. In: Eighth International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN). 2016, Vienna, Austria: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Jebur BA, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M, Chambers J. Outage Probability of an AF Full-Duplex Physical-Layer Network Coding System. In: 2016 24th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO). 2016, Budapest, Hungary: IEEE.
  • Abd-Alaziz W, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Non-Binary Turbo Codes on Additive Impulsive Noise Channels. In: 2016 10th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP). 2016, Prague: IEEE.
  • Wu SY, Chen L, Johnston M. Low-Complexity Chase Decoding of Algebraic-Geometric Codes Using Koetter's Interpolation. In: 2016 IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW). 2016, Cambridge, UK: IEEE.
  • Zhao JC, Chen L, Ma X, Johnston M. Interpolation based progressive algebraic chase decoding of Reed-Solomon codes. In: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Mei Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S, Chen L. Error Probability Analysis of M-QAM on Rayleigh Fading Channels with Impulsive Noise. In: 2016 IEEE 17th International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC). 2016, Edinburgh, UK: IEEE.
  • Alsudany SK, Boussakta S, Johnston M. A Dynamic Context-Based Header Compression Algorithm for 6LoWPAN Networks. In: 13th International Conference on Sensing, Communication and Networking. 2016, London, UK: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Chu Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Robust Beamforming Techniques for MISO Secrecy Communication with a Cooperative Jammer. In: 2015 IEEE 81st Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring). 2015, Glasgow: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Al-Rubaye GA, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M. Non-binary LDPC coded OFDM in impulsive power line channels. In: 23rd European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), 2015. 2015, Nice: IEEE.
  • Zhao YY, Johnston M, Tsimenidis C, Chen L. Link-by-Link Coded Physical Layer Network Coding on Impulsive Noise Channels. In: Sensor Signal Processing for Defence (SSPD), 2015. 2015, Edinburgh, UK: IEEE.
  • Mei Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S, Chen L. Density Evolution Analysis of LDPC codes with Different Receivers on Impulsive Noise Channels. In: 2015 IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC). 2015, Shenzhen: IEEE.
  • Al-Mathehaji Y, Boussakta S, Johnston M, Fakhrey H. CRBP: A Broadcast Protocol for Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks. In: 2015 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). 2015, London: IEEE.
  • Chu Z, Johnston M, Le Goff S. Alternating Optimization for MIMO Secrecy Channel with a Cooperative Jammer. In: 2015 IEEE 81st Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring). 2015, Glasgow: IEEE.
  • Qader SN, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M, Sharif BS. Optimization of iterative DFE-IDMA detection for multipath fading channels. In: IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC). 2014, Istanbul, Turkey: IEEE.
  • Yuan Y, Chu Z, Ding ZG, Cumanan K, Johnston M. Joint Relay Beamforming and Power Splitting Ratio Optimization in a Multi-Antenna Relay Network. In: 2014 Sixth International Conference on Wireless Communications and Signal Processing (WCSP). 2014, Hefei, China: IEEE.
  • Al-Rubaie AAS, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M, Sharif B. Performance and ExIT chart analysis of BICM-ID for physical layer network coding. In: IEEE 20th International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS). 2013, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
  • Al-Rubaie AAS, Tsimenidis CC, Johnston M, Sharif B. Comparison of a Physical-Layer Network Coding System with Iterative Coding Schemes. In: 2013 6TH JOINT IFIP WIRELESS AND MOBILE NETWORKING CONFERENCE (WMNC 2013). 2013, 345 E 47TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10017 USA: IEEE.
  • Aliesawi S, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M. Performance Assessment and EXIT Chart Analysis of IDMA-based Underwater Communications. In: IEEE Oceans Spain. 2011, Santander, Spain: IEEE.
  • Aliesawi S, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M. Continuous pilot based adaptive estimation for IDMA systems on underwater acoustic channels. In: International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP). 2011, Prague, Czech Republic: IEEE.
  • Aliesawi S, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M. Comparative performance of different adaptive CDMA forms over dispersive channels. In: 4th International Conference and Exhibition Underwater Acoustic Measurements: Technologies & Results. 2011, Kos, Greece.
  • Aliesawi S, Tsimenidis CC, Sharif BS, Johnston M. Efficient channel estimation for chip multiuser detection on underwater acoustic channels. In: 7th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP). 2010, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: IEEE.
  • Carrasco RA, Johnston M. A Comparison of LDPC Codes and Hermitian Codes on Partial Response Channels. In: 10th International Symposium on Communication Theory and Applications (ISCTA). 2009, Ambleside, Lake District, UK: IEEE.
  • Carrasco RA, Johnston M. Hermitian Codes on Magnetic Recording Channels. In: Ninth International Symposium on Communication Theory and Applications. 2007, Ambleside, UK.
  • Chen L, Carrasco RA, Johnston M, Chester EG. Efficient factorisation algorithm for list decoding algebraic-geometric and Reed-Solomon codes. In: International Conference on Communications. 2007, Glasgow, UK: IEEE.
  • Chen L, Carrasco RA, Johnston M, Chester EG. Efficient factorisation algorithm for list decoding algebraic-geometric and reed-solomon codes. In: IEEE International Conference on Communications. 2007, Glasgow, UK: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Johnston M, Carrasco RA. Construction and Performance of Hermitian Codes over Fading Channels. In: Eighth IEEE International Symposium on Communication Theory and Applications (ISCTA'05). 2005, Ambleside, UK: IEEE.

• Letter

  • Xiang W, LeGoff S, Johnston M, Cumanan K. Signal Mapping for Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation Schemes to Achieve Secure Communications. IEEE Wireless Communications Letters 2015, 4(3), 249-252.