Real-time Communication and Media Software Engineer

Job Role: Real-time Communication and Media Software Engineer

Location: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai

Job Category: Project Research Staff

About the project:

The Government-funded project focuses on the development and demonstration of drone and allied technologies.With applications spanning various sectors, the initiative leverages advanced technologies and infrastructure. It aims to foster strong industry-academia collaborations to address real-world challenges and drive innovation. Comprehensive training programs are an integral component, ensuring awareness and proficiency in drone operations.

Institute:

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai

Qulification and Key Skills Required:

• PhD with relevant experience OR
• MTech / ME or equivalent with relevant experience OR
• BTech / BE or equivalent with relevant experience.
• Strong experience working with real-time media and data communication and control protocols including RTMP, WebSockets, RTSP, HLS, WHIP/WHEP and related streaming technologies
• Core understanding of WebRTC API (libwebrtc, pion/webrtc, or similar low-level implementations
• Strong understanding of media codecs including H264, H265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1, Opus, AAC and similar compression standards
• Experience with media processing frameworks and libraries such as FFmpeg, GStreamer, or OpenCV for video/audio manipulation
• Knowledge of security protocols and encryption standards for secure media transmission
• Knowledge of network protocols and optimisation techniques including TCP/UDP, HTTP/2, QUIC, and related
• Experience with embedded systems programming and real-time operating systems (RTOS)
• Experience working with traditional web/native technologies including RESTful API development, GraphQL, microservice architecture, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) including database (SQL/NoSQL) and caching (Redis)
• Proficiency in multiple programming languages including JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, C/C++, Go, Kotlin for diverse development requirements
• Previous experience with Go (GoLang) is highly preferred
• Strong working knowledge of high-level architecture development, design patterns, and code quality standards

Job Profile:

• Implement Media and Data Streaming Service: Design, develop, and maintain scalable real-time streaming architecture for handling high-volume media transmission from drone fleets.
• Implement adaptive bitrate streaming algorithms specifically optimised for aerial vehicles operating in varying network conditions, including cellular, WiFi, and mesh networks. Develop custom communication implementation for drone-to-ground station data transmission, ensuring reliable telemetry data flow, ultra-low latency real- time video streaming, and command/control message delivery (sub-100ms)
• Build Cross-Platform Applications: Develop native client-side applications for multi-disciplinary platforms including mobile ground control stations, desktop flight planning software, and IoT edge devices for autonomous drone operations. Create unified drone communication interfaces across Android/iOS mobile apps for field operators, Windows/macOS/Linux desktop applications for mission control centers
• Quality of Service (QoS): Monitor, analyse, and develop solutions for streaming performance metrics including latency, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth utilisation specifically in drone communication scenarios. Implement real-time network condition assessment for dynamic switching between communication channels (4G/5G/Dual-SIM/mesh)
• Drone-Specific Communication Implementations: Build mission-critical communication systems for a wide range of autonomous drone operations including emergency delivery, swarm, defence and IoT systems such as docking station, mobile ground control station.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams as per the project requirements.
• Any other work assigned as per requirements.