Energy efficiency and security for wireless communications

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Wireless communication is an enabling technology in many important application areas. One big attraction is anytime, anywhere mobile connectivity and appealing small-size, long battery life devices. Application domains include cellular communication systems, Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSNs), autonomous vehicles and asset tracking. In 2018, cellular phone users worldwide numbered over five billion and the global industry revenue exceeded a trillion dollars. This revenue is expected to increase significantly when 5G commercial service is launched by 2020. The IoT refers to a network of smart devices/objects which allows automation of "things" ranging from smart homes to automated manufacturing. The number of IoT connected devices is projected to exceed 15 billion by 2020. The demand for wireless services is expected to continue growing rapidly, fueled by mobile data and multimedia applications such as mobile web-browsing, video streaming, multi-player online e-games, social media and telemedicine. This research program is aimed at developing approaches and methods for improving various aspects of wireless communication systems, specifically resource scheduling for energy and spectral efficiency, reduced end-to-end delays as well as security. Our work will be guided by recent developments in fifth generation (5G) cellular networks, due to their anticipated support of innovative applications as well as the challenging problems they present. Compared to 4G cellular networks, their 5G counterparts are expected to support a 1000-fold increase in network traffic load, user data rates up to 10 Gbps, reduced end-to-end delays of 5 mS and a 10-fold increase in battery life. Nonetheless, since wireless systems share many common characteristics, e.g. time-varying channels, shared nature of the medium, and the presence of potential malicious nodes, many of the concepts and schemes developed through this research program will have wide applicability. In this research program, several critical aspects of 5G networks will be studied: (1) device-to- device (D2D) communication to reduce delays, energy consumption and increase throughput (2) energy harvesting, cognitive radio and relaying techniques to obviate the need for battery replacement in hard-to-reach locations, to improve spectral efficiency and to improve coverage (3) Blockchain technology to support impactful applications ranging from asset tracking to smart cities. Results from the proposed research program can potentially have a major positive impact on equipment manufacturers, consumers and service providers of wireless communication systems, specifically 5G networks.