Title: Real-Time Spectrum Sensing for Inference and Control Committee Members: Prof. Tommaso Melodia (Advisor) Prof. Kaushik Choudhury Prof. Francesco Restuccia Abstract: Through growing cellular innovations, the usage and congestion of the wireless spectrum is increasing at incredible speeds. High demand and limited supply pose a resource issue known as the "spectrum crunch". With the high […]
"Parametric Circuits for Enhanced Sensing and RF Signal Processing" Committee Members: Prof. Cristian Cassella (Advisor) Prof. Marvin Onabajo Prof. Matteo Rinaldi Prof. Andrea Alù Abstract: Massive deployments of wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) that continuously detect physical, biological or chemical parameters are needed to truly benefit from the unprecedented possibilities opened by the Internet‑of‑Things (IoT). Just […]
"Channel-and-Adversary-Resilient Radio Fingerprinting through Data-Driven Approaches at Scale" Committee: Prof. Tommaso Melodia (Advisor) Prof. Kaushik Chowdhury Prof. Francesco Restuccia Abstract: Radio fingerprinting authenticates wireless devices by leveraging tiny hardware-level imperfections inevitably present in the radio circuitry. This way, devices can be directly identified at the physical layer– thus avoiding energy-expensive upper-layer cryptography that resource-limited embedded […]
"Real-Time Spectrum Sensing for Inference and Control" Abstract: Spectrum sensing can enable the next generation of wireless applications ranging from opportunistic spectrum access to cognitive radio networks. The key unaddressed challenges of spectrum sensing are that (i) it has to be performed with extremely low latency over varying bandwidths and must guarantee strict real-time processing […]
"RF Front-End Components based on Linear-Time-Variant Modulation of Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators" Abstract: Throughout the last decade, radio frequency (RF) components for over-the-air communication and sensing have been subject to sustained market pressure to adapt to the novel trends such as spectrum sharing, programmability, and low-power operation. When these features are required in chip-scale RF hardware, […]
"Multiphysics Simulation of Graphene Transistors for On-Chip Plasmonic THz Signal Generation and Modulation" Abstract: Terahertz communication is envisioned as a key technology not only for the next generation of macro-scale networks (e.g., 6G+), but also for transformative networking applications at the nanoscale (e.g., wireless nanosensor networks and wireless networks on chip). This proposal focuses on […]
"Multiple UAVs for Synchronous - Shared Tasks and Long-term Autonomy" Abstract: This thesis focuses on the use of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) in a distributed framework from a systems perspective to synchronously perform shared tasks such as aerial beamforming and coordinated mapping and to enhance the reliability of performing periodic (mapping) tasks at remote locations […]
"Ultra-Low Power and Robust Analog Computing Circuits and System Design Framework for Machine Learning Applications" Abstract: As the scaling of CMOS transistors has almost halted, performance gains of digital systems have also started to stagnate. There is a renewed interest in alternate computing techniques such as in-memory computing, hybrid computing, approximate computing, and analog computing. […]
"Softwarized Approaches for the Open RAN of NextG Cellular Networks" Abstract: The 5th and 6th generations of cellular networks (5G and 6G), also known as NextG, will bring unprecedented flexibility to the wireless cellular ecosystem. Because of a typically closed and rigid market, the telco industry has incurred high costs and non-trivial obstacles for delivering […]
"High Efficiency RF Energy Harvesting and Power Management Circuits Techniques for IoT Application" Abstract: As the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is continuing to grow, there is a need that a significant percentage these devices operate at ultra-low power (ULP) levels, either using harvested energy or using a small battery with a long […]