Research Areas

The Wireless Networks Research Group works in the following areas:

Wireless Networking Algorithms and Protocols

We aim to address challenging issues with environmentally friendly energy efficient algorithms and protocols for different forms of wireless networks operating in day-to-day as well as extreme conditions. We develop algorithms, techniques, protocols and systems with the ability to adapt to the changing network conditions, by sensing/observing/measuring network conditions, and applying knowledge that have been made available or acquired previously, to address the dynamically changing network environment. 5G networks need to support the massive number of IoT devices, pose challenges in MAC, RLC and random access protocol design, but at the same time, present opportunities to utilize NFV/SDN in resource management and optimization.

Specific areas of research and expertise include scheduling and random access algorithms, wireless multihop (ad-hoc, mesh and sensor) networks, quality of service support for multimedia traffic, cognitive networks, and application of theoretical methods to network design and analysis. Staff members actively working in this area include: Dr Alvin Valera, Prof Winston Seah, Dr Yau Hee Kho and Bryan Ng

End-to-end Wired/Wireless Network Interconnectivity

The Internet has grown substantially and evolved from its original purpose of connecting computers and mobile devices to connecting almost anything foreseeable, giving rise to the Internet of Things, and more recently, the Internet of Everything. In order to connect the billion of devices to the Internet, new protocols and technologies are needed. Concurrently, the network fabric itself has also evolved with Software Defined Networking (SDN) emerging as the latest technological thrust. In 5G networks, Edge/Fog computing advocates pushing more computing resources as close to the end devices as possible, namely, Mobile Edge Computing. In our group, we have a strong interest in both Edge/Fog computing and SDN to support the IoT, working closely with the local NZ industry as well as with international partners to develop the latest wireless technologies, and conducting research to develop new algorithms and protocols motivated by IoT. Staff members actively working in this area include: Bryan Ng, Dr Jyoti Sahni, and Prof Winston Seah.

Wireless Network Anomaly Detection

The focus of our current research is on novel ways of detecting anomalous behaviour in wireless networks, that goes beyond security. We are interested in the problems of how to monitor and analyse data collected from observing Denial of Service attacks and using this information to try and prevent future attacks. We apply machine learning and deep learning techniques to deal with the immense volume of network traffic generated by IoT. We also study how SDN can be applied to isolate/counter BotNet traffic. Our current work revolves around PC platforms but we are extending our work to include Smartphones and sensors. Another key research focus is on establishing trust in the IoT and building a secure trust framework. Staff members actively working in this area include: Dr Alvin Valera, Dr Jyoti Sahni and Prof Winston Seah.