Research

One of the objections to Open RAN systems is with more exposed interfaces the attack surface grows. 

That is a philosophical argument, given proprietary systems have the same or more interfaces. 

However, there is still a need to ensure reliability of the decomposed network.

This project uses AI/ML to generate intelligent fuzzed test vectors to exercise Open RAN systems and components.

Would you like to know how the communications network really works? Want to get to play with the latest 5G mobile phones, embedded computers, hardware key storage modules, 911 calling, or just learn what this list means?

 I will need a number of people to work on a project relating to emergency communications, including video and data. Sometimes the call absolutely, positively has to go through!

Our objective is a framework to ensure the security of ICT systems built with the assistance of Generative AI, which improves the productivity of software engineers.

Our focus is the risk management of AI-driven design, development, engineering, and the operation of systems and software (e.g., enterprise, governmental, federal), as well as obtaining productivity and security.

This project explores the feasibility and potential of DLT-based ZMSs and develops a secure coordination mechanism to facilitate collaboration among multiple ZMS administrators. 

The fundamental infrastructure of an automated, secure, and highly spectral-efficient dynamic spectrum allocation platform is constructed by harnessing DLT and smart contract technologies. 

The focus of this project revolves around policies and enabling technologies for privacy- preserving information exchange and Byzantine-resilient collaboration among participating ZMS administrators. 

Essential data that must be exchanged among ZMS administrators will be identified. A lightweight (i.e., time bounded), secure, reliable, and trustworthy DLT-based protocol for assignments will be developed. 

An off-chain secure contract execution approach will be explored to reduce the protocol execution complexity. 

Privacy-enhancing technologies stemming from multiparty computation and trusted execution environments will be explored to safeguard the privacy of both ZMS administrator’s proprietary data and algorithms and their customers while simultaneously enabling the unique policy requirements set forth by the FCC regulations, such as contiguous channel assignments and contiguous geographic frequency assignment.

We are developing a generalized context-aware spectrum sharing and interference analysis tool that provides a set of dynamic policies and extends the state of the art of spectrum policy regulation. 

Today, the current understanding of ”dynamic” spectrum sharing is embodied by the existing CBRS SAS model. That model has a fixed notion of regulatory policy, namely the fixed hierarchy where Federal users get first priority, then paid users, followed by unlicensed users. 

Moreover, spectrum repurposing in the U.S. tends to be made with decade-long time horizons. The heart of our proposed work is its ability to apply multiple contextual aspects of the environment for frequency assignments. 

The dynamic physical environment, such as weather, new buildings, summer/winter foliage, etc. can significantly impact propagation in these bands. 

Moreover, a dynamic tool for spectrum sharing must take into account future technological and policy choices. 

Without a dynamic tool for spectrum sharing, users cannot take advantage of the continuing improvement in radio technology until the 10-plus-year regulatory cycle plays out. 

Specifically, this research will deliver a tool set for analyzing the impact of various regulatory policies on spectrum usage, sharing, and possibility of harmful interference to primary users, especially passive users. 

This tool set incorporates analysis for efficient spectrum sharing and harmonious coexistence with active and passive users in geographic space, including altitude, as well as in temporal space, considering, for example, satellite orbits, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or special events.

The escalating demand for wireless communications, fueled by emerging applications, has led to a critical limitation in the availability of radio spectrum. 

The development of coexistence schemes that enable multiple systems to operate concurrently on the same frequency band has emerged as a solution for CBRS and WiFi 6E, among others. These schemes aim to ensure that each system can function properly without causing significant interference to others. 

The objective of this project is to design efficient spectrum coexistence schemes for satellite and terrestrial systems. 

A unique challenge arises due to the presence of passive users in satellite systems, whereas previous designs have primarily focused on active users.

 Consequently, our design must incorporate specific considerations to cater to the requirements of passive users.

This exploratory project examines two areas:

• What are the established best practices for implementing a new technology, such as an automation system or an AI system within the DOD?
• What are the best practices and organizational theories in the private sector and academia that can prove useful in the context of this research?

One of the objections to Open RAN systems is with more exposed interfaces the attack surface grows. 

That is a philosophical argument, given proprietary systems have the same or more interfaces. 

However, there is still a need to ensure reliability of the decomposed network.

 This project uses AI/ML to generate intelligent fuzzed test vectors to exercise Open RAN systems and components.

Protocols, applications, services, and policy for future wireless networks, 5G and Beyond. Some of this work is in association with the Next G Alliance. 

You would get to participate in the creation of new standards for reestablishing North American leadership in wireless networking technology, applications, services, and manufacturing.

What is truth? How do we get information from the real world onto a blockchain? 

This project looks at the epistemological, computer science, and game theoretic aspects of encouraging distributed actors to tell the truth about real world events. Some events are trivially easy, such as a Bitcoin transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Some events are unknowable, like what number I am thinking of at this instant. However, for the events in between, we’re characterizing events to create an ontology of knowable and unknowable events and a framework, model, and prototype of bringing knowable events onto a blockchain.

We look at the policy, legal, and economic impacts of blockchain, asking such questions as:

• How can we use blockchain for identity management?
  
• What are the economics of blockchain vs. conventional, distributed computing? \
• What legal contracts are computable on the blockchain? 

We look at whatever is necessary to improve the security posture of the world’s networks, whether attacked by nation states, professional organized crime, lone hackers, or confused users.

We look at how to ensure compliance with applicable regulations, fiduciary responsibility, and legal requirements to interconnect enterprises with security or compliance responsibilities.

The FCC has implemented many regulations requiring the deployment of cryptographically secure caller identification signaling in the all-IP network. 

This lets the carrier put a notation on the call saying the number was verified. This notation is the “Caller Verified” or green check mark on mobile phones and “[v]” in some networks for landline Caller-ID. 

However, subscribers still might not answer a verified call from a number they do not recognize. 

The issue is the subscriber might want to answer the call. It could be a store trying to schedule a delivery, a school calling about a closure, or a bank calling about a suspicious charge.

One proposal to address this is to have the carrier display the caller’s logo, or brand, to the subscriber when the call arrives. The presumption is that if the subscriber does not recognize the caller’s number, they will recognize their logo.

This project looked at the economic impact of branded calling on answer rates and the impact that answer rates have on the caller’s business.

We examined the status quo of liquidity pools and existing automated market makers across different decentralized exchanges.

Most liquidity models presume arbitrage as a mechanism to provide fair pricing to realize liquidity. 

However, experience has shown that tokens with different characteristics have different arbitrage opportunities than tokens with similar characteristics. This results in different distributed exchanges using vastly different algorithms, usually with the goal of reducing slippage between tokens in the pool. 

We examined the arbitrage state of the art by collecting and analyzing structural characteristics of various arbitrage schemes between different implementations.

Interested in how technology businesses market high technology products and services? Interested in how the Department of Defense’s needs are different from commercial enterprises? Interested in how technology gets adopted? 

The goal of this project is to improve the defense acquisition process to enable better acquisition decisions by adapting the best practices of the private sector and non-DoD public sector’s Return on Investment (ROI) calculations to reflect the unique, non-monetary components the DoD considers as its “return.” 

For example, more effective stealth, faster delivery of technology to the battlefield, and more complete data for analysts do not necessarily have a dollar value, but are of immense value to the DoD mission.

Except for pure enterprise IT projects addressing classical enterprise IT functions of the DoD (payroll, non-warfighter travel), there is no generic framework for ROI calculations that take into account the unique mission values for DoD acquisition. 

This project attempts to address this need. Moreover, we hypothesize that a standard framework for evaluating ROI might allow acquisition personnel to accelerate the development, letting, and award of contracts.

We are developing a universal radio adapter that will enable seamless and secure operation through non-cooperative indigenous 5G networks. 

This is a multi-university project; our part is around data hiding, also known as obfuscation. 

We will use stenographic technologies embedded in popular applications to blend in with local traffic. 

The obfuscator will be integrated with a physical radio adapter that runs from HF through Ku bands for military users and UHF through EHF for 5G users.