301, Durham Center for Computation and Communication

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering +1 515 294 1223

Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA 50011

Research

  Research Focus & Interests
  Research Projects Involved
    As PIs & Co-PIs
    As Senior Personnel & Other Roles

Research Focus & Interests

• Distributed Systems, Testbeds, and Network Measurement: Design and experimental evaluation of scalable, resilient, and secure distributed computing and communication systems across heterogeneous cloud, edge, and wireless platforms. This includes building large-scale prototypes and testbeds and conducting real-world network measurements to analyze performance, reliability, fault tolerance, and security.

• Next-Generation Wireless Networks: Experimental design and deployment of real-world wireless platforms for 5G-and-beyond systems, Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN), wireless mesh networks, and satellite-integrated architectures.

• Software-Defined Wireless Networks and Internet of Things (IoT): Modeling and implementation of SDN-based approaches in wireless and IoT systems, including mesh, delay/disruption-tolerant, and sensor networks, along with lightweight frameworks (e.g., blockchain-enabled IoT solutions) to support emerging applications.

• Complex Network Analysis for Applied Systems: Application of complex network modeling and analysis to practical systems such as road networks and intelligent transportation systems, enabling the development of mobility models, routing strategies, and security mechanisms.

• Systems Security: Security analysis of distributed and software-defined systems, including threat modeling and attack characterization in SDN architectures, and the design of practical defense mechanisms for improved resilience. My work explores secure control architectures, attack-resilient protocols, and lightweight cryptography-enabled frameworks (e.g., blockchain-assisted mechanisms) suitable for resource-constrained and large-scale distributed environments.

Research Projects Involved

• As Principle Investigator | Co-Principal Investigator

  1. Site Co-PI, "ArMORED: Architecture for massive-MIMO Open RAN Energy-efficient Devices," NTIA Innovation Fund (NOFO 2), (Total Funding: $10,118,112; ISU: $2,400,000), Skylark Wireless (PI) and Iowa State University, Jan 2025–Dec 2027.

  2. Site Co-PI, "Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments (ACCoRD)," NTIA Innovation Fund, (Total Funding: $42,299,693; ISU: $1,000,000), AT&T (PI), Verizon, University of Texas at Dallas, Northeastern University, Iowa State University, Rutgers University, Virginia Tech, NTT DOCOMO, and Reliance Jio, Jan 2024–Dec 2027.

  3. Co-PI, "ARA Launchpad: Open Wireless Platforms, Data and Co-Prototyping for Integrative Research and Community Building," NSF NeTS, (Total Funding: $784,000), Iowa State University (PI), Oct 2023–May 2026.

  4. Co-PI, "Open RAN Research, Testing, and Integration for Rural Industries and Communities," NSF NeTS & TIP, (Total Funding: $1,400,000), Iowa State University (PI), May 2023–Apr 2025.

• As Senior Personnel | Other Roles

  1. Research Scientist/Research Assistant Professor, "Ara4Rural: ARA Infrastructure and Community Building for Rural Wireless Applications, NSF NeTS, (Total Funding: $1,000,000), Iowa State University (PI), Dec 2024–Nov 2026.

  2. Research Scientist/Research Assistant Professor, "NSF AI Institute for Intelligent Cyber-Infrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE)," NSF AI Research Institute, (Total Funding: $20,000,000; ISU: $450,579), Ohio State University (PI) et al., Nov 2021–Oct 2026.

  3. Research Scientist, "POSE: Phase 1: OPERA: An Open-Source Ecosystem for Broadband Prairie," NSF POSE, (Total Funding: $299,999), Iowa State University (PI), Sep 2022–Aug 2024.

  4. Research Scientist, "Collaborative Research: CNS Core: Medium: Real-Time Liquid Wireless Networking for Data-Intensive Rural Applications," NSF CNS Core, (Total Funding: $600,000; ISU: $300,000), Iowa State University (PI), International Computer Science Institute, and Boston University, Oct 2022–Sep 2025.

  5. Research Scientist/Research Assistant Professor, "ARA: Wireless Living Lab for Smart and Connected Rural Communities," NSF PAWR, (Total Funding: $16,000,000), Iowa State University (PI), University of California Irvine, Ohio State University, and International Computer Science Institute, Jun 2021–May 2026.

  6. Graduate Student, "Research and Development of an Integrated Enterprise Network Security System," IIST & ISRO, May 2018–May 2020.

  7. Graduate Student, "Indo-US Collaborative Research on Pervasive Computing for Disaster Response," NSF, DIT, & IIST, (Total Funding: ₹32,00,000), Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), University of California Irvine, and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Jun 2013–Jun 2016.

  8. Graduate Student, "MICRONet-Mobile Infrastructure for Coastal Region Offshore Communication & Networks", IIST, ISRO-HQ, & ITRA/DIT, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Antrix Corporation (ISRO), Amrita University, and Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala, Feb 2014–Jun 2016.

  9. Graduate Student, "IIST MeshNet: A Programmable Hybrid Wireless Mesh Network Testbed," IIST, (Total Funding: ₹7,50,000), Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (PI), Mar 2013–Mar 2016.