Behind the research

Researchers from the University of York presented their recently published paper, Formal Verification of Physical Layer Security Protocols for Next-Generation Communication Networks, at the 26th International Conference on Formal Engineering Methods (ICFEM2025) on 11 November 2025. Background Physical Layer Security (PLS) is gaining traction as an additional security layer for future communication systems. Unlike traditional cryptographic approaches, PLS secures wireless communication by leveraging the physical characteristics of the wireless channel itself such as noise, interference, fading, and dispersion. While cryptographic protocols have long benefited from formal verification tools that can identify vulnerabilities and rigorously validate security guarantees, PLS mechanisms have not received the same level [...]

Dr Prabhat Raj Gautam is currently employed as a Research Fellow at the Department of Computing, Imperial College London. He earned a Master of Technology in Communications Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and a PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Leeds. His doctoral thesis was awarded the F.W. Carter Prize for the best thesis. His research areas include integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), and hybrid precoding. His current work focuses on physical layer security, involving RIS and ISAC. What specific challenge is your research trying to solve, and [...]

A breakthrough in affordable, open-source mobile networks could help bring remote medical care closer to reality. Researchers at the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering have developed a low-cost 4G LTE mobile network that enables near-real-time control of a robotic arm using off-the-shelf hardware. The system allows precise, low-latency movement an essential requirement for delicate procedures such as remote surgery. In their latest study, published in Communications Engineering, the team demonstrated how the system can perform mock dental examinations, showcasing its potential for future medical applications.   Built using the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) framework, the system relies on open-source software and a repurposed USB dongle [...]

Dr Chenguang Liu is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Engineering, Durham University. He specialises in applied machine learning and robust wireless connected systems. His research focuses on AI for wireless and end-to-end design, semantic communication, multi-agent cooperative perception, and networked control systems. He has been awarded the Warwick–SUSTech Scholarship (2019-2023), SUSTech Research Star Award (2023), and his research in cooperative perception have won the Oracle Research UK Grant Award (2022). He has also served as TPC member for several major communication conferences, such as IEEE INFOCOM, ICCCN, and ICCC, and a reviewer for leading journals, such as [...]