Webinar | Role of UAVs in Future Wireless Networks

IEEE Future Networks UK and Ireland Local Group is pleased to present a webinar “Role of UAVs in future wireless networks” consisting of two presentations:

UAV Infrastructure in Future Wireless Networks: Opportunities and Challenges by Boris Galkin

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology has rapidly proliferated into a variety of industries and organisations worldwide. UAV access points have been identified as a core feature of future wireless networks, as the devices are able to leverage their mobility and aerial placement to deliver high-quality wireless service to users. Despite these advantages, UAV technology still faces a number of limitations on the road to widespread adoption. This talk will provide a brief overview of some of these issues, as well as possible solutions to address them.

Biography

Boris Galkin is currently a research fellow in CONNECT, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 2019 from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

His research interests include unmanned aerial vehicles, heterogeneous networks, and the application of AI and Machine Learning to 5G and Beyond networks.

Role of flying platforms for global connectivity: Paving the Way Towards Future Wireless Networks by Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir

Abstract

Driven by an emerging use of flying platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles  (UAVs),  drones  and unmanned balloons in future network applications and the challenges that the 6G networks exhibit,  the  focus of this talk is to demonstrate the evolution of the flying platforms as a novel architectural enabler for radio access network (RAN) and their integration with the future cellular access and backhaul/fronthaul networks. These platforms are networked, flying and a potential way to offer high data rate, high reliability, and ultra-low latent access and backhaul/fronthaul to future wireless networks. Such large scale deployable flying platforms and frameworks will guarantee the global information and communication requirements as articulated in United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)   for future smart cities and solve the ubiquitous and global connectivity problems in many challenging network environments,  e.g., coverage or capacity enhancements for remote or sparsely populated areas and disaster affected scenarios.

Biography

Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir (S’04–M’10–SM’16) is Reader (Associate Professor) at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), UK, received over £2m research funding from bodies such as Innovate UK, ERASMUS, QNRF (6G project) and UK industries. With over 15 years of research expertise in design and development of information and communication technologies (ICT), he has published over 120 research articles and edited or contributed to 10 books. He has an interest in wireless technologies and application of tools such as Artificial Intelligence & machine learning to support global connectivity around the world.

He is a recipient of IEEE Communications Society Fred W Ellersick award 2021 and IEEE Communications Society & China Institute of Communications Best Journal Article award 2019 for his research on 5G/6G, and STARS (Staff Appreciation and Recognition Scheme) award 2020 & 2018 for Outstanding Research and Enterprise performance at UWS. He has been/is serving as a Chair and organising committee of several symposiums/workshops in IEEE flagship conferences, including Globecom, ICC and WCNC. He is an Editor of PHYCOM, IEEE Communications Letters and served as a guest editor to IEEE Wireless Communications, IEEE Communications, and IEEE Access. He is a founding Chair of IEEE ComSoc emerging technologies committee on backhaul/fronthaul. He is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK, and member of International Association of Smart Learning Environments (IASLE). Recently, he has been selected (through a competitive process) by the Scottish Parliament as a Member Scottish Parliament Framework Agreement Covid-19 Pandemic to provide expert advice on the impact of Covid-19 on digital infrastructure. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, and an active member of IEEE ComSoc.