Key Research Areas

• 5G/Next-G Wireless Networks 

• O-RAN and xApps/rApps

• Machine learning for Wireless Communication Networks

• Spectrum Sharing in Satellite Bands

• Wireless Security

• mmWave Networks

• NR Positioning

• Space/Non-terrestrial Networks

Recent News

Nov. 2023 [O-RAN ALLIANCE Honorable Mention] Our "FEMO-CLOUD" project has been recognized with honorable mention by O-RAN Alliance Next Generation Research Group (nGRG). [link] 

Nov. 2023 [Best Demo Award] Our demo paper "Demonstration of Closed Loop AI-Driven RAN Controllers Using O-RAN SDR Testbed" was awarded the best demo at IEEE MILCOM 2023. [Paper]

Oct. 2023  [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "Adaptive RRI Selection Algorithms for Improved Cooperative Awareness in Decentralized NR-V2X" has been accepted to IEEE Access. Congratulations Avik Dayal (Past student from VT).

Oct. 2023 [News] Our NIST project "Assisting Firefighters with 5G Drones" was featured in the GMU College of Engineering and Computing Annual Report 2023. [link]

Sep. 2023 [News] Open AI Cellular (OAIC) Platform version 2.0 is out! It has some new key capabilities (i) 5G support, (ii) O-RAN OSC Near-RT RIC and Non-RT RIC, (iii) Lightweight E2 Implementation, (iv) Sample ML-driven xApp, and (v) ZMQ with multiple UE support. If interested, check out our OAIC website for latest updates: www.openaicellular.org. 

Sep. 2023 [Paper Acceptance] Our demo paper on "Demonstration of Closed Loop AI-Driven RAN Controllers Using O-RAN SDR Testbed" has been accepted to IEEE MILCOM Demos 2023. Congratulations Nathan and Team!

Sep. 2023:  [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "Control Coordination in Inverter-based Microgrids using AoI-based 5G Schedulers" has been accepted to IET Smart Grid 2023. This work was conducted by Biplav Chowdhury (Past student from VT). Congratulations Biplav! In collaboration with REGAL Lab@Virginia Tech, we, potentially for the first time, demonstrated the potential of Age of Information (AoI) scheduling protocol for supporting low-latency 5G communications for smart grid control applications. 

Sep. 2023: [Grant] Our NSF SaTC proposal on "RIS Security" was awarded by National Science Foundation (NSF). [Abstract] 

Sep. 2023 [Service] My REU student, Nathan Stephenson and I presented a comprehensive tutorial on Open AI Cellular (OAIC), a 4G/5G O-RAN platform, at IEEE PIMRC 2023, Toronto, Canada.

August 2023 [Grant] Our proposal on "Millimeter Wave IoT networks" was awarded the "CCI Fellows" seed  grant. 

August 2023 [New PhD Student] Sebastian Kwakye joined NextG Lab as a PhD student. Welcome onboard, Sebastian!

August 2023 [News] Our Open AI Cellular (OAIC) platform (based on SDRs) has featured National Instruments Wireless Research Customer Stories. Link: https://www.ni.com/en/forms/wireless-research-customer-stories.html 

August 2023 [New PhD Student] Pranshav Gajjar joined NextG Lab as a PhD student. Welcome onboard, Pranshav!

August 2023 [New Student] Nick Ammann joined NextG Lab as a research undergraduate student. Welcome onboard, Nick!

August 2023 [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "Deep Learning Based Fast and Accurate Beamforming for Millimeter-Wave Systems" has been accepted to IEEE MILCOM 2023. This work is led by Tarun S. Cousik (Past student from VT). Congratulations Tarun!

August 2023 [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "Experimental Study of Adversarial Attacks on ML-based xApps in O-RAN" has been accepted to IEEE GLOBECOM 2023. This work has been conducted in collaboration with Northeastern University. Congratulations to Naveen and rest of the team.

August 2023 [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "SenseORAN: O-RAN based Radar Detection in the CBRS Band" has been accepted to IEEE JSAC Special issue on Open RAN. This work has been conducted in collaboration with Northeastern University. Congratulations to my students, Nathan and Pratheek(Past student from VT) and rest of the team.

August 2023 [Postdoc] My current postdoc, Dr. Naveen Sapavath, has joined the Institute of Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT), Department of ECE, Northeastern University as an Assistant Professor (Teaching). Congratulations!

August 2023 [Service] Dr. Shah has been invited to serve on the TPC for IEEE ICC 2024. 

July 2023 [News] NextG Lab@GMU is honored and excited to partner with Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) [Lead], Wireless@VT, and ODU on North American O-RAN Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) in Washington DC area.  GMU CEC news article: https://cec.gmu.edu/news/2023-07/george-mason-university-improving-next-gen-wireless-networks 

July 2023 [Service] Dr. Shah has been invited to serve as the Local Chair for IEEE DySPAN 2024.

June 2023 [New PhD Student] Azuka Chiejina joined NextG Lab as a PhD student. Welcome onboard, Azuka!

June 2023 [New Students] NextG Lab is glad to host two high school students, Diana Lin and Samarth Bhargav, as summer interns under Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship (ASSIP) Program 2023.

June 2023 [News] NextG Lab@GMU demonstrated a 5G positioning demo with sub-meter level accuracy at the 5x5 Public Safety Innovation Summit, San Diego, USA.

June 2023 [Paper Acceptance] Our paper on "Interference Analysis of Coexisting 5G Networks and NGSO FSS Receivers in the 12 GHz Band" has been accepted to IEEE Wireless Communications Letters 2023. This is the first work that investigates spectrum coexistence in 12 GHz band (12.2 - 12.7 GHz). Congratulations to Ta-seen and Nathan!

April 2023 [Travel Grant] Sarik Dhungel has been awarded with a travel grant to attend the AERPAW community workshop 2023. Congratulations Sarik!

April 2023 [CCI Symposium] Ta-seen and Nathan presented posters on "12 GHz spectrum sharing" and "O-RAN based spectrum sharing framework" at 2nd CCI symposium, Richmond, VA.

March 2023 [Paper Acceptance] 12 GHz spectrum sharing paper accepted to IEEE Communications Magazine 2023. 

March 2023 [Service] Dr. Shah invited to serve on the TPC for WiseML 2023.

March 2023: [Grant] Our CCRI proposal on "Space Communications" was awarded by National Science Foundation (NSF). [Abstract] 

March 2023: [Two New Students] Luis Walder and Osama Abdulmajid joined NextG as undergraduate researchers under CCI undergraduate Research Program. Welcome onboard, Luis and Osama!

Feb. 2023: [Invited Talk] Dr. Shah gave a talk on "Road Beyond 5G: Architectures, Applications, and Trends" at American Society of Nepalese Engineering (ANSEngr) Professional Development Series. Link: https://www.asnengr.org/wp/events/asnengrs-professional-development-series/ 

Feb. 2023: [Service] Dr. Shah joins the Editorial Board of Computer Networks.

Feb 2023: [New Student] Nathaniel Kabigting joined NextG as a Research Undergraduate under NSF REU program. Welcome onboard, Nathaniel!

Feb. 2023: [Paper Acceptance] Interference classification paper accepted to IEEE INFOCOM workshop on Deep Learning for Wireless Communications, Sensing, and Security (DeepWireless). [Preprint]

Jan. 2023 [Poster Acceptance] Three posters (on 12 GHz spectrum sharing, O-RAN, and AI beamforming)  accepted at CCI Symposium 2023. Congratulations Ta-seen, Nathan and Vikram! 

Jan. 2023: [Invited Talk] Dr. Shah gave a talk on "5G-IPS: 5G-based Indoor Positioning System for Emergency Responders in GPS-limited Indoor Scenarios", ICDCN workshop on Emergency Response Technologies and Services (EmeRTeS) 2023.