Excellence in Research: Research Capacity and Partnerships Building in Next-Generation Communication Ecosystems with Vertical Intelligence (supported by NSF) 

Project Number: ECCS-2302469
Duration: Sep. 2023 – Aug. 2026
PI: Xiangfang (Lindsey) Li, Ph.D.


Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Roy G. Perry College of Engineering
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, TX 77446

Project Summary:

The evolution of next-generation wireless communications known as the sixth generation (6G) will enable not only super-fast and ultra-reliable communications services but also new use cases and intelligence to benefit society and redefine how we live and work. In this project, a team of researchers and educators from two HBCUs, Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University, collaborating with the team of the University of Houston, propose a comprehensive plan to enhance research capacity in the next-generation communications ecosystem with vertical intelligence and to build strong partnerships. The proposed project will leverage the research capabilities and existing collaborations among the three participating institutions, and greatly enhance the research capacity and educational excellence at all institutions. Partnerships with industry and government will engage HBCUs in future critical 6G and beyond infrastructure and maintain diversity in the workforce. The proposed research will explore theoretical advancement as well as experimental design. If successful, the proposed research will help accelerate the development and commercialization of promising technologies for 6G and ensure continued U.S. leadership in the telecommunications industry. The education goals include enabling broad participation of underrepresented minorities in cutting-edge research, building a pipeline to attract and retain them to pursue careers in STEM, and training future workforce in critical areas especially 6G for the nation.

The proposed research will target the integration of 6G terrestrial cellular networks with aerial access networks (AANs) with many satellites, high altitude platforms (HAPs), and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) through integrated sensing, communications, and computing to gain vertical intelligence in the next-generation communications ecosystem. Three research thrusts are proposed: 1) Novel dynamic, stochastic, and distributed optimization methods will be investigated for robust resource planning and allocation and mobility management; 2) A hierarchical sensing architecture will be designed to provide mutual benefits between communications and sensing; 3) Efficient privacy-preserving edge computing and computation offloading strategies will be studied to jointly optimize communications and computing. The proposed framework and strategies will not only optimize resource usage but also integrate sensing, communications, and computing seamlessly while protecting user privacy and data security. The proposed methods will be validated through extensive simulations and experiments using USRPs and the NSF POWDER, COSMOS, and AERPAW testbeds. This project will significantly enhance research, education, and outreach in all participating institutions and enable broad participation of underrepresented minorities in advanced research, and provide the much-needed diversity of the next-generation workforce in 6G and beyond.

News:

  • PI (Dr. X. Li, PVAMU) collaborating with Co-PI (Dr. Wei Li, TSU), organized “Research Workshop for next-generation communication Ecosystems and Low-resource Neural Machine” at Texas Southern University on March 5, 2025.
  • Co-PI, Dr. Qian, TAMUS Regents Professor and AT&T Endowed Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Roy G. Perry College of Engineering, received the “Outstanding Achievement as a Faculty Member” Presidential Awards in August 2025. This is the highest honor given by the University and recognize broad and sustained excellence. https://www.pvamu.edu/faculty-staff-awards /
  • Co-PI, Dr. Han, Moores Professor in the ECE Department of the University of Houston received two awards: a). IEEE Neal Shepherd Memorial Best Propagation Award, 2025; b). IEEE Communications Society Best Tutorial Paper Award, 2025.
  • Co-PI, Dr. Ahmed, received “The Faculty Senate Award for Research Excellence,” for the Tenure Category at PVAMU in 2025.
  • Dr. Li is the recipient of the “Outstanding Full-Time Teaching Award,”  “A Journey to Eminence,” Prairie View A&M University’s 2024 Faculty and Staff Conference, August 29, 2024.
  • Dr. Ahmed is the recipient of the “Faculty Service Award,” “A Journey to Eminence,” Prairie View A&M University’s 2024 Faculty and Staff Conference, August 29, 2024.
  • The team, including the PIs and students from the three collaborating institutions (PVAMU, UH, and TSU), had a very successful project kickoff meeting at Texas Southern University on August 11, 2023.
  • Co-PI, Zhu Han, Moores Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, became an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow.

Results:

I. Publications

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant ECCS-2302469.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Books:

  • Adegboye, O., Li, X., Qian, L. (2025). Parameterized Model for Fork Antenna Design in UWB Band Using Fully Connected Artificial Neural Networks. In: Arabnia, H.R., Deligiannidis, L., Amirian, S., Shenavarmasouleh, F., Ghareh Mohammadi, F., de la Fuente, D. (eds) Artificial Intelligence and Applications. CSCE 2024. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 2252. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86623-4_7
  • Ni, W., Zhang, Y., Li, W. (2025). Optimal Admission Policy in a Cloud Data Center with Priority and Non-Priority Tasks. In: Arai, K. (eds) Intelligent Computing. CompCom 2025. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 1423. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-92602-0_16
  • W, Wu, Z. Zhang, W. Li, and DZ Du (2025), “Non-submodular Optimization and Non-convex Relaxation,” Book chapter in the Book “Theory, Algorithms and Experiments in Applied Optimization — In Honor of Panos Pardalos’s 70th Birthday”, Springer Optimization and Its Applications, 2025.
  • Lingyang Song, Zhu Han, Boya Di, and Hongliang Zhang, Aerial Access Networks: Integration of UAVs, HAPs, and Satellites, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2023.

Journal papers:

  • Z. Zhan, Y. Dong, D. Mawunyo Doe, Y. Hu, S. Li, S. Cao, W. Li and Z. Han, “Deep Learning and Blockchain-Driven Contract Theory: Alleviate Gender Bias in Construction,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 151, no. 3, 04024216-1 to 04024216-16, December 28, 2024.
  • I. Tommy, T. Akinola, X. Li, L. Qian. (2025). “Spatio-Temporal Beam-Level Traffic Forecasting in 5G Wireless Systems Using Multi-Task Learning,” Frontiers in Communications and Networks, section Wireless Communications, July 2025, accepted.
  • T. Akinola, X. Li, R. Wilkins, P. Obiomon, and L. Qian (2024). “Robust Inverse Quantum Fourier Transform Inspired Algorithm for Unsupervised Image Segmentation,” in IEEE Access, Vol 12, pp.  99029-99044, 2024. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3429413.
  • Kai-Chu Tsai, Lei Fan, Ricardo Lent, Li-Chun Wang, and Zhu Han, “Distributionally Robust Optimal Routing for Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks Under Uncertainty,” to appear IEEE Transaction on Communications.

Conference papers:

  • W. Li, D. Jackson, M. Vanjani, E. Pearson, L. Ghemri, S. Shishodia, H. Xie and L. Gardiner, “Observations and Challenges for Data-Driven Institutional Transformation at Texas Southern University with NSF AGEP Program Support,” 2025 American Society Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference, Montreal, Canada, June 22-25, 2025.
  • T. Abdul-Quddoos, T. Sharmin, X. Li, L. Qian (2025). “Transmitter Identification and Protocol Categorization in Shared Spectrum via Multi-Task RF Classification at the Network Edge,” The Third Workshop on Machine Learning and Deep Learning for Wireless Security, IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) 2025, June 2025, Montreal, Canada.
  • I. Tommy, X. Li, L. Qian (2025). “Spatio-Temporal Beam-Level Traffic Forecasting in 5G Wireless Systems Using Multi-Task Learning,” 2025 IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning for Communication and Networking (ICMLCN). May 2025, Barcelona, Spain.
  • A. Ahmed and B. Nyarko. “Smart-Watcher: An AI-Powered IoT Monitoring System for Small-Medium Scale Premises.” In Proceedings of the International IEEE Conference on Computing, Networking and Communication (ICNC ’24), Hawaii, USA, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICNC59896.2024.10556297
  • A. Ahmed and J. Ahmed. “An Image-based Plant Weed Detector using Machine Learning.” In Proceedings of the International IEEE Conference on Computing, Networking and Communication (ICNC ’24), Hawaii, USA, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICNC59896.2024.10555934
  • W. Ni, Y. Zhang and W. Li, “Optimal Task Admission Control of Private Cloud Data Centers With Limited Resources,” 2024 IEEE 14th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2024, pp. 0167-0172, doi: 10.1109/CCWC60891.2024.10427675.
  • A. Ahmed and B. Nyarko (2024). “Smart-Watcher: An AI-Powered IoT Monitoring System for Small-Medium Scale Premises,” 2024 Workshop on Computing, Networking and Communications (CNC).
  • A. Ahmed and J. Ahmed (2024). “An Image-based Plant Weed Detector using Machine Learning,” 2024 Workshop on Computing, Networking and Communications (CNC).

  • Faheem Quazi, Angeles Vazquez-Castro, Dusit Niyato, Shiwen Mao, and Zhu Han, “Building Delay-Tolerant Digital Twins for Cislunar Operations using Age of Synchronization,” IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) Workshop on Cooperative Communications and Computations in Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Networks, Denver, CO, June 2024.

Invited talks and presentations:

  • “Knowledge Acquisition on Mass-shooting Events via LLMs for AI-Driven Justice, ” given by Dr. Xishuang Dong, Ph.D., Associate Professor, ECE Department, Prairie View A&M University, Apr 30, 2025
  • “From pathology to MRI and ultrasound, a multimodal information extraction,” given by Dr. Mirabela Rusu, an Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, April 16, 2025
  • “An Ultra-Low Phase Noise Dual-Tank Oscillator Featuring Tank Impedance Scaling,” given by Dr. Fariborz Lohrabi Pour, Research Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech, April 8, 2025
  • “Enhancing Microgrid Security in Diverse Environments: Integrating Zero Trust Architecture and Bayesian Optimization for Robust Anomaly Detection,” given by Jovita Nsoh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Information Science Technology, University of Houston, March 19. 2025
  • “Deciphering Neural Networks through the Lenses of Feature Interactions,” given by Dr. Yan Liu, Professor, Computer Science Department, Director of Machine Learning Center, University of Southern California (USC), October 23rd, 2024
  • “Facts Are Wonderful, Until They Are Not,” given by Chengkai Li, Ph.D., Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Nov. 6, 2024

  • “Reconfigurable Holographic Surfaces: A New Paradigm to Ultra-Massive MIMO for 6G,” IEEE ICC 2024.

  • “Reconfigurable Holographic Surfaces: A New Paradigm to Ultra-Massive MIMO,” IEEE WCNC 2024.

  • “Federated Analytics: A Bridge Between Data Science and Machine Learning”, IEEE CCNC 2024.

  • “Holographic Radio: A New Paradigm for Communication and Sensing in 6G,” IEEE Globecom 2023.

  • “Holographic Radio: A New Paradigm for Future Ultra-Massive MIMO,” IEEE PIMRC 2023.

Co-PI, Dr. Han, has given the following invited talks and presentations:

  • “Reconfigurable Holographic Surfaces: a New Paradigm to Ultra-Massive MIMO for 6G,” IEEE MILCOM 2025; IEEE Globecom 2024.
  • “Reconfigurable Holographic Surfaces Enabled Communications and Sensing for 6G,” IEEE VTC Fall 2025; IEEE ICC 2025
  • “Federated Analytics over Wireless Networks: Fundamentals, Latest Trends, and Future Directions,” IEEE ICCC 2025; IEEE Globecom 2024
  • “Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing for Intelligent and Converged Networks,” IEEE SECON 2024

Student Thesis/Dissertations:

  • Israel Tommy, “Spatio-Temporal Beam-Level Traffic Forecasting in 5G Wireless Systems Using Multi-Task Learning,” MS Thesis, August 2025, PVAMU.
  • Kai-Chu Tsai,  “Satellite-Terrestrial Integration under Uncertainty using Machine Learning and Distributionally Robust Optimization,” PhD dissertation, 2024.

II. Student Training:

  • Two high school students visit UH research lab to conduct researches.

III. Source codes and software tools:

1) Source codes:

  • Coming soon.

2) Software tools:

Collaborators:

Contact information:

Office: NENR Building Room 336
Phone: (936) 261-9918
Fax: (936) 261-9930
E-mail: xili@pvamu.edu

Last Modified: August 2025