5G/6G Wireless Communications

Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:06:24 +0000

Vijay Shah joins $2M NTIA-funded project on 5G cybersecurity Teresa Donnellan Thu, 02/08/2024 - 16:06

In This Story

George Mason University researcher Vijay Shah has joined a $2 million project to develop a system to secure 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture.

Funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the project "A Holistic Cybersecurity Testing Framework for 5G Radio Access Networks" is a collaboration with Virginia Tech, Penn State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Shah, who leads Mason’s NextG Wireless Lab, will be allocated nearly a quarter of the project’s budget and be working with Nishith Tripathi and Jeff Reed from Virginia Tech, Syed Rafiul Hussain from Penn State University, and Bo Tang from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Vijay Shah

Security vulnerabilities in O-RAN present a critical cybersecurity challenge in the era of 5G. The team aims to create “a holistic and automated cybersecurity testing framework for O-RAN,” per the project’s executive summary.

Shah will also receive funding from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) to investigate fingerprinting technology for 5G/NextG O-RAN supply chain risk management, additional funding that highlights the multifaceted approach taken by the NextG Wireless Lab to address 5G networks cybersecurity challenges.

As part of these initiatives, the NextG Wireless Lab is actively growing its research team, with opportunities for postdoctoral researchers and PhD students interested in O-RAN cybersecurity, testing, and supply chain management.

Those interested in contributing to cutting-edge research in this field should email Shah.

Topics

Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

5G/6G Wireless Communications

Mason faculty part of $1.7 million NTIA Wireless Innovation Fund project using AI to test O-RAN components

Teresa Donnellan — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 19:17:21 +0000

Mason faculty part of $1.7 million NTIA Wireless Innovation Fund project using AI to test O-RAN components Teresa Donnellan Tue, 12/12/2023 - 14:17

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Vijay Shah

Kai Zeng

Two College of Engineering and Computing faculty members are part of a project awarded $1.7 million by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. Kai Zeng, a professor in the electrical and computer engineering department, and Vijay K. Shah, an assistant professor in the cyber security engineering department at George Mason University, are part of a team led by researchers from Michigan State University to test Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) components using artificial intelligence (AI).

Kai Zeng

Zeng, Shah, and their colleagues will use AI to guide the process of running hundreds of millions of test cases within complex O-RAN systems. “We can accelerate the testing process and make it automatic [with AI],” said Zeng.

The team’s testing includes three objectives: test for whether the O-RAN is secure, test the O-RAN's performance (i.e., its capacity for users in different app environments), and, finally, test for interoperability. When a system passes these myriad tests, Shah noted, “At least you can guarantee that, as long as a given environment is not very, very unique, it will work.” Supporting open and interoperable wireless networks is the aim of the NTIA’s Wireless Innovation Fund.

Inherently interoperable, O-RAN architecture is designed to comprise open and standardized interfaces for disaggregated RAN functions to lower the barrier for different vendors and third-party software developers to contribute to RAN innovation.

“It's not like the current monolithic, proprietary cellular networks,” Zeng explained. “If you purchase, say, Ericsson products, you can only use their hardware and software. But now, with the open RAN interfaces, different vendors can come into play that are just based on some generalized hardware; and they can build a lot of software applications or functions in this O-RAN architecture.” O-RAN architecture is standardized by the O-RAN Alliance, a consortium of cellular operators, large vendors, start-ups, and academic institutions.

Vijay K. Shah

Zeng’s 5G/NextG wireless expertise and Shah’s O-RAN research and development work in the NextG Wireless Lab@George Mason University positioned the pair perfectly to join this project. The project grew from Zeng’s working relationship with Michigan State and AT&T researchers, with whom he completed an earlier project funded jointly by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Defense’s Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure program. That project developed a product called WindTexter based on generative AI. Shah’s O-RAN work began late in 2020 with seed funding from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative xG Testbed. He went on to secure a separate NSF grant, Open AI Cellular, which resulted in the development of a novel AI-driven controller to automatically control or configure O-RAN system parameters.

If the project goes well, Zeng said, the research team would like to see their hardware and software tools guide private industry in purchasing, testing, and, ultimately, adopting O-RAN.

Topics

Cybersecurity

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI)

Department of Cyber Security Engineering

Department of Cyber Security Engineering faculty

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty

Artificial Intelligence

5G/6G Wireless Communications

WCC

Mason faculty firms up "Future G"

Tama Moni — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:14:33 +0000

Mason faculty firms up "Future G" Tama Moni Fri, 02/24/2023 - 11:14

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Kai Zeng

Binary code with 1s and 0s. Photo by iStock images.

The resilience of 5G communications in the face of interference and intentional jamming is critical in certain situations, such as when malicious actors try to disrupt communication between U.S. military entities. George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing faculty member Kai Zeng, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the College of Engineering and Computing, is part of a multi-university research project to develop what is being called "Next G" and "Future G" to ensure those communication channels work seamlessly in the face of adversity.

5G millimeter wave (mmWave) technology uses particular frequencies for wireless communications, allowing for more capacity and speed. Like any other communication capability, however, mmWave signals can be interfered with. Zeng's research uses various techniques to ensure seamless communications.

Imagine an aircraft carrier sending a message to an airborne drone, but that signal being disrupted by an enemy aircraft in the vicinity, "jamming" that message. If the signal can be pointed in a different direction, where it can bounce off a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), the signal can be re-routed around the jamming attempt. The 3D-printed, eggbox structure of the RIS – a fancy way of saying it is "an origami antenna" – allows it to generate multiple beams at wide angles, avoiding jamming. The antenna can adjust its frequency dynamically as needed.

In addition to the elaborate antenna, the research includes other attempts to thwart jamming, including using frontend technologies and digital filters, a maneuvering Zeng refers to as a "chess game." He notes that malicious actors deploy learning-based jammers that can react to efforts to evade jamming, but "we can adapt to the jammers' behavior." Checkmate.

Zeng says the research is important because the proposed technologies will significantly enhance the users' communication capability and resilience in contested and congested radio environments. They will be useful for military communication and commercial and civilian usage to greatly improve spectrum efficiency and utilization in spectrum-sharing paradigms.

This project is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Research, and Engineering. It extends George Mason University's research leadership in the field of wireless communications and future G technologies. Zeng has other ongoing research in the field, including a project funded by the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense on securely operating through 5G infrastructure, named "Windtexter," which improves message encryption and covert communication.

Topics

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

5G/6G Wireless Communications

Signal Jammers

CEC faculty research

WCC