Speaker: Edward Knightly (Rice University)

Date: 23/05/2024

Time: 10AM

Place: Amphi Chappe/Lamarr, 6 avenue des arts, La Doua Campus

Title: Curved Beams, Flying Metasurfaces, and Emerging Capabilities for 6G

Abstract: Next-generation wireless networks promise unprecedented performance by exploiting wide bandwidths available in millimeter wave to sub-Terahertz spectrum. At such frequencies, transmission is necessarily highly directive in order to overcome path loss. In this talk, I will debunk two myths about such networks: the first myth is that intelligent surfaces or smooth specular-reflecting surfaces are required to overcome blocked paths via reflected paths. Instead, I will show the theory and experimental results for curving beams around obstacles. The second myth is that highly directional rooftop backhaul links are inherently immune to interception by an eavesdropper. Instead, I will show the theory and experimental results for intercepting a roof-top sub-THz backhaul link without detection by using a metasurface-equipped UAV.

Bio: Edward Knightly is the Sheafor–Lindsay Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at Rice University. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of California at Berkeley and his B.S. from Auburn University. He is an ACM Fellow, an IEEE Fellow, and a Sloan Fellow. He received the IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Award for Research on New Opportunities for Dynamic Spectrum Access, the George R. Brown School of Engineering Teaching + Research Excellence Award, and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He won eight best paper awards including ACM MobiCom, ACM MobiHoc, IEEE Communications and Network Security, and IEEE INFOCOM. He serves as an editor-at-large for IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking and serves on the scientific council of IMDEA Networks in Madrid and the scientific advisory board of INESC TEC in Porto. He served as the Rice ECE department chair from 2014 to 2019.