Invited Speakers
Pingzhi Fan (IEEE Fellow, IET/CIE/CIC Fellow, PhD, Chair Professor)
Pingzhi Fan (Fellow, IEEE) is currently presidential professor of Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), honorary dean of the SWJTU-Leeds Joint School, and a visiting professor of Leeds University, UK (1997-). He is a recipient of the UK ORS Award (1992), the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (1998, NSFC), IEEE VT Society Jack Neubauer Memorial Award (2018), IEEE SP Society SPL Best Paper Award (2018), IEEE/CIC ICCC2020 Best Paper Award, IEEE WCSP2022 Best Paper Award, IEEE ICC2023 Best Paper Award, and IEEE VT Society Best Magazine Paper Award (2023). He served as chief scientist of the National 973 Plan Project (MoST) between 2012.1-2016.12. He also served as general chair or TPC chair of a number of IEEE conferences, including VTC2016Spring, ITW2018, IWSDA2022, PIMRC’2023, as well as ISIT’2026, etc. His research interests include high mobility wireless communications, massive random-access techniques, signal design & coding, etc. He is an IEEE VTS Distinguished Speaker (2019-2025), a fellow of IEEE, IET, CIE and CIC.
Homepage: https://faculty.swjtu.edu.cn/pzfan/
Title: Recent Advances in Signal Design for Integrated Sensing & Communications
Abstract
Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) combines sensing and communication systems to utilize wireless resources efficiently, realize wide area environment sensing, and even to pursue mutual benefits. It is anticipated that ISAC would be one of the key enablers of 5G Advanced (5GA) and 6G wireless networks for supporting a variety of emerging applications. Obviously, transmitting signal design plays an essential role in ISAC systems. This talk shall provide recent advances in ISAC signal designs, including coordinated signal design, communications signal-based design, radar signal-based design, and dedicated dual-function signal design. In particular, a new concept called low ambiguity zone (LAZ) and some theoretical bounds, as well as related LAZ signal designs, shall be presented.
Sihem Mesnager (Professor of Mathematics)
Sihem Mesnager received a PhD degree in Mathematics from the University of Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), Sorbonne University, Paris, France, in 2002, and the Habilitation to Direct Theses (HDR) in Mathematics from the University of Paris VIII, France, in 2012. She is currently a professor of mathematics at the University of Paris VIII (France) in the laboratory LAGA (Laboratory of Analysis, Geometry, and Applications), University Sorbonne Paris Nord, and CNRS. She is also a professor adjoint to Telecom Paris (France) in the INFERES department, Telecom Paris, Institute Polytechnique of Paris. Her research interests include discrete mathematics, symmetric cryptography, coding theory, commutative algebra, and computational algebraic geometry. She was awarded 2020 the first international George Boole Prize and received several awards from 2014 to 2023 from the University of Paris VIII (national evaluation). She is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Information and Coding Theory (IJOCT), published by Inderscience and co-editor-in-chief of the international journal Advances in Mathematics of Communications (AMC), published by AIMS. She was an Associate Editor for the international journal IEEE Transactions on Information Theory (IEEE-IT) from Sept 2014 to Aug. 2021. Also, She serves on the editorial board of the international journal Cryptography and Communications Discrete Structures and Boolean Functions and Sequences (CCDS) published by SPRINGER, the International Journal Finite Fields and their Applications (FFA) Published by ELSEVIER, the international journal RAIRO ITA (Theoretical Informatics and Applications), the International Journal of Computer Mathematics (Published by Taylor Francis), and International Journal of Applicable Algebra in Engineering, Communication and Computing (AAECC)-Published by SPRINGER. She was a program co-chair for several International Workshops, served on the board of program committees of 45 international conferences and workshops, and co-chaired/co-organized 12 international conferences (notably, she was the main organiser of the international conference in Finite Fields and their Applications Fq15 conference). She is (co)-author of 220 articles, two books, and three chapters of books, and has given more than 125 national and international conferences (36 invited talks). Since 2016, she has been president of the French Chapter of IEEE in information theory. She is heading the research group AGC3 (Algebra, Geometry, Combinatorics, and Applications to Cryptography and Coding) at the LAGA Laboratory. She is elected member (term 2024- 2027) of College A of the National Council of Universities (CNU) for Section 25 Mathematics in France.
Homepage: https://www.math.univ-paris13.fr/~mesnager/index-en.html
Title: On algebraic problems on finite fields and their importance more than ever in the study of S-boxes in block ciphers
abstract
Throughout this talk, we will place ourselves in finite fields whose theory originates in the work of the French mathematician Evariste Galois. After briefly presenting some main cryptographic problems in symmetric cryptography in the context of block ciphers and highlighting our main motivations, we focus on some underlying fundamental mathematical problems and discuss some algebraic approaches and ingredients used at the core of the methodologies. We shall also present recent achievements in algebraic equations and address open questions, particularly those aimed at implementing methods to solve equations over finite fields and making them available to theorists, notably cryptographers and sequences designers.
Christos Masouros (IEEE Fellow)
Christos Masouros received the Diploma degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece, in 2004, and MSc by research and PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK in 2006 and 2009 respectively. In 2008 he was a research intern at Philips Research Labs, UK, working on the LTE standards. Between 2009-2010 he was a Research Associate in the University of Manchester and between 2010-2012 a Research Fellow in Queen's University Belfast. In 2012 he joined University College London as a Lecturer. He has held a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship between 2011-2016.
He is currently a Full Professor in the Information and Communications Engineering research group, Dept. Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College London. His research interests lie in the field of wireless communications and signal processing with particular focus on Green Communications, Large Scale Antenna Systems, Cognitive Radio, interference mitigation techniques for MIMO and multicarrier communications. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Awards in the IEEE GlobeCom 2015 and IEEE WCNC 2019 conferences, and has been recognised as an Exemplary Editor for the IEEE Communications Letters, and as an Exemplary Reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Communications. He is an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications, and IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. He has been an Associate Editor for IEEE Communications Letters, and a Guest Editor for IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Signal Processing issues “Exploiting Interference towards Energy Efficient and Secure Wireless Communications” and “Hybrid Analog / Digital Signal Processing for Hardware-Efficient Large Scale Antenna Arrays”. He is currently an elected member of the EURASIP SAT Committee on Signal Processing for Communications and Networking.
Homepage: https://sites.google.com/view/christos-masouros/home
Title: Sustainable and Multifunctional Wireless Networks
Abstract
The future global cellular infrastructure will underpin a variety of applications, such as smart city solutions, urban security, infrastructure monitoring, and smart mobility, among others. These emerging applications require new network functionalities that go beyond traditional communication. Key network KPIs for 6G include Gb/s data rates, cm-level localization, μs-level latency, and Tb/Joule energy efficiency. Additionally, future networks must support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to ensure sustainability, net-zero emissions, resilience, and inclusivity.
The multifunctionality and net-zero emissions agenda call for a redesign of multi-access technologies for 6G and beyond. In this talk, I focus on enabling multifunctionality in signals and wireless transmissions as a means of reducing hardware redundancy and minimizing carbon footprint. We will explore the emerging field of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), which represents a paradigm shift towards combining sensing and communication functionalities within a single transmission, utilizing a single spectrum and ultimately sharing a common infrastructure.
Steven (Qiang) Wang (Professor of Mathematics)
Steven (Qiang) Wang received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in mathematics from Shanxi Normal University, China, the M.Sc. degree in information and system science from Carleton University, Canada, and the Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He is currently a Full Professor with Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. His main research interests include Finite Fields and Applications in Coding Theory, Communications, and Cryptography; Enumerative and Additive Combinatorics; Additive and Computational Number Theory, particularly the properties of polynomials/functions and sequences over finite fields and their applications.
Homepage: https://people.math.carleton.ca/~wang/
Title: A survey of compositional inverses of permutation polynomials
over finite fields
Abstract
In this talk we survey on the recent results and methods in the study of compositional inverses of permutation polynomials over finite fields. In particular, we describe a framework in terms of a commutative diagram which unifies several recent methods in finding the inverses of permutation polynomials.
Nam Yul Yu (IEEE Senior Member)
NAM YUL YU received the B.S. degree in electronics engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, in 1995, the M.S. degree in electronics and electrical engineering from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, South Korea, in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, in 2007. From 2000 to 2003, he was with the Telecommunication Research and Development Center, Samsung Electronics, South Korea, where he worked on channel coding schemes for wireless communication systems. In 2007, he was a Senior Research Engineer at LG Electronics, South Korea, working on the standardization of the 3GPP-LTE. From 2008 to 2014, he was an Assistant/Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada. In 2014, he joined the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, South Korea, where he is currently working as a Professor with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research interests include sequence design, compressed sensing, and deep learning for wireless communications. He served as an Associate Editor for Sequences in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION THEORY, from 2009 to 2011.
Homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/informationsciencelab/members
Title: Pseudorandom Sequences for Grant-Free Access in Massive Machine-Type Communications
Abstract
Massive machine-type communications (mMTC) is an important use case of 5G and beyond wireless technology for concretizing the Internet of Things (IoT). In mMTC, grant-free access is a key enabler for connecting wireless devices with low latency and low signaling overhead. In uplink grant-free access, user-specific, non-orthogonal sequences are uniquely assigned to devices for non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), where each active device attempts to access a base station (BS) using its own sequence. Then, a BS receiver has to identify active devices, estimate channel profiles, and detect transmitted data, through the superimposed sequences from active devices. Exploiting the sparse activity, the principle of compressed sensing (CS) has been widely used to perform joint activity detection, channel estimation, and data detection for uplink grant-free access in mMTC.
In this talk, some applications of pseudorandom sequences for uplink grant-free access in mMTC are introduced. First of all, Golay complementary sequences are used for spreading sequences in uplink grant-free NOMA. From the properties of Golay complementary sequences, the spreading sequences provide low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) for multicarrier transmission. Also, a theoretical connection to Reed-Muller codes shows that the spreading sequences guarantee theoretically bounded low coherence for the spreading matrix. Second, a design framework is presented for non-orthogonal signature sequences, where the design principle relies on unimodular masking sequences represented by characters over finite fields. The Weil bounds on character sums are leveraged to show that the signature sequence matrix has theoretically bounded low coherence. Simulation results demonstrate that the spreading and the signature sequences achieve excellent performance of joint activity detection, channel estimation, and data detection for uplink grant-free access in mMTC. Thanks to the algebraic structure, the non-orthogonal sequences enjoy the benefits of small phases and small storage space in practical implementations. Finally, potential applications of pseudorandom sequences for mMTC will be discussed as a future research topic.