Caching in Future Mobile Networks: Utilize Memory to Overcome Spectrum Shortage

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Aydin Sezgin
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 388145982

With the advent of mobile telephony, complemented by the availability of economic infrastructure devices has provided users the freedom to communicate and perform everyday tasks wirelessly. As wireless technology matures, new standards like 5G and Internet-of-Things emerge that give users the flexibility to access information anywhere-anytime. However, the transmission of information over wireless channels makes it vulnerable to eavesdropping. Security is now considered as an integral element in the design of modern communication architectures. In this project, we aim to diverge from the classic cryptographic approach where security issues are dealt in the upper layers of the protocol stack, by developing a framework that secures information by exploiting the attributes of the physical layer. Thus, security via the proposed framework can be implemented separately or can be added as an extra layer of protection in the conventional communication architecture to secure it even further. In the planned project, we intend to study a special class of a broadcast channel, where the receivers are allowed to cooperate. The concept of cooperation at the transmitter side, where the users share their resources to transmit information to a central server or access point is fairly well understood. The problem of receiver cooperation is fairly new and appears to be less understood. The goal of this project is to investigate certain aspects of receiver cooperation in the broadcast channel under some practical constraints. In particular, we plan to revisit the role of different quality of state information, for example, causal, strictly causal or non-causal and its impact on secrecy.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants