Research Groups at the Department of Avionics Engineering

Photonics & Communication Systems Group

Introduction:

The Photonics & Communication Systems Group primarily conducts research on the modeling, design, and implementation of communication systems. Additionally, research is also focused on modeling and design of Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) to achieve functionalities which are beyond electronic integrated circuits by manipulating signals in the optical domain; typically in the visible to near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The major research areas are:

• -Wireless mobile networks and social networks
• -Wireless Ad Hoc Networks and Machine-to-Machine Communication
• -Optical Communication
• -Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs)
• -Photonic Systems for Communications
• -Internet of Things - Wireless Sensor Networks and Security
• -Future Internet architecture and protocols
• -Avionics Systems’ Integration
• -Avionics Busses

Research Topics:

• -Ad Hoc Networks
• -Channel Access Schemes
• -Interference Suppression Techniques for Wireless Networks
• -Sensor Fusion
• -Internet of things
• -Hybrid communication network architectures
• -Communication and networking protocol analysis
• -Mobile-oriented energy-aware handover
• -Network-level power conservation in cellular systems
• -Energy-conservation of mobile stations’ battery
• -Optimization algorithms for signal processing in communication
• -Si photonics
• -Biophotonics
• -Nanophotonics
• -Design & characterization of Active & passive circuit elements for PICs
  • -Optical Cavities
  • -Optical waveguides
  • -Couplers / Splitters
  • -Gratings
• -Photovoltaics
• -RF Photonics
• -Photonic sensors
• -Micro Opto Electro Mechanical Systems (MOEMS)
• -Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX)
• -Integrated modular avionics (IMA)

Members:

• -Dr. Ammar Masood
• -Dr. Muhammad Zakwan
• -Dr. Adnan Fazil
• -Dr. Ali Javed Hashmi
• -Dr. Muhammad Adnan

Publications

M. Z. Mumtaz, M. Zakwan, M. Adnan and A. Fazil, "Power Allocation Algorithm based on Nth order Fibonacci Polynomial for Multi-User NOMA," 2021 International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies (IBCAST), 2021, pp. 993-1002, doi: 10.1109/IBCAST51254.2021.9393294.

M. Z. Mumtaz, M. Khurram, M. Adnan and A. Fazil, "Autonomous Modulation Classification using Single Inception Module based Convolutional Neural Network," 2021 International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies (IBCAST), 2021, pp. 966-973, doi: 10.1109/IBCAST51254.2021.9393285.

S. M. Zainab, A. Fazil, K. Khan and M. Zakwan, "Nearest Neighbor in Ad-Hoc Networks is the Most Dominant Interferer - Myth or Reality?," 2021 International Conference on Communication Technologies (ComTech), 2021, pp. 17-21, doi: 10.1109/ComTech52583.2021.9616798.

Adnan Fazil, Aamir Hasan, Ijaz Mansoor Qureshi, Qaisar Shafi. Proactive channel access scheme for wireless ad hoc networks. IET Communications, 13 (13): 1893-1901, 2019. ISSN 1751-8628. doi: 10.1049/iet-com.2018.6191.

Adnan Fazil, Aamir Hasan, Ijaz Mansoor Qureshi, Muhammad Atiq-Ur-Rehman. An adaptive scheduling scheme for inhomogeneously distributed wireless ad hoc networks. Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, 27 (4): 2496-2510, 2019. doi: 10.3906/elk-1811-26.

M. I. Siddiqui, A. Hanif, M. Zakwan and M. Doroslovački, "A Robust Feature-Based Approach for Recognition of Line Coding Schemes," in IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 11809-11816, 2022, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3144931.

M. H. Humayun, S. Sultan Shah Bukharı, M. Zakwan, M. M. Bayer, U. S. Gökay, A. Serpengüzel, K. Taıra, E. Omura, and J. Nakata, “Spatial intensity profiling of elastic and inelastic scattering in isotropic and anisotropic liquids by immersion of a spherical silicon photocell,” Applied Optics, vol. 56, no. 34, pp. 9384-9389, 2017/12/01, 2017.

U. Sabahattin Gökay, M. Zakwan, A. Demir, and A. Serpengüzel, “Optical Fiber Excitation of Fano Resonances in a Silicon Microsphere,” Fiber and Integrated Optics, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 38-46, 2016/01/02, 2016.

Chaudhry M.R, Zakwan M, Serpengüzel A, Elastic Light Scattering From A Ruby Microsphere In A Nematic Liquid Crystal. International Workshop on Flexible Bio- and Organic Printed Electronics; Konya, TURKEY, 2014 May 1-3.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Analysis of telescope array receivers for deep-space inter-planetary optical communication link between Earth and Mars,” Optics Communications, vol. 283, no. 10, May, pp. 2032-2042, 2010.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “A Kalman filter-based synchronization scheme for telescope array receivers in deep-space optical communication links,” Optics Communications, vol. 285, no. 10, Nov, pp. 5037-5043, 2012.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Analysis of adaptive optics based telescope array receivers for compensation of atmospheric turbulence effects in a deep-space inter-planetary optical communications between Earth and Mars,” Optics Communication, 2014.

Eftekhar, A. Hashmi, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “The effect of synchronization errors on the performance of telescope arrays for optical deep space communication,” in Proc. IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2006, pp. 1-7.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Statistical evaluation of an optical array receiver for deep-space laser communications under random pointing and tracking errors,” presented at Optics in the Southeast Conf. Charlotte, NC, 2006.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Effect of tracking errors on performance of telescope array receiver for deep-space optical communication,” in Proc. IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2007, pp. 1362-1369.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, S. Yegnanarayanan, and A. Adibi, “Analysis of optimal adaptive optics systems for hybrid RF-wireless optical communication for maximum efficiency and reliability,” in Proc. IEEE ICET’08, 2008, pp. 62-67.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “A novel 2-D adaptive Wiener-filter-based algorithm for mitigation of atmospheric turbulence effects in deep-space optical communications,” in Proc. of SPIE, vol. 7442, 2009, pp. 1-10.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Analysis of telescope array-based receiver for deep-space optical communications with Mars,” in Proc. IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting, 2009, pp. 831-832.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Deep-space optical communication with Mars: achievable data rates,” presented at IEEE Southeast Conf. Atlanta, GA, 2009.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Optimization of focal plane detectors for mitigation of atmospheric turbulence effects in deep space optical communication,” in Proc. Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2009.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Adaptive optics based telescope arrays receiver for compensation of optical turbulence effects in a deep-space optical communication link with Mars,” in Proc. IEEE Globecom, 2009, pp. 1-8.

Hashmi, A. A. Eftekhar, A. Adibi, and F. Amoozegar, “Optimization of an optical array receiver for deep-space optical communication during earth-mars conjunction phase” in Proc IEEE Photonics Global Conference, 2012, Singapore. " s

Adnan Fazil, Aamir Hasan. Spatial packing of nodes in a wireless ad-hoc network with long and short hops. Proceedings of 11th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences & Technology (IBCAST), Islamabad, Pakistan, 2014, pp. 407-413. doi: 10.1109/IBCAST.2014.6778178.

Munawar, A. Masood and F. Bangash, "Open sensor platform: Integration of sensors and mobile phones", 9th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology (IBCAST), 2012, Pages 445 - 452, 9-12 Jan. 2012

N. Akhtar, I. Laone, A. Masood, and A. Hasan, “A Model for Standardization of MANET Simulation Scenarios: The Four Quadrants”. 2011 International Conference on Computer Engineering and Applications (ICCEA 2011), Pages 271 -276, 2011.

G. Khanna, A. Masood and C. Nita-Rotaru, “Synchronization Attacks Against 802.11”, In Wireless and Mobile Security Workshop, NDSS'05, Feb. 2005.

Adnan, M., Scharbarg, J.-L., Ermont, J., Fraboul, C.; Model for worst case delay analysis of an AFDX network using timed automata. In Proceedings of the ETFA, Bilbao, Spain: IEEE, September 2010.

Adnan, M., Scharbarg, J.-L., Ermont, J., Fraboul, C.; Worst Case End-to-End Delay Analysis of Switched Ethernet using Timed Automata. In Proceedings of the JrWRTC, part of RTNS 2010, Toulouse, France: November 2010.

Adnan, M., Scharbarg, J.-L., Fraboul, C.; Minimizing the search space for computing exact worst-case delays of AFDX periodic flows. In Proceedings of SIES 2011 conference, Vasteras, Sweeden, June 2011.

Adnan, M., Scharbarg, J.-L., Ermont, J., Fraboul, C.; An improved timed automata model for computing exact worst-case delays of AFDX periodic flows. In Proceedings of ETFA 2011 conference, Toulouse, France, September 2011.

Adnan, M., Scharbarg, J.-L., Ermont, J., Fraboul, C.; An improved timed automata approach for computing exact worst-case delays of AFDX sporadic flows. In Proceedings of ETFA 2012 conference, Krakow, Poland, September 2012.

RF, Microwave and Radar Group

Introduction:

The research is directed to develop and analyze innovative techniques for future EW systems and radar remote sensing systems and applications. The research areas cover a wide spectrum, including the investigation of new SAR imaging modes based on digital beamforming and multi-aperture signal processing, the analysis of bistatic and multistatic Radars, AESAR etc. Moreover, owing to a strong affiliation with Pakistan Air Force (PAF), the group has extensive research and development experience in the development of military RADARs, ECM algorithms, ELINT systems etc.

Research Topics:

• -RF Photonics
• -Metamaterials
• -Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR)
• -Microwave & Millimeter-wave Circuit Design
• -Wave Propagation in Bi-Isotropic Media
• -Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
• -Active electronically Scanned Phased Array Radar (AESAR)
• -Bistatic and Monostatic Radars
• -Pulse Integration Techniques
• -Wave Propagation in Complex Fractal Media
• -Advance Antenna Design
• -Frequency Selective Surfaces
• -Electronic Warfare

Members:

• -Dr. Muhammad Zakwan
• -Dr. Ali Javed Hashmi

Publications

Zakwan M, Bayer M.M, Anwar M.S, Gökay U.S, Serpengüzel A, Mid-infrared elastic scattering from germanium microspheres. 18th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON) IEEE, 2016 10-14 July.

Zakwan M, Anwar MS, Bukhari S.S.S, Gökay U.S, Serpengüzel A, Optoelectronic Applications of Sapphire Microspheres. PIERS Proceedings, Czech Republic, Prague, 2015 July.

Gökay U.S, Zakwan M, Demir A, Serpengüzel A, Fano Resonances of a Silicon Microsphere on a Silica Optical Fiber. PIERS Abstracts, Czech Republic, Prague 2015 July.

O. M. Öztürk, M. M. Bayer, M. S. Anwar, M. Zakwan, and A. Serpengüzel, “Spectroscopy of a Nd:YVO4 diode pumped solid state laser,” Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 59, no. 7, pp. 1636-1639, 2017.

Jahangir Kayani, and A. Hashmi, “"Comparative study of Non-Coherent Pulse Compression and Non-Coherent Pulse integration techniques for radars" in Proc IEEE International Radar Symposium, 2013, Dresden Germany.

Ali Hashmi, Shahid Baqar, Hamza Malik, Danish Azad, "Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Radar Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Algorithms”, in Proc International Conference on Modeling and Simulation, 2013, Islamabad.

Ali Hashmi, Shahid Baqar, Muhammad Arbab, and Hamza Malik” "Modeling and Simulation of Height Processor of a Generic 3D Radar”, in Proc International Conference on Modeling and Simulation, 2013, Islamabad.

Cryptology and Cyber Security Group

Introduction:

The group primarily conducts research on methods and tools for the analysis and construction of safe and secure systems. This includes methods for specifying systems, developing systems in correctness-preserving ways, and verifying or testing existing systems and infrastructures. A major focus is to target the cost-effectiveness of indigenous solutions for mobile devices and network security. We build on foundations in mathematical logic, discrete mathematics, cryptography, algorithms, complexity theory, and probability theory.

Research Topics:

Following are the research topics:

• -Cryptographic Protocol Analysis
• -Modeling and Analyzing Dynamic Access Control Systems
• -Network Security
• -Data Security
• -Security protocols (models, properties, and verification),
• -OS security
• -Privacy & smartphones
• -Cyber Security and Incident Response
• -Malware Analysis and Reverse Engineering
• -Digital Forensics and Cloud Security
• -Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems

Members:

• -Dr. Ammar Masood
• -Dr. Qasim Saeed
• -Dr. Mansoor Ahmed Khan
• -Dr. Nadeem Sial

Publications

Fatima Khalid, Ammar Masood, “Vulnerability analysis of Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment (QSEE)”, in Computers & Security, Volume 116, 2022, 102628, ISSN 0167-4048, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2022.102628.

Bilal Akhtar & Ammar Masood (2021) Security analysis and enhancements of UAS architecture, Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective, DOI: 10.1080/19393555.2021.1977873.

Rehman, M.U., Adnan, M., Batool, L.A. Khan and A. Masood. Effective Model for Real Time End to End Secure Communication Over GSM Voice Channel. Wireless Pers Commun 119, 1643–1659 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-021-08299-1.

F. Khalid and A. Masood, "Hardware-Assisted Isolation Technologies: Security Architecture and Vulnerability Analysis," 2020 International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS), Islamabad, Pakistan, 2020, pp. 1-8.

S. Khaliq, Z. Tariq and A. Masood, “Role of User and Entity Behavior Analytics in Detecting Insider Attacks” 2020 International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS), Islamabad, Pakistan, 2020, pp. 1-6.

H. Batool and A. Masood, "Enterprise Mobile Device Management Requirements and Features", IEEE INFOCOM 2020 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS), Toronto, ON, Canada, 2020, pp. 109-114

F. M. Khalil, A. Fazil, A. Masood and J. Hussain, "Physical Layer Authentication Security in Radio Communication- Emerging Trends," 2021 International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS), 2021, pp. 38-44, doi: 10.1109/ICCWS53234.2021.9702927.

A. Masood and A. Masood, "A Taxonomy of Insider Threat in isolated (air-gapped) Computer Networks," 2021 International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies (IBCAST), 2021, pp. 678-685, doi: 10.1109/IBCAST51254.2021.9393281.

B. Shafiq, S Ghayyur, A. Masood, Z. Pervaiz, A. Almutairi, F. Khan, and A. Ghafoor, “Composability Verification of Multi-service Workflows in a Policy-Driven Cloud Computing Environment”. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Volume 14, Issue 5, Sept - Oct 2017 Pages: 478 – 493.

Masood, A. Ghafoor and A. P. Mathur, “Fault coverage of Constrained Random Test Selection for access control: A formal analysis”. Journal of Systems and Software, Volume 83, Issue 12, Dec 2010 Pages: 2607-2617.

Masood, A. Ghafoor and A. P. Mathur, “Conformance testing of temporal Role based access control systems” IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Volume 7, Issue 2, Apr - Jun 2010 Pages: 144 – 158.

A. Masood, R. Bhatti, A. Ghafoor, A. Mathur, "Scalable and Effective Test Generation for Role-Based Access Control Systems," IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Volume 35, Issue 5, Sep - Oct 2009 Pages: 654 – 668.

Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Ferruh Özbudak, “Hybrid Classes of Balanced Boolean Functions with Good Cryptographic Propoerties”, in Information Sciences Journal, Elsevier, 07/2014; 273:319–328. DOI: 10.1016/j.ins.2014.02.157, © Elsevier.

Muhammad Qasim Saeed and Colin D. Walter,"An Attack on Signed NFC Records and Some Necessary Revisions of NFC Specifications", International Journal for Information Security Research (IJISR), 2012.

Pardis Pourghomi, Muhammad Qasim Saeed, and Gheorghita Ghinea, "A Proposed NFC Payment Application", International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, volume 4. The Science and Information Organization (SAI), 2013.

Zeeshan Bilal, Keith Martin, and Muhammad Qasim Saeed, "Multiple attacks on authentication protocols for low cost RFID tags", The Journal of Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences, May 2015.

Pardis Pourghomi, Muhammad Qasim Saeed, and Gheorghita Ghinea, "The Need for Integration in NFC Mobile Payments", Journal of Information Assurance and Security, 2014.

U. Ahmed, A. Masood and L. Ali Khan, “Quantifying the role of access control in end-to-end network security”. 3rd International Congress on Ultra-Modern Telecommunications and Control Systems and Workshop (ICUMT), Oct 5-7, 2011, Budapest, Hungary

H. Haseeb, A. Masood, M. Ahmed and A. Ghafoor, “Integrating GSTRBAC spatial constraints in X-GTRBAC”, ACM International conference on Frontiers of Information Technology, Dec 16 – 18, 2009, Abbotabad, Pakistan.

Shafiq, A. Masood, J. Joshi and A. Ghafoor, “A Role-Based Access Control Policy Verification Framework for Real-Time Systems”. In 10th IEEE International Workshop on Object-Oriented Real-Time Dependable Systems (WORDS 2005), Pages 13 -20, Feb. 2005.

A. Masood, S. Sedigh-Ali and A. Ghafoor, “Efficiently managing security concerns in Component Based System design”, In 29th IEEE Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2005), Pages 164 -169, July 2005.

G. Khanna, A. Masood and C. Nita-Rotaru, “Synchronization Attacks against 802.11”, In Wireless and Mobile Security Workshop, NDSS'05, Feb. 2005.

Firdous Kausar, Muhammad Qasim Saeed, Ashraf Masood, "Key Management and Secure Routing in Heterogeneous Sensor Networks", IEEE International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications, France (SecPri WiMob 2008).

Muhammad Qasim Saeed, Ashraf Masood, and Firdous Kausar, "Securing ePassport system: A Proposed Anti-cloning and Anti-skimming Protocol", 17 International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Networks Croatia (SoftCOM 2009).

Muhammad Qasim Saeed and Colin D. Walter, "A Record Composition/Decomposition Attack on the NDEF Signature Record Type Definition", 6th International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions Dubai (ICITST, 11-14 December 2011).

Muhammad Qasim Saeed and Colin D. Walter, "Off-line NFC Tag Authentication", 7th International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions ICITST, London (December 2012).

Muhammad Qasim Saeed, Zeeshan Bilal and Colin D. Walter, “An NFC based Consumer-Level Counterfeit Detection Framework”, The International Conference on Privacy, Security & Trust (PST), Spain. (July 2013).

Muhammad Qasim Saeed, Colin D. Walter, Pardis Pourghomi and Gheorghita Ghinea, "Mobile Transactions over NFC and GSM", Eight International Conference on Mobile Ubiquitous Computing, Systems, Services and Technologies (UBICOMM), Rome, Italy (24-28 Aug 2014).

Pardis Pourghomi, Muhammad Qasim Saeed and Gheorghita Ghinea, "Trusted Integration of Cloud-based NFC Transaction Players", 9th International Conference on Information Assurance and Security (IAS), Tunisia,4-6 Dec 2013.

Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Aamir Hasan, “Pseudo-Random Number Based Authentication To Counter Denial of Service Attacks on 802.11” in Proc. Fifth IEEE and IFIP International Conference on Wireless and Optical Communication Networks (WOCN2008), Indonesia, May 2008.

Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Ahmad Raza Cheema and Aamir Hasan, “Improved Nonce Construction Scheme for AES CCMP To Evade Initial Counter Prediction”, in Proc. Ninth ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking, and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD2008), Thailand, August 2008.

Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Ferruh Özbudak, “Improvement in Non-Linearity of Carlet-Feng Infinite Class of Boolean Functions”, in Proc. 11th International Conference on Cryptology and Network Security, CANS 2012, Darmstadt, Germany, December 12-14, 2012, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), Vol 7712, 2012, pp 280-295, © Springer- Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.