Adnan Aijaz

6G networks will require quantum-secure cryptography deployed across core infrastructure, edge nodes, resource-constrained IoT devices. Although post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms have been standardized by NIST, their practical deployability in bandwidth and latency limited wireless systems remains unclear. This paper presents a practical evaluation of NIST selected PQC schemes, including ML-KEM (Kyber), ML-DSA (Dilithium), and Falcon. Benchmarks conducted with OpenSSL and the OQS provider on heterogeneous platforms show that while computational performance is acceptable, ciphertext and signature size expansion significantly impact handshake reliability and bandwidth efficiency, particularly at the network edge. The results highlight key system-level trade-offs and motivate the need for PQC optimization and deployment-aware design for future quantum-secure 6G networks.

Networked robotics continues to be a key component of various industrial systems. 6G will empower networked robotics with the envisaged capabilities like hyper-reliable and low-latency connectivity and in-network intelligence. While communication and control techniques have been widely investigated; co-design and AI-based solutions for autonomy and reasoning are still emerging. In this article, we propose a generative Al-in-the-Loop (GITL) framework for the control and coordination of networked robotic systems. The generative AI (GAI) agent oversees three interrelated loops: the communication loop, the robot control loop, and the Al model control loop, making holistic decisions by interpreting task requirements, network status, and robotic operations. Acting as a high-level cross-domain coordinator, the GAI agent leverages background knowledge of AI models, robot behaviors, and network policies, ensuring seamless interplay across different operational scenarios. This approach ultimately enables a highly autonomous networked robotic system capable of handling complex tasks with minimal human intervention. We anticipate that the GITL paradigm will play a pivotal role in unlocking the full potential of networked robotic systems, enabling enhanced autonomy, adaptability, and coordination in the emerging 6G and Industry 5.0 era.

Ensuring reliable and low-latency communication in offshore wind farms is critical for efficient monitoring and control, yet remains challenging due to the harsh environment and lack of infrastructure. This paper investigates a flying base station (FBS) approach for wide-area monitoring and control in the UK Hornsea offshore wind farm project. By leveraging mobile, flexible FBS platforms in the remote and harsh offshore environment, the proposed system offers real-time connectivity for turbines without the need for deploying permanent infrastructure at the sea. We develop a detailed and practical end-to-end latency model accounting for five key factors: flight duration, connection establishment, turbine state information upload, computational delay, and control transmission, to provide a holistic perspective often missing in prior studies. Furthermore, we combine trajectory planning, beamforming, and resource allocation into a multi-objective optimization framework for the overall latency minimization, specifically designed for large-scale offshore wind farm deployments. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of our proposed method in minimizing latency and enhancing efficiency in FBS-assisted offshore monitoring across various power levels, while consistently outperforming baseline designs.

Semantic communication (SemCom) is an emerging paradigm that leverages semantic-level understanding to improve communication efficiency, particularly in resource-constrained scenarios. However, existing SemCom systems often overlook diverse computational and communication capabilities and requirements among different users. Motivated by the need to adaptively balance semantic accuracy, latency, and energy consumption, this paper presents a reinforcement learning (RL)-driven framework for semantic compression model (SCM) selection and resource allocation in multi-user SemCom systems. To address the challenges of balancing image reconstruction quality and communication performance, a system-level optimization metric called Rate-Distortion Efficiency (RDE) has been defined. The framework considers multiple SCMs with varying complexity and resource requirements. A proximal policy optimization (PPO)-based RL approach is developed to dynamically select SCMs and allocate bandwidth and power under non-convex constraints. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms several baseline strategies. This paper also discusses the generalization ability, computational complexity, scalability, and practical implications of the framework for real-world SemCom systems.

The disaggregated architecture of advanced Radio Access Networks (RANs) with diverse X-haul latencies, in conjunction with resource-limited multi-access edge computing networks, presents significant challenges in designing a general model in placing baseband and user plane functions to accommodate versatile 5G services. This paper proposes a novel approach, NetMind+, which leverages Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) to determine the function placement strategies in diverse and evolving RAN topologies, aiming at minimizing power consumption. NetMind+ resolves the problem with a maze-solving strategy, enabling a Markov Decision Process with standardized action space scales across different networks. Additionally, a Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) based encoding and an incremental learning mechanism are introduced, allowing features from different and dynamic networks to be aggregated into a single DRL agent. This facilitates the generalization capability of DRL and minimizes the negative retraining impact. In an example with three sub-networks, NetMind+ demonstrates a substantial 32.76% improvement in power savings and a 41.67% increase in service stability compared to benchmarks from the existing literature. Compared to traditional methods necessitating a dedicated DRL agent for each network, NetMind+ attains comparable performance with 70% of the training cost savings. Furthermore, it demonstrates robust adaptability during network variations, accelerating training speed by 50%.

The convergence of robotics, advanced communication networks, and artificial intelligence (AI) holds the promise of transforming industries through fully automated and intelligent operations. In this work, we introduce a novel co-working framework for robots that unifies goal-oriented semantic communication (SemCom) with a Generative AI (GenAI)-agent under a semantic-aware network. SemCom prioritizes the exchange of meaningful information among robots and the network, thereby reducing overhead and latency. Meanwhile, the GenAI-agent leverages generative AI models to interpret high-level task instructions, allocate resources, and adapt to dynamic changes in both network and robotic environments. This agent-driven paradigm ushers in a new level of autonomy and intelligence, enabling complex tasks of networked robots to be conducted with minimal human intervention. We validate our approach through a multi-robot anomaly detection use-case simulation, where robots detect, compress, and transmit relevant information for classification. Simulation results confirm that SemCom significantly reduces data traffic while preserving critical semantic details, and the GenAI-agent ensures task coordination and network adaptation. This synergy provides a robust, efficient, and scalable solution for modern industrial environments.

The IEEE 802.1 time-sensitive networking (TSN) standards improve real-time capabilities of the standard Ethernet. TSN and local/private 5G systems are envisaged to co-exist in industrial environments. The IEEE 802.1CB standard provides fault tolerance to TSN systems via frame replication and elimination for reliability (FRER) capabilities. This paper presents X-FRER, a novel framework for extending FRER capabilities to the 3GPP-defined bridge model for 5G and TSN integration. The different embodiments of X-FRER realize FRER-like functionality through multi-path transmissions in a 5G system based on a single or multiple protocol data unit (PDU) sessions. X-FRER also provides enhanced replication and elimination functionality for integrated deployments. Performance evaluation shows that X-FRER empowers a vanilla 5G system with TSN-like capabilities for end-to-end reliability in integrated TSN and 5G deployments.

UMBRELLA ^a is an open, large-scale IoT ecosystem deployed across South Gloucestershire, UK. It is intended to accelerate innovation across multiple technology domains. UMBRELLA is built to bridge the gap between existing specialised testbeds and address holistically real-world technological challenges in a System-of-Systems (SoS) fashion. UMBRELLA provides open access to real-world devices and infrastructure, enabling researchers and the industry to evaluate solutions for Smart Cities, Robotics, Wireless Communications, Edge Intelligence, and more. Key features include over 200 multi-sensor nodes installed on public infrastructure, a robotics arena with 20 mobile robots, a 5G network-in-a-box solution, and a unified backend platform for management, control and secure user access. The heterogeneity of hardware components, including diverse sensors, communication interfaces, and GPU-enabled edge devices, coupled with tools like digital twins, allows for comprehensive experimentation and benchmarking of innovative solutions not viable in lab environments. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of UMBRELLA’s multi-domain architecture and capabilities, making it an ideal playground for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT) innovation. It discusses the challenges in designing, developing and operating UMBRELLA as an open, sustainable testbed and shares lessons learned to guide similar future initiatives. With its unique openness, heterogeneity, realism and tools, UMBRELLA aims to continue accelerating cutting-edge technology research, development and translation into real-world progress.

Data offloading is considered as a potential candidate for alleviating congestion on wireless networks and for improving user experience. However, due to the stochastic nature of the wireless networks, it is important to take optimal actions under different conditions such that the user experience is enhanced and congestion on heavy-loaded radio access technologies (RATs) is reduced by offloading data through lower loaded RATs. Since artificial intelligence (AI)-based techniques can learn optimal actions and adapt to different conditions, in this work, we develop an AI-enabled Q-agent for making data offloading decisions in a multi-RAT wireless network. We employ a model-free Q-learning algorithm for training of the Q-agent. We use stochastic geometry as a tool for estimating the average data rate offered by the network in a given region by considering the effect of interference. We use the Markov process for modeling users’ mobility, that is, estimating the probability that a user is currently located in a region given its previous location. The user equipment (UE) plays the role of a Q-agent responsible for taking sequence of actions such that the long-term discounted cost for using network service is minimized. Q-agent performance has been evaluated and compared with the existing data offloading policies. The results suggest that the existing policies offer the best performance under specific situations. However, the Q-agent has learned to take near-optimal actions under different conditions. Thus, the Q-agent offers performance which is close to the best under different conditions.