arXiv subjects

Vinod Sharma

Publications and source records attributed to Vinod Sharma.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum-Based Solutions for Security Enhancement in Open Radio Access Networks

Open Radio Access Networks (O-RAN) introduce unprecedented flexibility, interoperability, and intelligence into next-generation wireless systems, but their disaggregated and software-defined architecture also expands the attack surface and creates new security vulnerabilities. Conventional cryptographic mechanisms, while effective against classical threats, may become insufficient in the presence of quantum-enabled adversaries. This article presents a comprehensive perspective on quantum security for O-RAN, examining how quantum-resilient mechanisms can enhance confidentiality, authentication, and trust across the RAN ecosystem. It discusses post-quantum cryptography (PQC), quantum cryptography, quantum authentication, and quantum-enhanced threat detection within a zero-trust architecture based on continuous verification, least privilege, and micro-segmentation. Their integration with the Near-Real-Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller, O-Cloud, and open interfaces is analyzed, together with practical deployment considerations, technology maturity, and adoption timelines. Finally, open research directions are outlined toward secure, resilient, and future-proof O-RAN architectures for 6G networks.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2025

A Deep Q-Network based power control mechanism to Minimize RLF driven Handover Failure in 5G Network

The impact of Radio link failure (RLF) has been largely ignored in designing handover algorithms, although RLF is a major contributor towards causing handover failure (HF). RLF can cause HF if it is detected during an ongoing handover. The objective of this work is to propose an efficient power control mechanism based on Deep Q-Network (DQN), considering handover parameters (i.e., time-to-preparation, time-to-execute, preparation offset, execution offset) and radio link monitoring parameters (T310 and N310) as input. The proposed DRL based power control algorithm decides on a possible increase of transmitting power to avoid RLF driven HF. Simulation results show that the traditional conditional handover, when equipped with the proposed DRL based power control algorithm can significantly reduce both RLFs and subsequent HFs, as compared to the existing state of the art approaches.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2022

Queueing Theoretic Models for Multiuser MISO Content-Centric Networks with SDMA, NOMA, OMA and Rate-Splitting Downlink

Multiuser, Multiple Input, Single Output (MU-MISO) systems are proving to be indispensable in the next generation wireless networks such as 5G and 6G. The spatial diversity of MISO systems have been leveraged in physical layer designs in these wireless systems to improve the capacity. Several recent studies have utilised redundancies in the content request along with the spatial diversity of a MISO system to improve the capacity further. It is shown that Max-Min Fair (MMF) Beamforming schemes for MISO based on SDMA, NOMA, OMA and Rate-Splitting could be used to improve the content delivery rates. However, in most of these studies the key aspects such as the queueing delays in the downlink and the user dynamics have generally been ignored. In this work, we study how the interplay between queueing, beamforming and the user dynamics affects the Quality-of-Service (user experienced delay) of downlink in MU-MISO content centric networks (CCNs). We propose queueing theoretic models that are simple in nature and can be directly adapted to MU-MISO CCNs to perform optimal multi-group multicast downlink transmissions. We show that a recently developed Simple Multicast Queue (SMQ) for SISO systems can be directly used for MU-MISO systems and that it provides superior performance due to its always-stable nature. Further, we observe that MMF Beamforming schemes coupled with SMQ can be quite unfair to users with good channels. Thus, we propose an improvement to SMQ called Dual SMQ which addresses this issue. We also provide theoretical analysis of the mean delay experienced by the users in such MU-MISO CCNs.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2020

Scheduling and Power Control for Wireless Multicast Systems via Deep Reinforcement Learning

Multicasting in wireless systems is a natural way to exploit the redundancy in user requests in a Content Centric Network. Power control and optimal scheduling can significantly improve the wireless multicast network's performance under fading. However, the model based approaches for power control and scheduling studied earlier are not scalable to large state space or changing system dynamics. In this paper, we use deep reinforcement learning where we use function approximation of the Q-function via a deep neural network to obtain a power control policy that matches the optimal policy for a small network. We show that power control policy can be learnt for reasonably large systems via this approach. Further we use multi-timescale stochastic optimization to maintain the average power constraint. We demonstrate that a slight modification of the learning algorithm allows tracking of time varying system statistics. Finally, we extend the multi-timescale approach to simultaneously learn the optimal queueing strategy along with power control. We demonstrate scalability, tracking and cross layer optimization capabilities of our algorithms via simulations. The proposed multi-timescale approach can be used in general large state space dynamical systems with multiple objectives and constraints, and may be of independent interest.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2019

Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Power control for Wireless Multicast Systems

We consider a multicast scheme recently proposed for a wireless downlink in [1]. It was shown earlier that power control can significantly improve its performance. However for this system, obtaining optimal power control is intractable because of a very large state space. Therefore in this paper we use deep reinforcement learning where we use function approximation of the Q-function via a deep neural network. We show that optimal power control can be learnt for reasonably large systems via this approach. The average power constraint is ensured via a Lagrange multiplier, which is also learnt. Finally, we demonstrate that a slight modification of the learning algorithm allows the optimal control to track the time varying system statistics.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2019

Minimizing Age of Information in a Multihop Wireless Network

We consider the problem of minimizing age in a multihop wireless network. There are multiple source-destination pairs, transmitting data through multiple wireless channels, over multiple hops. We propose a network control policy which consists of a distributed scheduling algorithm, utilizing channel state information and queue lengths at each link, in combination with a packet dropping rule. Dropping of older packets locally at queues is seen to reduce the average age of flows, even below what can be achieved by Last Come First Served (LCFS) scheduling. Dropping of older packets also allows us to use the network without congestion, irrespective of the rate at which updates are generated. Furthermore, exploiting system state information substantially improves performance. The proposed scheduling policy obtains average age values close to a theoretical lower bound as well.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2019

Second Order and Moderate Deviation Analysis of a Block Fading Channel with Deterministic and Energy Harvesting Power Constraints

We consider a block fading additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with perfect channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter and the receiver. First, for a given codeword length and non-vanishing average probability of error, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the maximum transmission rate. We derive bounds for three kinds of power constraints inherent to a wireless transmitter. These include the canonical peak power constraint and average power constraint. In addition, we consider a time varying peak power constraint imposed by an \emph{energy harvesting device}-a mechanism that powers many modern-day wireless transmitters. The bounds characterize \emph{second order} deviation of finite blocklength coding rates from the channel capacity, which is in turn achieved by \textit{water-filling} power allocation across time. The bounds obtained also indicate the rate enhancement possible due to CSI at the transmitter in the finite blocklength regime. Next, we provide bounds on the optimal exponent with which error probability drops to zero when channel coding rate is simultaneously allowed to approach capacity \emph{at a certain rate}, as the codeword length increases. These bounds identify what is known as the moderate deviation regime of the block fading channel. We compare the bounds numerically to bring out the efficacy of our results.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2019

Finite Blocklength Analysis of Energy Harvesting Channels

We consider Additive White Gaussian Noise channels and Discrete Memoryless channels when the transmitter harvests energy from the environment. These can model wireless sensor networks as well as Internet of Things. By providing a unifying framework that works for any energy harvesting channel, we study these channels assuming an infinite energy buffer and provide the corresponding achievability and converse bounds on the channel capacity in the finite blocklength regime. We additionally provide moderate deviation asymptotic bounds as well.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2018

Quality-of-Service in Multihop Wireless Networks: Diffusion Approximation

We consider a multihop wireless system. There are multiple source-destination pairs. The data from a source may have to pass through multiple nodes. We obtain a channel scheduling policy which can guarantee end-to-end mean delay for the different traffic streams. We show the stability of the network for this policy by convergence to a fluid limit. It is intractable to obtain the stationary distribution of this network. Thus we also provide a diffusion approximation for this scheme under heavy traffic. We show that the stationary distribution of the scaled process of the network converges to that of the Brownian limit. This theoretically justifies the performance of the system. We provide simulations to verify our claims.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2018

Queuing Theoretic Models for Multicast and Coded-Caching in Downlink Wireless Systems

We consider a server connected to $L$ users over a shared finite capacity link. Each user is equipped with a cache. File requests at the users are generated as independent Poisson processes according to a popularity profile from a library of $M$ files. The server has access to all the files in the library. Users can store parts of the files or full files from the library in their local caches. The server should send missing parts of the files requested by the users. The server attempts to fulfill the pending requests with minimal transmissions exploiting multicasting and coding opportunities among the pending requests. We study the performance of this system in terms of queuing delays for the naive multicasting and several coded multicasting schemes proposed in the literature. We also provide approximate expressions for the mean queuing delay for these models and establish their effectiveness with simulations.

cs.PF↗

arXiv2018

Optimal Sensor Collaboration for Parameter Tracking Using Energy Harvesting Sensors

In this paper, we design an optimal sensor collaboration strategy among neighboring nodes while tracking a time-varying parameter using wireless sensor networks in the presence of imperfect communication channels. The sensor network is assumed to be self-powered, where sensors are equipped with energy harvesters that replenish energy from the environment. In order to minimize the mean square estimation error of parameter tracking, we propose an online sensor collaboration policy subject to real-time energy harvesting constraints. The proposed energy allocation strategy is computationally light and only relies on the second-order statistics of the system parameters. For this, we first consider an offline non-convex optimization problem, which is solved exactly using semidefinite programming. Based on the offline solution, we design an online power allocation policy that requires minimal online computation and satisfies the dynamics of energy flow at each sensor. We prove that the proposed online policy is asymptotically equivalent to the optimal offline solution and show its convergence rate and robustness. We empirically show that the estimation performance of the proposed online scheme is better than that of the online scheme when channel state information about the dynamical system is available in the low SNR regime. Numerical results are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

eess.SP↗

arXiv2017

Finite Blocklength Rates over a Fading Channel with CSIT and CSIR

In this work, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the maximal transmission rate at a given codeword length $n$, average probability of error $ε$ and power constraint $\bar{P}$, over a finite valued, block fading additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter and the receiver. These bounds characterize deviation of the finite blocklength coding rates from the channel capacity which is in turn achieved by the water filling power allocation across time. The bounds obtained also characterize the rate enhancement possible due to the CSI at the transmitter in the finite blocklength regime. The results are further elucidated via numerical examples.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2017

Distributed Control and Quality-of-Service in Multihop Wireless Networks

Control of wireless multihop networks, while simultaneously meeting end-to-end mean delay requirements of different flows is a challenging problem. Additionally, distributed computation of control parameters adds to the complexity. Using the notion of discrete review used in fluid control of networks, a distributed algorithm is proposed for control of multihop wireless networks with interference constraints. The algorithm meets end-to-end mean delay requirements by solving an optimization problem at review instants. The optimization incorporates delay requirements as weights in the function being maximized. The weights are dynamic and vary depending on queue length information. The optimization is done in a distributed manner using an incremental gradient ascent algorithm. The stability of the network under the proposed policy is analytically studied and the policy is shown to be throughput optimal.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2017

An Achievable Rate for an Optical Channel with Finite Memory

A fiber optic channel is modeled in a variety of ways; from the simple additive white complex Gaussian noise model, to models that incorporate memory in the channel. Because of Kerr nonlinearity, a simple model is not a good approximation to an optical fiber. Hence we study a fiber optic channel with finite memory and provide an achievable bound on channel capacity that improves upon a previously known bound.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2017

A Distributed Scheduling Algorithm to Provide Quality-of-Service in Multihop Wireless Networks

Control of multihop Wireless networks in a distributed manner while providing end-to-end delay requirements for different flows, is a challenging problem. Using the notions of Draining Time and Discrete Review from the theory of fluid limits of queues, an algorithm that meets delay requirements to various flows in a network is constructed. The algorithm involves an optimization which is implemented in a cyclic distributed manner across nodes by using the technique of iterative gradient ascent, with minimal information exchange between nodes. The algorithm uses time varying weights to give priority to flows. The performance of the algorithm is studied in a network with interference modelled by independent sets.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2017

Algorithms for Nash and Pareto Equilibria for Resource Allocation in Multiple Femtocells

We consider a cellular system with multiple Femtocells operating in a Macrocell. They are sharing a set of communication channels. Each Femtocell has multiple users requiring certain minimum rate guarantees. Each channel has a peak power constraint to limit interference to the Macro Base Station (BS). We formulate the problem of channel allocation and power control at the Femtocells as a noncooperative Game. We develop decentralized algorithms to obtain a Coarse Correlated equilibrium that satisfies the QoS of each user. If the QoS of all the users cannot be satisfied, then we obtain a fair equilibrium. Finally we also provide a decentralized algorithm to reach a Pareto and a Nash Bargaining solution which has a much lower complexity than the algorithm to compute the NE.

cs.GT↗

arXiv2017

Joint Routing, Scheduling and Power Control Providing Hard Deadline in Wireless Multihop Networks

We consider optimal/efficient power allocation policies in a single/multihop wireless network in the presence of hard end-to-end deadline delay constraints on the transmitted packets. Such constraints can be useful for real time voice and video. Power is consumed in only transmission of the data. We consider the case when the power used in transmission is a convex function of the data transmitted. We develop a computationally efficient online algorithm, which minimizes the average power for the single hop. We model this problem as dynamic program (DP) and obtain the optimal solution. Next, we generalize it to the multiuser, multihop scenario when there are multiple real time streams with different hard deadline constraints.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2017

Enhancing Secrecy Rates in a wiretap channel

Reliable communication imposes an upper limit on the achievable rate, namely the Shannon capacity. Wyner's wiretap coding, which ensures a security constraint also, in addition to reliability, results in decrease of the achievable rate. To mitigate the loss in the secrecy rate, we propose a coding scheme where we use sufficiently old messages as key and for this scheme prove that multiple messages are secure with respect to (w.r.t.) all the information possessed by the eavesdropper. We also show that we can achieve security in the strong sense. Next we consider a fading wiretap channel with full channel state information of the eavesdropper's channel and use our coding/decoding scheme to achieve secrecy capacity close to the Shannon capacity of the main channel (in the ergodic sense). Finally we also consider the case where the transmitter does not have the instantaneous information of the channel state of the eavesdropper, but only its distribution.

cs.IT↗