From complex equations to seamless connectivity: Dr Fatma Benkhelifa's research on a truly resilient digital world
Dr Fatma Benkhelifa's research uses advanced mathematical modelling and AI to design next-generation wireless networks where energy harvesting and physical layer security are built-in foundations, ensuring that as our connectivity becomes faster, it also becomes greener, safer, and more resilient.
While the next generation of communication systems promise to transcend today’s limits - offering ultra-high data rates and near-zero latency, this progress brings unprecedented challenges to safety, privacy and environmental sustainability. As a researcher at the forefront of wireless communications, I am dedicated to ensuring that as our networks become faster, they also become safer, greener, and more resilient. Through a combination of rigorous mathematical modelling and innovative engineering, I am architecting the foundations for a truly resilient digital future.
My research addresses the dual crisis of intensifying energy consumption and an expanding cyber-attack surface. As networks become denser and transmission powers rise, the environmental and security risks grow in tandem. To counter this, I utilize a sophisticated mathematical toolkit-including Optimization, Probability, Stochastic Geometry, Queuing Theory, and Machine Learning-to design systems where Energy Harvesting (EH) and Physical Layer Security (PLS) are not afterthoughts, but fundamental pillars of the architecture.
My vision is currently manifested in two high-impact funded projects. The first project LoRa-TWIN investigates RF energy harvesting and simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) using LoRa technology to enable autonomous communication in decommissioning environments. This provides a sustainable solution for remote areas where battery replacement is hazardous, ensuring vital infrastructure remains self-sufficient. Simultaneously, I am securing the 6G frontier through 6G-FINESSE project on developing AI-enabled fingerprinting and physical layer security protocols for 6G non-terrestrial networks (NTN). By utilizing reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), I am pioneering adaptive frameworks that protect global infrastructure at wave level.
By balancing mathematical rigor with ethical stewardship, I am building a foundation for connectivity that is as responsible as it is revolutionary. Whether in the specialized zones of decommissioning environments or the vast reach of satellite-integrated 6G networks, this work ensures that the digital world of tomorrow is built to endure, harvest, and protect.
Dr Fatma Benkhelifa is Lecturer in Telecommunications, you can find more information on her profile. She is part of the Centre for Networks, Communications and Systems (CNCS) and Communication Systems Research Group (CSR).