Research Focus

Advancing wireless communications, UAV monitoring and secure hardware through cutting‑edge research.

Abstract representation of UAV and wireless networks

Research Interests

My research focuses on real-time monitoring of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through the integration of computer vision and remote identification data, the design of SPDM-based zero-trust protocols for secure chip-to-chip authentication, and the development of asynchronous non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes with offline packet repair for high-throughput communications. My broader interests extend to hardware security, energy-efficient network slicing, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques, and the integration of terrestrial, wired, and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks to enable reliable and scalable 6G Internet of Things (IoT) systems.

Patents & Innovations

Major Grants & Leadership

KU Research & Innovation Grant (RIG‑2024)

Duration: 2024–2027

Project: A system for wide‑area monitoring and surveillance of UAVs in urban airspace.

Role: Drafted the full proposal and serves as a leading researcher responsible for key technical work and coordination.

Saudi Basic Science Initiative Research Consortium Grant (RCG)

Duration: 2025–2029

Project: Remote Identification‑based UAV monitoring system.

Role: Co‑drafted major components of the proposal and serves as a leading researcher from Khalifa University, collaborating with King Saud University and the University of Sharjah.

NRPU – HEC Pakistan

Duration: 2017–2018

Project: A system for health monitoring of railway.

Role: Principal Investigator.

HEC Startup Grants

2015–2016: Advanced LDPC decoder targeting gigabit throughput (Co‑Principal Investigator).

2014–2015: Efficient hardware interpolation filter for HEVC in low‑power mobile devices (Principal Investigator).

Journal & Magazine Articles

Selected journal publications are listed below with full reference details. For a comprehensive list, please consult the curriculum vitae (PDF).


2025

  • [J1] A. Akbar, S. Jangsher, A. Ahmed and A. Zafar, “GA‑Optimized JT‑CoMP F‑NOMA in Het‑nets: Adaptive Resource Allocation with Imperfect SIC,” Elsevier Physical Communications, vol. 72, pages 102715, 2025.
  • [J2] A. Ahmed, A. Al‑Dweik, Y. Iraqi, H. Yahya and E. Damiani, “Intelligent NOMA‑Based Wireless Backhauling for IoT Applications Without End‑Device CSI,” IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, vol. 6, pp. 1070–1090, 2025.
  • [J3] A. Ahmed, R. Alkadi, K. Belwafi, M. Atrouz and A. Shoufan, “Real‑Time Mobile Crowd Sensing Model for Remote Detection of Flying UAVs,” IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, vol. 6, pp. 1103–1128, 2025.

2024

  • [J4] K. Belwafi, A. Shoufan, M. Alsafi, A. Ahmed and K. Han, “Hardware/Software Implementation of a Chip‑to‑Chip Communication Protocol Based on SPDM,” IEEE Access, vol. 12, pp. 194962–194972, 2024.
  • [J5] A. Akbar, A. Ahmed, A. Zafar and S. Jangsher, “An Energy‑Efficient JT‑CoMP Enabled Framework with Adaptive OMA/NOMA in HetNets,” Computer Networks, vol. 254, art. 110733, Dec. 2024.
  • [J6] A. Ahmed, A. Al‑Dweik, Y. Iraqi and E. Damiani, “Integrated Terrestrial‑Wired and LEO Satellite with Offline Bidirectional Cooperation for 6G IoT Networks,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 15767–15782, May 2024.

2023

  • [J7] M. Ahsan, A. Ahmed, H. Fida, A. Al‑Dweik, U. S. Hashmi and A. Ahmad, “Efficient Network Slicing for 5G Services in Cloud Fog‑RAN Deployment over WDM Network,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 72, no. 9, pp. 12099–12112, Sept. 2023.
  • [J8] H. Yahya, A. Ahmed, E. Alsusa and A. Al‑Dweik, “Error Rate Analysis of NOMA: Principles, Survey and Future Directions,” IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, vol. 4, pp. 1682–1727, 2023.
  • [J9] A. Ahmed, A. Shoufan and K. Belwafi, “Light‑Weight Security Protocol and Data Model for Chip‑to‑Chip Zero‑Trust,” IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 60335–60348, 2023.
  • [J10] A. Ahmad, A. Ahmed, A. Al‑Dweik, S. T. Ali and A. Ahmad, “Merging Engine Implementation for Intra‑Frame Sharing in Multi‑Tenant Virtual Passive Optical Networks,” IEEE/OSA Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, vol. 15, issue 4, pp. 209–218, Mar. 2023.
  • [J11] M. Ahsan, A. Ahmed, A. Al‑Dweik and A. Ahmad, “Functional Split‑Aware Optimal BBU Placement for 5G Cloud‑RAN Over WDM Access/Aggregation Network,” IEEE Systems Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 122–133, Mar. 2023.

2022

  • [J12] B. S. Khan, S. Jangsher, A. Ahmed and A. Al‑Dweik, “URLLC and eMBB in 5G Industrial IoT: A Survey,” IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, vol. 3, pp. 1134–1163, 2022.
  • [J13] F. Kalbat, A. Al‑Dweik and A. Ahmed, “On the Performance of Precoded OFDM Systems in the Presence of Symbol Timing Offset,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 71, no. 9, pp. 10120–10125, Sept. 2022.
  • [J14] M. Awais, M. Paara and A. Ahmed, “Energy Efficient Design of Fast Fourier Transform Using Reversible Logic,” Sustainable Energy Technologies & Assessments, vol. 52, part C, art. 102257, Aug. 2022.
  • [J15] A. Mahmood, A. Ahmed, M. Naeem, M. R. Amirzada and A. Al‑Dweik, “Weighted Utility Aware Computational Overhead Minimization of Wireless Power Mobile Edge Cloud,” Computer Communications, vol. 190, pp. 178–189, Jun. 2022.
  • [J16] H. Yahya, A. Al‑Dweik, Y. Iraqi, E. Alsusa and A. Ahmed, “A Power and Spectrum Efficient Uplink Transmission Scheme for QoS‑Constrained IoT Networks,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 9, no. 18, pp. 17425–17439, Sept. 15 2022.

2021

  • [J17] A. Ahmed, A. Al‑Dweik, Y. Iraqi, H. Mukhtar, M. Naeem and E. Hossain, “Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) in Wireless Communications Systems and Standards: A Contemporary Survey,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 2711–2752, 2021.
  • [J18] W. Walid, M. Awais, A. Ahmed, G. Masera and M. Martina, “Real‑Time Implementation of Fast Discriminative Scale Space Tracking Algorithm,” Journal of Real‑Time Image Processing, May 2021.
  • [J19] A. Ahmed, M. Naeem and A. Al‑Dweik, “Joint Optimization of Sensors Association and UAVs Placement in IoT Applications with Practical Network Constraints,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 7674–7689, Jan. 2021.
  • [J20] I. Jadoon, M. A. Z. Raja, M. Junaid, A. Ahmed, A. U. Rehman and M. Shoaib, “Design of Evolutionarily Optimised Finite‑Difference Based Numerical Computing for Dust Density Model of Nonlinear Van‑der Pol Mathieu’s Oscillatory Systems,” Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, vol. 181, pp. 444–470, Mar. 2021.