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 intelligent, secure, and high-performance wireless communication systems, with applications in UAV-enabled networks and next-generation (5G/6G) connectivity.

Patents & Innovations

Research Grants & Leadership

Khalifa University Research & Innovation Grant (RIG-2024-061)

Duration: Oct 2024 – Nov 2027 Role: Researcher Co-Lead Value: £155,000

Project: A System for Wide-Area Monitoring and Surveillance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Urban Airspace

Contributing to the development of a wide-area UAV monitoring and surveillance system for urban airspace, integrating remote identification data, sensing, and intelligent monitoring techniques.

Technology Innovation Institute (TII), UAE

Duration: Jan 2023 – Sep 2024 Role: Researcher Co-Lead Value: £86,000

Project: Remote Identification Module with C2C and C2G Zero Trust (ZT-RIDM)

Worked on zero-trust remote identification, secure chip-to-chip and chip-to-ground communications, and SPDM-based secure system design.

Center for Cyber-Physical Systems (C2PS), Khalifa University

Duration: Mar 2020 – Dec 2022 Role: Researcher Co-Lead Value: £165,000

Project: Autonomous Nodes for IoT: Design and Implementation for Deployment over 5G Networks

Contributed to reliable wireless protocols, asynchronous NOMA schemes, and packet repair techniques for IoT and 5G-enabled systems.

Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan — NRPU 2017

Duration: Jun 2018 – Jun 2020 Role: Principal Investigator Value: £2,400

Project: Railway Health Monitoring System

Led a funded project focused on railway system health monitoring and applied sensing solutions.

Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan — Startup Grant

Duration: Jun 2014 – Jun 2015 Role: Principal Investigator Value: £1,200

Project: Efficient Hardware Implementation of Interpolation Filter for HEVC Standard

Led a grant focused on efficient hardware design for HEVC implementation targeting low-power systems.

Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan — Fully Funded Fellowship

Duration: Sep 2008 – Feb 2014 Role: Fellow Funding: ~£50,000 + full tuition coverage

Programme: MS leading to PhD in Electronics & Communication Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Awarded a fully funded Higher Education Commission fellowship supporting graduate and doctoral studies at Politecnico di Torino.

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.