Secure and Reliable Communications

Communication networks are the backbone of modern technology. They support essential systems such as smart devices, cloud services, remote monitoring, and advanced manufacturing. As these technologies evolve, networks must not only deliver speed and reliability, but also protect data from eavesdropping, support massive connectivity, and enable environmental sensing.

The Secure and Reliable Communications Research Group aims to design communication systems that can resist interference and noise, protect against security and privacy threats, connect millions of devices, and sense the environment through wireless signals. Our goal is to build the foundation for secure, efficient, and intelligent networks that serve the needs of tomorrow. Our work supports key sectors including health, defence, space, smart agriculture, and disaster management.

Research focus

Our research spans foundational theory to practical design in the following key areas:

  • Fundamental communication limits - We derive the maximum possible data rates in different network conditions to help guide better system designs.
  • Efficient data transmission - We design coding schemes that operate close to the channel capacity limit and utilise cached content at receivers to reduce redundant transmissions.
  • Secure communication - We design systems that protect data from eavesdropping - even from attackers using powerful quantum computers. We also work on ways to securely share encryption keys using quantum channels.
  • Network resource optimisation - We optimise how to share the limited resources in wireless networks, including time, power, and radio signals, to serve users with diverse quality-of-service requirements, especially in networks with large numbers of connected devices.
  • Sensing with communication networks - We explore how wireless communication networks can also be used to sense the surrounding environment - such as detecting movement or temperature - and how to balance sensing with data transmission.

Our researchers

  • Fundamental trade-offs for integrated sensing and communication
    We explore how wireless devices can cooperate to sense the surrounding environment while also carrying out their main task of transmitting data. We aim to understand the trade-offs between sensing accuracy and communication performance.
  • Bushfire monitoring using synthetic-aperture radar satellites
    We study how synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite images can help track bushfires in real time. Unlike optical or infrared satellites, radar satellites can see through smoke and work in all lighting and weather conditions.
  • Healthcare monitoring using wireless networks
    We develop algorithms that can estimate a person’s breathing rate by analysing changes in Wi-Fi signals caused by chest movement - enabling non-contact health monitoring.
  • Information retrieval schemes with user and database privacy
    We study private information retrieval, where a user queries multiple servers without revealing what they are asking for. Our work designs a scheme that stops malicious users from gaining more information than allowed.
  • Secure communication via quantum key distribution
    We design new algorithms to correct errors in quantum key distribution systems - enabling cryptography solutions that are secure against quantum computers.