Gaurav S. Kasbekar

Vivek S. Borkar, Gaurav S. Kasbekar, Sarath Pattathil et al.

In this paper we consider energy efficient scheduling in a multiuser setting where each user has a finite sized queue and there is a cost associated with holding packets (jobs) in each queue (modeling the delay constraints). The packets of each user need to be sent over a common channel. The channel qualities seen by the users are time-varying and differ across users; also, the cost incurred, i.e., energy consumed, in packet transmission is a function of the channel quality. We pose the problem as an average cost Markov Decision Problem, and prove that this problem is Whittle Indexable. Based on this result, we propose an algorithm in which the Whittle index of each user is computed and the user who has the lowest value is selected for transmission. We evaluate the performance of this algorithm via simulations and show that it achieves a lower average cost than the Maximum Weight Scheduling and Weighted Fair Scheduling strategies.

Sarath Pattathil, Vivek S. Borkar, Gaurav S. Kasbekar

We propose a dynamic formulation of file-sharing networks in terms of an average cost Markov decision process with constraints. By analyzing a Whittle-like relaxation thereof, we propose an index policy in the spirit of Whittle and compare it by simulations with other natural heuristics.

Anoushka Dey, Gaurav S. Kasbekar

We consider an agent, who would like to execute a given quantum circuit using resources leased from a set of quantum computers (QCs) connected by a quantum network. For this purpose, the agent needs to make the following four key decisions: (i) how many qubits to lease from each QC, (ii) at which QCs to store different circuit qubits in different time slots, (iii) at which QC to execute each gate in the circuit, and (iv) how to move qubits between QCs, choosing between migration and teleportation. We refer to this problem facing the agent as the joint qubit leasing and quantum circuit distribution (JQLQCD) problem, and provide a comprehensive integer linear programming (ILP) formulation for it. We show that the JQLQCD problem is NP-complete. Next, we identify several special cases in which the problem can be optimally solved in closed form or via polynomial-time algorithms. Also, we propose a greedy algorithm with local search refinement to solve large instances of the general JQLQCD problem. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the proposed greedy algorithm using extensive numerical computations.

Riddhi Apte, Shubhada Gadgil, Gaurav Kasbekar et al.

Driven by the demands of 5G/Beyond 5G and 6G networks, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have surfaced in critical roles for aerial communications. In the present survey, we explore the multi-mode roles of UAVs as relays, User Equipment (UE), gNB and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), along with their deployment scenarios, architectural frameworks, and different communication models incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) configurations. We consider the effects of alternate power sources on the communication payload. The survey also aims to address security issues in the UAV communications. As an advancement, we propose a novel UAV-Network-in-a-Box (NIB) architecture for disaster recovery and temporary coverage as an alternative to traditional network infrastructure.

Bhavya Dixit, Aayushi Rajgor, Subham Kumar et al.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms rely on distributed coordination and cooperative communication to support scalable operations, extended coverage, and applications such as surveillance and real-time data exchange. Wireless technologies such as radio frequency (RF) and WiFi are widely used for UAV-to-UAV and UAV-to-ground control station (GCS) communication but introduce significant security challenges. MAVLink, the predominant communication protocol in UAV systems, provides message integrity and authentication but lacks built-in encryption, leaving telemetry traffic vulnerable to eavesdropping. In our previous work, we proposed MAVShield, a lightweight encryption framework for MAVLink communications. In this paper, MAVShield, AES-CTR, Speck-CTR, ChaCha20, and Rabbit are integrated into four custom-built UAVs to establish secure communication links over RF and WiFi channels. Their performance is evaluated through flight experiments using a UAV swarm testbed. Encrypted telemetry data enable autonomous formation control and collision avoidance during flight. For collision avoidance, we develop a modified artificial potential field (APF) algorithm that computes attractive and repulsive forces directly in geodetic coordinates, eliminating Cartesian transformations and reducing trajectory oscillations while avoiding local-minimum trapping. CPU utilization, memory consumption, and packet delivery ratio (PDR) are measured for each encryption scheme. Results show that MAVShield achieves performance comparable to unencrypted communication while outperforming AES-CTR, Speck-CTR, ChaCha20, and Rabbit in overall efficiency. Algebraic cryptanalysis and Wireshark-based traffic analysis demonstrate resistance to key-recovery attacks and protection of telemetry confidentiality. The results indicate that MAVShield is an efficient and secure solution for UAV swarm communication.

Neil Dalal, Nadeem Akhtar, Anubhav Gupta et al.

Wi-Fi (802.11) networks have become an essential part of our daily lives; hence, their security is of utmost importance. However, Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3), the latest security certification for 802.11 standards, has recently been shown to be vulnerable to several attacks. In this paper, we first describe the attacks on WPA3 networks that have been reported in prior work; additionally, we show that a deauthentication attack and a beacon flood attack, known to be possible on a WPA2 network, are still possible with WPA3. We launch and test all the above (a total of nine) attacks using a testbed that contains an enterprise Access Point (AP) and Intrusion Detection System (IDS). Our experimental results show that the AP is vulnerable to eight out of the nine attacks and the IDS is unable to detect any of them. We propose a design for a signature-based IDS, which incorporates techniques to detect all the above attacks. Also, we implement these techniques on our testbed and verify that our IDS is able to successfully detect all the above attacks. We provide schemes for mitigating the impact of the above attacks once they are detected. We make the code to perform the above attacks as well as that of our IDS publicly available, so that it can be used for future work by the research community at large.

Akash Gupta, Gaurav S. Kasbekar

Home automation Internet of Things (IoT) systems have recently become a target for several types of attacks. In this paper, we present an authentication and key agreement protocol for a home automation network based on the ZigBee standard, which connects together a central controller and several end devices. Our scheme performs mutual authentication between end devices and the controller, which is followed by device-to-device communication. The scheme achieves confidentiality, message integrity, anonymity, unlinkability, forward and backward secrecy, and availability. Our scheme uses only simple hash and XOR computations and symmetric key encryption, and hence is resource-efficient. We show using a detailed security analysis and numerical results that our proposed scheme provides better security and anonymity, and is more efficient in terms of computation time, communication cost, and storage cost than schemes proposed in prior works.

Adhirath Kabra, Sumit Kumar, Gaurav S. Kasbekar

Many Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios require communication to and data acquisition from multiple devices with similar functionalities. For such scenarios, group communication in the form of multicasting and broadcasting has proven to be effective. Group Key Management (GKM) involves the handling, revocation, updation and distribution of cryptographic keys to members of various groups. Classical GKM schemes perform inefficiently in dynamic IoT environments, which are those wherein nodes frequently leave or join a network or migrate from one group to another over time. Recently, the `GroupIt' scheme has been proposed for GKM in dynamic IoT environments. However, this scheme has several limitations such as vulnerability to collusion attacks, the use of computationally expensive asymmetric encryption and threats to the backward secrecy of the system. In this paper, we present a highly efficient and secure GKM protocol for dynamic IoT settings, which maintains forward and backward secrecy at all times. Our proposed protocol uses only symmetric encryption, and is completely resistant to collusion attacks. Also, our protocol is highly flexible and can handle several new scenarios in which device or user dynamics may take place, e.g., allowing a device group to join or leave the network or creation or dissolution of a user group, which are not handled by schemes proposed in prior literature. We evaluate the performance of the proposed protocol via extensive mathematical analysis and numerical computations, and show that it outperforms the GroupIt scheme in terms of the communication and computation costs incurred by users and devices.