Madhusanka Liyanage

University College Dublin | UCD · School of Computer Science

The Internet of Things (IoT) has recently advanced from an experimental technology to what will become the backbone of future customer value for both product and service sector businesses. This underscores the cardinal role of IoT on the journey towards the fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication systems. IoT technologies augmented with int...

Security has become the primary concern in many telecommunications industries today as risks can have high consequences. Especially, as the core and enable technologies will be associated with 5G network, the confidential information will move at all layers in future wireless systems. Several incidents revealed that the hazard encountered by an inf...

Emerging applications such as Internet of Everything , Holographic Telepresence, collaborative robots, and space and deep-sea tourism are already highlighting the limitations of existing fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. These limitations are in terms of data-rate, latency, reliability, availability, processing, connection density and global c...

Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology that makes people's lives smart by conquering a plethora of diverse application and service areas. In near future, the fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks provide the connectivity for this IoT ecosystem. It has been carefully designed to facilitate the exponential growth in the IoT field. Netwo...

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has introduced the paradigm of Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) to enable efficient and fast data processing in mobile networks. Among other technological requirements, security and privacy are significant factors in the realization of MEC deployments. In this paper, we analyse the securit...

The convergence of blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) has become increasingly prevalent recently, as it addresses challenges such as single point of failure and security concerns associated with IoT. Blockchain offers immutable data storage, availability, and transparency, but a significant drawback lies in its inability to verify the truthful...

The shift from 5G to 6G networks is anticipated to significantly advance network slicing. This progress is driven by the growing demand for next-generation applications and services. However, these advancements must be managed within the constraints of limited resources. This evolution opens up opportunities for resource sharing through emerging ma...

Internet of Things (IoT) sensors monitor temperature-sensitive goods throughout the supply chain. Nowadays, blockchain is being widely used for traceability, transparency, and immutable storage of this data. However, this approach lacks a mechanism to assess the trustworthiness of the data, and as a result, the reliability of the system is constrai...

As 6G networks introduce increasingly diverse and complex applications, network slicing is a key enabling technol- ogy for partitioning network resources to meet these dynamic de- mands. However, efficiently managing and allocating these finite resources has become vital. This necessity drives the adoption of an open marketplace model. To address t...

Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is a pivotal technology for optimizing spectrum utilization and fostering efficient sharing among diverse users. However, existing DSS approaches face significant challenges related to security and privacy vulnerabilities, leading to fraudulent practices within spectrum marketplaces. In this paper, we introduce Spect-...

Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) is considered the next-generation RAN, which enables several features such as network flexibility, interoperability, and cost efficiency. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques has become commonplace in ORAN applications. The modularized nature of the ORAN architecture and the l...

The evolution of consumer electronics is increasingly driven by advancements in industrial automation, where generative artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role, particularly in intent-based systems. This study presents a comprehensive framework for integrating generative AI into intent-based industrial automation, which aims to align high...

The imminent emergence of quantum computers poses unprecedented challenges to the current cryptographic standards that secure vital digital communications and data worldwide. This paper addresses the vulnerabilities of existing cryptographic systems susceptible to quantum-based attacks and emphasizes a dedicated transition plan to post-quantum cryp...

Federated Learning (FL) is a privacy-preserving distributed Machine Learning (ML) technique. Hierarchical FL is a novel variant of FL applicable to networks with multiple layers. Instead of transmitting client models to the server, hierarchical FL performs aggregations in the layers between the devices and the server. This further reduces the traff...

In the era of 6G, securing the computing continuum, which includes cloud, edge and IoT infrastructures, is a major challenge. This paper addresses these challenges by presenting a secure framework to develop advanced cybersecurity solutions tailored to this complex environment. The proposed security architecture is designed to comprehensively addre...

It is vital that autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are able to avoid obstacles effectively. When avoiding such obstacles it is important that movement decision are made fast (i.e. inference latency is low) so that crashes are avoided. When deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is being leveraged as the method of obstacle avoidance one way of r...

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the research directions and explain the main roles of current Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) frameworks and available cloud infrastructures in building end-to-end ML lifecycle management for healthcare systems and sensitive biomedical data. We identify and explore the versatility...

Energy blockchain applications are becoming inevitable with the transformation of electricity distribution networks into the decentralized Smart Grid 2.0 architecture. The scalability of the blockchain platform plays a key role in catering to the increasing number of nodes connected due to consumer-turned-prosumers being integrated into the distrib...

Blockchain network (BCN)-based Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) has emerged lately as an identity and access management framework that is based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and allows users to control their own data. Federated Learning (FL), on the other hand, provides a collaborative framework to update Machine Learning (ML) models without...

With the advent of 5G commercialization, the need for more reliable, faster, and intelligent telecommunication systems is envisaged for the next generation beyond 5G (B5G) radio access technologies. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are immensely popular in service layer applications and have been proposed as essential enablers...

Despite its enormous economical and societal impact , lack of human-perceived control and safety is redefining the design and development of emerging AI-based technologies. New regulatory requirements mandate increased human control and oversight of AI, transforming the development practices and responsibilities of individuals interacting with AI....

In the progressive development towards 6G, the ROBUST-6G initiative aims to provide fundamental contributions to developing data-driven, AI/ML-based security solutions to meet the new concerns posed by the dynamic nature of forthcoming 6G services and networks in the future cyber-physical continuum. This aim has to be accompanied by the transversal...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a critical role in future networks, exploiting real-time data collection for optimized utilization of network resources. However, current AI solutions predominantly emphasize model performance enhancement, engendering substantial risk when AI encounters irregularities such as adversarial attacks or unknown mis...

6G Smart Networks and Services are poised to shape civilization's development of 2030's world, supporting the convergence of digital and physical worlds. The arrival of 6G networks brings unprecedented challenges and opportunities, requiring robust security measures to safeguard against emerging threats. Thus, several complementary issues must be a...

6G is envisioned with stringent performance requirements served using an open and hyper-dynamic architecture where intelligence is embedded across multiple logical layers. Artificial Intelligence (AI), a key enabling technology in implementing this vision, is often proposed in a centralized mode of operation that does not serve the scalability and...

The rise of mobile users, IoT devices, and data-intensive applications has led to an unprecedented surge in spectrum demand. However, current Spectrum Sharing (SS) methods, characterized by centralized control and inflexible architectures, fall short of meeting this escalating challenge. The solutions of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) and Dynamic Sp...

With the dawn of distributed Artificial Intelligence (AI) accelerated with the upcoming Beyond 5G (B5G)/6G networks, Federated Learning (FL) is emerging as an innovative approach to performing distributed learning in a privacy-preserved manner. Numerous techniques are available for fine-tuning AI-based parameters in FL. Depending on factors such as...

The rapid evolution of heterogeneous applications signifies the requirement for network slicing to cater to diverse network requirements. Network Functions (NFs), which are the essential elements of network slices, are required to communicate with each other securely to facilitate network services. Certificates are the established method to authent...

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) addresses the underutilized spectrum allocation issues associated with static spectrum allocation. Blockchain is a critical enabler for imple- menting a DSA system because it allows untrusted parties to conduct business, such as spectrum buying and selling, without the involvement of a trusted third party. A blockchain...

With the rapid progression of communication and localisation of big data over billions of devices, distributed Machine Learning (ML) techniques are emerging to cater for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based services in a distributed manner. Federated Learning (FL) is such an innovative approach to achieve a privacy-preserved AI tha...

Around 2020, 5G began its commercialization journey, and discussions about the next-generation networks (such as 6G) emerged. Researchers predict that 6G networks will have higher bandwidth, coverage, reliability, energy efficiency, and lower latency, and will be an integrated ``human-centric" network system powered by artificial intelligence (AI)....

The plethora of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and their diversified requirements have opted to design security mechanisms that cover all major security requirements. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) is the most common network domains where IoT devices are launched, particularly because of its easy availability. Security, in other words authe...

The upcoming Beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G networks are expected to provide enhanced capabilities such as ultra-high data rates, dense connectivity, and high scalability. It opens many possibilities for a new generation of services driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and billions of interconnected smart devices. However, with this expected massive upgr...

Blockchain has become the technology enabler in delivering modern Smart Grid 2.0 functionalities. Many services including Peer-to-Peer energy trading, distribution network management, financial settlements, and energy data management are catered through blockchain-enabled platforms. However, areas such as service quality-based pricing strategies, s...

Electricity is one of the mandatory commodities for mankind today. To address challenges and issues in the transmission of electricity through the traditional grid, the concepts of smart grids and demand response have been developed. In such systems, a large amount of data is generated daily from various sources such as power generation (e.g., wind...

The expansion of telecommunication providers and their efforts to expand network coverage in Sri Lanka has led to an alarming increase in Radio Frequency (RF) radiation exposure. This heightened exposure has raised concerns about its potential adverse effects on human health. Despite the country's growing number of cancer cases, no apparent cause h...

Artificial Intelligence used in future networks is vulnerable to biases, misclassifications, and security threats, which seeds constant scrutiny in accountability. Explainable AI (XAI) methods bridge this gap in identifying unaccounted biases in black-box AI/ML models. However, scaffolding attacks would hide the internal biases of the model from XA...

Federated learning (FL) has become the next generation of machine learning (ML) by avoiding local data sharing with a central server. While this becomes a major advantage to client-side privacy, it has a trade-off of becoming vulnerable to poisoning attacks and malicious behavior of the central server. As the decentralization of systems enhances se...

The rapid increase in mobile users, the IoT, and data-hungry applications have brought forth unprecedented demand on the spectrum, which is scarce; on top of that, the existing static spectrum allocation schemes have resulted in a heavily underutilized spectrum which can be mitigated with a Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) scheme with unlicensed users...

With the advent of new technologies and endeavours for automation in almost all day-to-day activities, the recent discussions on the metaverse life have a greater expectation. The metaverse enables people to communicate with each other by combining the physical world with the virtual world. However, realizing the Metaverse requires symmetric conten...

Federated learning (FL) is an intriguing approach to privacy-preserving collaborative learning. Decentralised FL is achieving increased favour for investigation due to the mitigation of vulnerability for a single point of failure and more controllability for end users over their models. However, many existing decentralised FL systems face limitatio...

The futuristic energy grids comprise of predominantly renewable generation, to align with the sustainable development goals. This would require integration of renewable energy sources at different levels of the power system out of which, consumers turning into power producers, often referred to as prosumers is an important aspect. Prosumers who gen...

The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly spreading across a wide range of applications because it is a critical technology for overcoming interoperability and heterogeneity barriers in many applications. IoT is increasingly being deployed in a distributed setting because of the vast number of devices and the physical dispersal of many use cases. Bec...

An emergence of attention and regulations on consumer privacy can be observed over the recent years with the ubiquitous availability of IoT systems handling personal data. Federated Learning (FL) arises as a privacy-preserved Machine Learning (ML) technique where data can be kept private within these devices without transmitting to third parties. Y...

The vision and key elements of the 6th generation (6G) ecosystem are being discussed very actively in academic and industrial circles. In this work, we provide a timely update to the 6G security vision presented in our previous publications to contribute to these efforts. We elaborate further on some key security challenges for the envisioned 6G wi...

The futuristic energy grids comprise of predominantly renewable generation, to align with the sustainable development goals. This would require integration of renewable energy sources at different levels of the power system out of which, consumers turning into power producers, often referred to as prosumers is an important aspect. Prosumers who gen...

The fifth generation (5G) is now widely used to access network services due to the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices. To secure 5G communication, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) organization created the 5G-Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol. Security evaluations have found a number of problems...

Federated Learning (FL) is an emerging privacy-preserved distributed Machine Learning (ML) technique where multiple clients can contribute to training an ML model without sharing private data. Even though FL offers a certain level of privacy by design, recent works show that FL is vulnerable to numerous privacy attacks. One of the key features of F...

Private 5G Networks (P5GNs) are a newly emerg- ing paradigm that the telecommunication sector and indus- try verticals are about to witness. The concept of P5GN is to build a 5G network with just enough infrastructure, which is required to fulfill the specific and local needs of an industry vertical. Broadly, P5GNs offer two-fold benefits. First, it c...

The future of communication technology is moving from 5G to 6G with new innovations. Blockchain (BC) is a such immersive technology that significantly impacts the betterment of communication technology. BC-based spectrum-sharing solutions can be used in Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) systems to fulfill the need for secure and efficient communication...

The future communication technology is moving from 5G to 6G with the innovation of new technologies. Blockchain (BC) is such kind of immersive technology which gives a huge impact on the betterment of communication technology. To fulfill the need for secure and efficient communication, BC-based spectrum-sharing solutions can be used in dynamic spec...

Edge computing paradigms were an expedient innovation for elevating the contemporary standards of mobile and Internet networks. As specified in Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) standardization, edge computing serviceable infrastructures are running on virtualization technologies to provide dynamic and flexible service instances. Since the inceptio...

A wide adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be observed in recent years over networking to provide zero-touch, full autonomy of services towards the next generation Beyond 5G (B5G)/6G. However, AI-driven attacks on these services are a major concern in reaching the full potential of this future vision. Identifying how resilient the AI model...

The dawn of softwarized networks enables Network Slicing (NS) as an important technology towards allocating end-to-end logical networks to facilitate diverse requirements of emerging applications in fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. However, the emergence of NS also exposes novel security and privacy challenges, primarily related to aspects su...

The advent of the 6G era brings forth unprecedented challenges and opportunities in network management and orchestration. As networks become more complex and diverse, there is a growing need for efficient resource allocation, security, trust, and service delivery. In the 6G era, blockchain technology can significantly enhance network management and...

With the advent of new technologies and endeavors for automation in almost all day-to-day activities, the recent discussions on the metaverse life have a greater expectation. Furthermore, we are in the era of the fifth industrial revolution, where machines and humans collaborate to maximize productivity with the effective utilization of human intel...

6G is the next frontier in mobile communication, with the development of 6G standards slated to begin as early as 2026. As telecommunications networks become faster and more intelligent, security and privacy concerns are critical. In an increasingly connected world, there is an urgent need for user data to be safeguarded and system security enhance...