Associate Professors at Binghamton University were awarded grant funding to study whether 5G can be used similarly to radar. BingUNews reported that Yu Chen and Xiaohua Li — both faculty members at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering — have received two grants totaling nearly $600,000.
One grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Dynamic Data and Information Processing program totaling $297,082 will fund the project. Another grant worth $295,282 from the Department of Defense’s Defense University Research Instrumentation Program will enable equipment purchases.
According to BingUNews, the team hopes to build “full-spectrum surveillance.” The research will combine 5G-based sensing technologies with optical cameras for Environmental Resilience Surveillance Edge Service networks. Network security will utilize Environmental Fingerprint-based Consensus Blockchain, authenticating data sources, bookmarking data transactions, and encrypting the data to deter hackers.
Chen spoke about the advanced features of 5G while exploring “security, safety, and robustness. The Air Force has to make sure the system deployed in a battlefield must be secure,” he said. “Enemies always try to compromise your system, steal your information and insert false information to mislead you.”
Chen and Li plan for the technology to work in all weather conditions, both in the day or night. The team will integrate optical cameras and other devices in addition to 5G sensing to accomplish this objective while also assessing the system’s limitations.
Both Associate Professors have performed research over the last decade that will influence the 5G surveillance initiative. “Our system is first of its kind, which I believe can increase the visibility of Binghamton University,” Chen added. “We are pushing the frontier of smart applications for the Air Force and the Department of Defense to protect the interests of our nation.”
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