UNM Electrical and Computer Engineering professor researches resource management in 5G systems
Key info:
Through the award, Dr. Tsiropoulou aimed to “rationalize” the resource allocation process in cyber-physical social systems including 5G wireless communication systems and Internet of Things infrastructures
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“The main objective we fulfilled in this project is the autonomy in 5G networks and cyber-physical systems. How humans, or devices operated by humans, react under risk and their autonomous decision-making process is the main idea that we are studying. How they make decisions about optimal resource allocation in different types of networks, like smart grid networks, wireless 5G networks, and internet of things,” Tsiropoulou said.
Dr. Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou
Editor’s note: This Women in STEM Award winner profile is part of a series of stories that explores what recipients have been working on since the awards began in 2106.
Dr. Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering won a 2018 Women In STEM Award for her proposal “Redefining resource AllocaTION in Advanced wireLess systEms – RATIONALE.”
Through the award, Tsiropoulou aimed to “rationalize” the resource allocation process in cyber-physical social systems including 5G wireless communication systems and Internet of Things infrastructures.
“5G networks and cyber-physical systems were designed to serve the humans’ needs, thus, we enable them to ultimately operate in a human-like manner,” Tsiropoulou said.
To accomplish her goals for the project, Tsiropoulou said she used many theoretical tools like game theory, reinforcement learning, and AI mechanisms.
“This application was on 5g networks but in the lab we have many other applications like smart grid networks and public safety so it (2018 WIS award) helped me apply this research in the field of wireless networks, but it also gave me the opportunity to explore the applicability of the theoretical tools we study in the lab,” Tsiropoulou said.
Tsiropoulou said the award allowed her to hire PhD student Georgios Fragkos for two semesters. From this, she was able to produce initial results that then led to her prestigious NSF CRII award to support her continued research of the way resource management is performed in 5G networks and cyber-physical systems. Tsiropoulou said this is one of the most rewarding aspects to come from her 2018 WIS Award.
“We mainly studied the resource allocation problems in 5G networks and the NSF proposal especially that came out of this award was really breakthrough research because 5G was really unexplored at that time,” Tsiropoulou said. “The outcome was mathematical framework models and algorithms that provided those initial results for NSF.”
Tsiropoulou said her passion for her research stems from being able to help people and improve their quality of life. She says she also finds it interesting to observe how humans behave and in turn how this affects outcomes in dynamic systems.
Currently, Tsiropoulou said she is elevating her research on 5g networks, utilizing previous theoretical methodologies as well as new ones, to focus on the operation of 6g networks. 6G networks, Tsiropoulou said, will be able to better support dense metropolitan areas by exploiting the limited available bandwidth more efficiently than 5g.
“6G-related technologies will be able to control the wireless communications conditions of the environment in a reconfigurable and intelligent manner, resulting in lowering your mobile phones’ energy consumption, achieving better data rates, supporting your mobility in the physical environment, and many more benefits,” Tsiropoulou said. “So far, we have experienced several revolutions in wireless networks generations, ranging from voice to text to multimedia services to mm-wave communications. Now, we will be able to intelligently control the wireless medium to serve the humans’ needs!”
Along with the WIS Award, Tsiropoulou said the publicity from Advance helped to bring her more recognition and engagement in UNM and helped to create more opportunities for women in STEM faculty.
“Inside UNM, it helped a lot for people to know who I am, especially because I was a new assistant professor at the time,” Tsiropoulou said. “It helped to establish me at UNM and create an ecosystem on campus based on the research we were doing.”
Outside of UNM, Tsiropoulou said she continually uses many of the photos Advance took of her and her research.
“I organize a lot of conferences where having some photos of activities from the lab is nice to have, so I had a lot of good material I could use afterwards,” Tsiropoulou said.