Title
5G Autonomous Flying Radios
Speaker(s)
Omid Esrafilian
Date and time
2025-10-23T10:10:00Z
Session type
Talk (25 minutes)
Abstract
In the emerging era of 5G and 6G, applications in domains such as smart cities and smart factories are becoming increasingly complex, requiring seamless integration of robotics and wireless communication. This evolution calls for a radical shift toward highly dynamic, 3D network architectures that incorporate both ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communication layers.
At the Drone4Wireless Lab at EURECOM, we are dedicated to bridging the gap between sky and ground by fusing advanced communication technologies (e.g., 5G) with the rapidly evolving robotics and drone ecosystems. Our mission is to develop intelligent, flexible, and open solutions that unlock new capabilities for connected autonomous systems.
In this presentation, we will share some of our recent research achievements in UAV-enabled 5G networks, including UAV-assisted user localization, and Reliable 5G-connected drone platforms.
We will also demonstrate an autonomous aerial relay that extends the coverage of a terrestrial 5G network in real time. Our end-to-end solutions are built on Ubuntu and leverage open-source platforms from the robotics and wireless communication communities, utilizing custom-designed drones and integrating machine learning and AI techniques to enable autonomy and adaptability in complex environments.
Speaker bio
Dr. Omid Esrafilian, Ph.D. 2020, is a permanent Research Engineer at the Communication Systems Department of EURECOM, where he has been working since 2021. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the same department from 2020 to 2021. He is also the Lead Researcher of the Drone4Wireless Laboratory at EURECOM, a pioneering initiative focused on integrating aerial robotics (drones) with wireless and cellular networks for joint communication, control, and sensing. Dr. Esrafilian’s research lies at the intersection of robotics, control, machine learning, and wireless communications. His scientific contributions and independence are demonstrated by multiple publications in top-tier journals and conferences, as well as his role as a Guest Editor for the Drones journal (MDPI, 2024) and co-organizer of several international workshops in the field. He is the recipient of various research grants and accolades, including the “Fundamental Research Project of the Year (2019)” awarded by the French SCS Research and Industry Cluster. He has also earned recognition in both national and international UAV competitions (UAV-League). Additionally, Dr. Esrafilian is an active contributor to the QGroundControl open-source project.