| faculty
Francesco Restuccia
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
By 2025, experts say, the number of Internet of Things devices worldwide could exceed 21 billion. The sheer scale of this growth, coupled with the fast-paced evolution of 5G-and-beyond technologies, will create unprecedented challenges in sectors like security, telecommunications, and agriculture, observes Assistant Professor Francesco Restuccia. His research at the intersection of wireless communications, artificial intelligence, and embedded systems aims to meet that challenge.
At Northeastern’s Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, Restuccia develops algorithms that use AI to identify and authenticate thousands of IoT devices and waveforms at once, without relying on energy-hungry cryptography techniques. He is enabling these devices to adapt in real time by reprogramming themselves on the fly. Through separate research on millimeter-wave mobile broadband systems, Restuccia wants to improve internet connectivity in rural areas.
Through the Roux Institute, Restuccia will establish new collaborations with institute partners and universities in Portland and Maine. He envisions sharing his lab’s progress with Maine’s entrepreneurs, helping to spin off companies that will bolster the Maine economy.
Research Overview
Restuccia’s research interests are the design and experimental evaluation of next-generation edge-assisted wireless systems, with applications spanning from the Internet of Things to NextG cellular communications. Prof. Restuccia’s research group is generously supported by a number of projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.
Restuccia has received the Mario Gerla Award for Young Investigators in Computer Science in 2019, as well as the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (out of 25 faculty awarded nationwide) in 2023, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award (out of 58 faculty awarded
nationwide) in 2023, and Best Paper Awards from IEEE INFOCOM 2022 and IEEE WOWMOM 2022.
Areas of Expertise
- Wireless networks
- Artificial intelligence
- Embedded systems
Publications
- M. Cominelli, F. Gringoli and F. Restuccia, "Exposing the CSI: A Systematic Investigation of CSI-based Wi-Fi Sensing Capabilities and Limitations," IEEE PerCom 2023.
- C. Puligheddu, J. Ashdown, C. F. Chiasserini, and F. Restuccia, "SEM-O-RAN: Semantic and Flexible O-RAN Slicing for NextG Edge-Assisted Mobile Systems,” IEEE INFOCOM 2023.
- A. Coletta, F. Giorgi, G. Maselli, M. Prata, D. Silvestri, J. Ashdown, and F. Restuccia, "A2-UAV: Application-Aware Content and Network Optimization of Edge-Assisted UAV Systems," IEEE INFOCOM 2023.
- F. Meneghello, M. Rossi and F. Restuccia, "DeepCSI: Rethinking Wi-Fi Radio Fingerprinting Through MU-MIMO CSI Feedback Deep Learning,” ICDCS 2023.
- L. Baldesi, F. Restuccia and T. Melodia, “ChARM: NextG Spectrum Sharing Through Data-Driven Real-Time O-RAN Dynamic Control,” IEEE INFOCOM 2022 (Best Paper Award).
- Read more on Google Scholar