Zhu Han, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, received not one, but two best paper awards as a recent international conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Han and his co-authors received the honors in two separate technical tracks for work presented at the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, held in Paris in April of this year.
The first article deals with mobile cloud computing. In it, Han and his collaborators use game theory to propose a viable method for mobile cloud computing service providers to pool their resources to support mobile applications. It offers a mechanism for controlling what applications providers offer based on the pooled long-term resources. It also suggests a model for sharing revenue and for expanding short-term resources in the pool in such a way that provider profits are maximized.
The second article involves smart power grids, an emerging type of grid that is actively managed to ensure the most efficient use of electricity. The communications equipment that enables electricity providers to monitor and manage smart grids also makes the grids vulnerable to hacking. In this paper, Han and his co-authors present details of an undetectable attack aimed at changing the usage levels of power lines in order to financially benefit one provider at the expense of another. By presenting such a scenario, the authors hope to help developers of smart grid technology guard against it.
“Developing advanced networks, whether for cloud computing or smart grids, is one of the best ways for companies to optimize their resources,” said Han. “I’m glad that the engineering community sees value in developing ways to establish and protect these networks,” he said.