PhD Researcher

Yuhui Wang

UAV networks and reinforcement learning

Anticipated graduation: Expected 2026

Yuhui Wang is a Ph.D. researcher and Rackham Predoctoral Fellow working on UAV communication networks. His research applies deep reinforcement learning to UAV placement, integrated access and backhaul, multi-UAV mobile edge computing, and UAV-assisted LEO satellite edge systems for resilient coverage and connectivity.

In the news

May 2026

Ph.D. researcher Yuhui Wang joins Nokia Bell Labs as a Generative AI Intern for Summer 2026.

May 2026

Yuhui Wang attended the ceremony recognizing Rackham Predoctoral Fellows in Ann Arbor.

Apr 2026

Yuhui Wang received his Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship certificate from Rackham Dean Dewey Jung, recognizing his research on aerial communication systems.

Apr 2026

Yuhui Wang and Xingqi Wu received pins at the CECS Doctoral Pinning and Recognition Ceremony, celebrating their advancement to candidacy.

Apr 2026

Lab members presented their research posters at the CECS Research Poster Competition.

Nov 2025

Paper accepted in IEEE Networking Letters. Congratulations to Xingqi and Yuhui!

Jun 2025

Presented two papers from the group at IEEE ICC 2025 in Montreal, on URLLC admission control in O-RAN and UAV-assisted LEO satellite edge computing, with Xingqi Wu and Yuhui Wang.

Mar 2025

Presented two papers from the group at IEEE WCNC 2025 in Milan, on multi-UAV placement with LLM-driven optimization and computation offloading in multi-UAV MEC networks, with Yuhui Wang.

Feb 2025

Presented LLM-xApp, a large language model framework for adaptive radio resource management in O-RAN, at the NDSS 2025 FutureG Workshop in San Diego, with Xingqi Wu and Yuhui Wang.

Journal articles

2026

Dynamic Multi-Modal UAV Control for Optimized Coverage and Backhaul Connectivity in Spatially Unstructured and Dispersed User Environments

Y. Wang, J. Farooq, and J. Chen

in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 2320-2334

@article{wang2026dynamic,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq and J. Chen},
  title = {Dynamic Multi-Modal UAV Control for Optimized Coverage and Backhaul Connectivity in Spatially Unstructured and Dispersed User Environments},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 2320-2334},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.computer.org/csdl/journal/tm/5555/01/11152341/29LAw5X8z2E},
}

2026

Process-Informed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Joint Radio-Compute Orchestration in Industrial O-RAN

X. Wu, Y. Wang, J. Farooq, M. M. Butt, H. Ghazzai, and G. Setti

in IEEE Networking Letters

@article{wu2026processinformed,
  author = {X. Wu and Y. Wang and J. Farooq and M. M. Butt and H. Ghazzai and G. Setti},
  title = {Process-Informed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Joint Radio-Compute Orchestration in Industrial O-RAN},
  journal = {IEEE Networking Letters},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11494807},
}

2025

Joint Positioning and Computation Offloading in Multi-UAV MEC for Low Latency Applications: A Proximal Policy Optimization Approach

Y. Wang, J. Farooq, H. Ghazzai, and G. Setti

in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 9584-9598

@article{wang2025joint,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq and H. Ghazzai and G. Setti},
  title = {Joint Positioning and Computation Offloading in Multi-UAV MEC for Low Latency Applications: A Proximal Policy Optimization Approach},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 9584-9598},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10971880},
}

2025

ORCA: Offloading and Resource Coordination via Multi-agent Learning in Dynamic Cloud-Edge Systems

Y. Wang, X. Wu, J. Farooq, T. Li, and J. Chen

submitted to IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing

@article{wang2025orca,
  author = {Y. Wang and X. Wu and J. Farooq and T. Li and J. Chen},
  title = {ORCA: Offloading and Resource Coordination via Multi-agent Learning in Dynamic Cloud-Edge Systems},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/doi/full/10.36227/techrxiv.176315222.25704753},
}

2025

SliceWise: Traffic-Aware Multi-Agent RL with Temporal Encoding for Joint Slice Admission and Resource Orchestration in O-RAN

X. Wu, Y. Wang, J. Farooq, H. Ghazzai, and G. Setti

in IEEE Networking Letters, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 323-327

@article{wu2025slicewise,
  author = {X. Wu and Y. Wang and J. Farooq and H. Ghazzai and G. Setti},
  title = {SliceWise: Traffic-Aware Multi-Agent RL with Temporal Encoding for Joint Slice Admission and Resource Orchestration in O-RAN},
  journal = {IEEE Networking Letters, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 323-327},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11251017},
}

2024

Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Placement for Integrated Access Backhauling in UAV-Assisted Wireless Networks

Y. Wang and J. Farooq

in IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 14727-14738

@article{wang2024deep,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq},
  title = {Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Placement for Integrated Access Backhauling in UAV-Assisted Wireless Networks},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 14727-14738},
  year = {2024},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10365695},
}

Conference papers

2026

PROMPTGUARD: Zero Trust Prompting for Securing LLM-Driven O-RAN Control

Y. Wang, X. Wu, J. Farooq, and J. Chen

in Proc. NDSS 2026 Workshop on Security and Privacy of Next-Generation Networks (FutureG), San Diego CA

@inproceedings{wang2026promptguard,
  author = {Y. Wang and X. Wu and J. Farooq and J. Chen},
  title = {PROMPTGUARD: Zero Trust Prompting for Securing LLM-Driven O-RAN Control},
  booktitle = {Proc. NDSS 2026 Workshop on Security and Privacy of Next-Generation Networks (FutureG), San Diego CA},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/futureg26-22.pdf},
}

2025

Coordinated UAV Deployment and Task Offloading in UAV-Assisted LEO Satellite Edge Computing Systems via Proximal Policy Optimization

Y. Wang, X. Wu, J. Farooq, and J. Chen

in IEEE ICC 2025 Workshop on Emerging Technologies in Aerial and Space Networks, Montreal, Canada

@inproceedings{wang2025coordinated,
  author = {Y. Wang and X. Wu and J. Farooq and J. Chen},
  title = {Coordinated UAV Deployment and Task Offloading in UAV-Assisted LEO Satellite Edge Computing Systems via Proximal Policy Optimization},
  booktitle = {IEEE ICC 2025 Workshop on Emerging Technologies in Aerial and Space Networks, Montreal, Canada},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/users/793184/articles/1277869},
}

2025

Joint Optimization of Positioning and Computation Offloading in Multi-UAV MEC Networks for Low Latency Applications

Y. Wang, J. Farooq, H. Ghazzai, and G. Setti

in IEEE WCNC 2025, Milan, Italy

@inproceedings{wang2025joint,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq and H. Ghazzai and G. Setti},
  title = {Joint Optimization of Positioning and Computation Offloading in Multi-UAV MEC Networks for Low Latency Applications},
  booktitle = {IEEE WCNC 2025, Milan, Italy},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/users/793184/articles/1234294},
}

2025

LLM-Driven Agentic AI Approach to Enhanced O-RAN Resilience in Next-Generation Networks

X. Wu, Y. Wang, J. Farooq, and J. Chen

in IEEE INFOCOM 2025 Workshop on Resilience in Next-Generation Networks (NGResNet), London, UK

@inproceedings{wu2025llmdriven,
  author = {X. Wu and Y. Wang and J. Farooq and J. Chen},
  title = {LLM-Driven Agentic AI Approach to Enhanced O-RAN Resilience in Next-Generation Networks},
  booktitle = {IEEE INFOCOM 2025 Workshop on Resilience in Next-Generation Networks (NGResNet), London, UK},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/users/793184/articles/1277868},
}

2025

LLM-xApp: A Large Language Model Empowered Radio Resource Management xApp for 5G O-RAN

X. Wu, J. Farooq, Y. Wang, and J. Chen

in Proc. NDSS 2025 Workshop on Security and Privacy of Next-Generation Networks (FutureG), San Diego CA

@inproceedings{wu2025llmxapp,
  author = {X. Wu and J. Farooq and Y. Wang and J. Chen},
  title = {LLM-xApp: A Large Language Model Empowered Radio Resource Management xApp for 5G O-RAN},
  booktitle = {Proc. NDSS 2025 Workshop on Security and Privacy of Next-Generation Networks (FutureG), San Diego CA},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.ndss-symposium.org/ndss-paper/auto-draft-567/},
}

2025

Multi-UAV Placement for Integrated Access and Backhauling Using LLM-Based Optimizers

Y. Wang, J. Farooq, H. Ghazzai, and G. Setti

in IEEE WCNC 2025, Milan, Italy

@inproceedings{wang2025multiuav,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq and H. Ghazzai and G. Setti},
  title = {Multi-UAV Placement for Integrated Access and Backhauling Using LLM-Based Optimizers},
  booktitle = {IEEE WCNC 2025, Milan, Italy},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/users/793184/articles/1229164},
}

2025

Real-time multiple obstacle avoidance and navigation in unstructured spaces with applications to indoor delivery robots

Y. Wang, U. Pillai, J. Farooq, and J. Chen

in IEEE COINS 2025, Madison WI, USA

@inproceedings{wang2025realtime,
  author = {Y. Wang and U. Pillai and J. Farooq and J. Chen},
  title = {Real-time multiple obstacle avoidance and navigation in unstructured spaces with applications to indoor delivery robots},
  booktitle = {IEEE COINS 2025, Madison WI, USA},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://www.techrxiv.org/users/793184/articles/1315645},
}

2023

Optimal 3D Placement for Integrated Access Backhauling in UAV-Assisted Wireless Networks Using Reinforcement Learning

Y. Wang and J. Farooq

in IEEE MASS Workshop on Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles and IoT (UAV-IoT 2023), Toronto, Canada

@inproceedings{wang2023optimal,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq},
  title = {Optimal 3D Placement for Integrated Access Backhauling in UAV-Assisted Wireless Networks Using Reinforcement Learning},
  booktitle = {IEEE MASS Workshop on Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles and IoT (UAV-IoT 2023), Toronto, Canada},
  year = {2023},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10298362},
}

2022

Proactive and Resilient UAV Orchestration for QoS Driven Connectivity and Coverage of Ground Users

Y. Wang and J. Farooq

in IEEE CNS Cyber Resilience Workshop (CNS 2022), Austin TX

@inproceedings{wang2022proactive,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq},
  title = {Proactive and Resilient UAV Orchestration for QoS Driven Connectivity and Coverage of Ground Users},
  booktitle = {IEEE CNS Cyber Resilience Workshop (CNS 2022), Austin TX},
  year = {2022},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9947272},
}

2022

Resilient UAV Formation for Coverage and Connectivity of Spatially Dispersed Users

Y. Wang and J. Farooq

in IEEE ICC 2022, Seoul, South Korea

@inproceedings{wang2022resilient,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq},
  title = {Resilient UAV Formation for Coverage and Connectivity of Spatially Dispersed Users},
  booktitle = {IEEE ICC 2022, Seoul, South Korea},
  year = {2022},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9838960},
}

2022

Zero Touch Coordinated UAV Network Formation for 360 Degree Views of a Moving Ground Target in Remote VR Applications

Y. Wang and J. Farooq

in IEEE MILCOM 2022, Rockville MD

@inproceedings{wang2022zero,
  author = {Y. Wang and J. Farooq},
  title = {Zero Touch Coordinated UAV Network Formation for 360 Degree Views of a Moving Ground Target in Remote VR Applications},
  booktitle = {IEEE MILCOM 2022, Rockville MD},
  year = {2022},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.02833},
}