Alireza Vahid

About

I received my B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, and my M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University working with Professor Salman Avestimehr. I received the 2015 Best PhD Thesis Award and the 2011 Best PhD Teaching Award from Cornell. After receiving my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Duke University with Professor Robert Calderbank. I joined the University of Colorado in August 2017. My research interests include network information theory, wireless communications, coding theory, and data storage.

Research

I work on a wide range of projects in information theory, the theory of communications, data storage, and related fields. Below is a list of my active projects.

Wireless Networking:

• Communication and sensing with programmable computational antennas
• Communications with smart reflecting surfaces
• Exploiting and inducing channel variations for interference management

Network Information Theory:

• Information flow with limited feedback bandwidth
• Information flow with delayed channel knowledge
• Informational bottlenecks in multi-hop wireless networks

Memory Systems and Data Storage:

• Tolerating shift errors in racetrack memory
• Coding for lifetime
• Coding for reliability and performance optimization
• DNA archival storage

Other Domains and Interdisciplinary Work:

• Aggregate rank recovery
• DNS traffic obfuscation and cyber-security
• Sensitivity analysis of hydrological models

Journal Publications and Preprints

[J15] S. C. Lin, I. H. Wang, A. Vahid, “ Capacity of Broadcast Packet Erasure Channels with Single-User Delayed CSI,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 2021.

[J14] A. Vahid, S. C. Lin, I. H. Wang, “Erasure Broadcast Channels with Intermittent Feedback,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2021.

[J13] S. Nassirpour, A. Vahid, “On the Stability Regions of Intermittent Interference Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2021.

[J12] T. Levy, A. Vahid, R. Giryes, “Ranking Recovery from Limited Comparisons using Low-Rank Matrix Completion,” journal of Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis, 2020.

[J11] S. Nassirpour, A. Vahid, “Embedded Codes for Reassembling Non-Overlapping Random DNA Fragments,” IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications, 2020.

[J10] M. Johnny, A. Vahid, “Exploiting Coherence Time Variations for Opportunistic Blind Interference Alignment,” IEEE Transactions on Communication Theory, 2020.

[J9] A. Vahid, “On the Degrees-of-Freedom of Two-Unicast Wireless Networks with Delayed CSIT,”IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 2019.

[J8] A. Vahid and R. Calderbank, “Throughput Region of Spatially Correlated Interference Packet Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 2019.

[J7] G. Mappouras, A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “Extending Flash Lifetime in Embedded Processors by Expanding Analog Choice,” IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design Integrated Circuits and Systems, 2018.

[J6] A. Vahid, V. Aggarwal, S. Avestimehr, A. Sabharwal, “Interference Management with Mismatched Partial Channel State Information,” EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, 2017.

[J5] A. Vahid, M. A. Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr “Binary Fading Interference Channel with No CSIT,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 63, no. 6, pp. 3565-3578, 2017.

[J4] A. Vahid and R. Calderbank, “Two-User Fading Interference Channel with Local Delayed CSIT,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 62, no. 9, pp. 4910-4923, 2016.

[J3] A. Vahid, M. A. Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr “Approximate Capacity Region of the MISO Broadcast Channels with Delayed CSIT,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 64, no. 7, pp. 2913-2924, 2016.

[J2] A. Vahid, M. A. Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr “Capacity Results for Binary Fading Interference Channels With Delayed CSIT,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. 6093-6130, 2014.

[J1] A. Vahid, C. Suh, S. Avestimehr “Interference Channels with Rate-Limited Feedback,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 58, no. 5, pp. 2788-2812, 2012.

Conference Publications (see my CV for the most updated list)

[C27] A. Vahid, “Harnessing Random Receiver Cache in Erasure Interference Channels with Feedback,” IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), 2021.

[C26] A. Vahid, “Distortion-Based Outer-Bounds for Channels with Rate-Limited Feedback,” International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2021.

[C25] A. Narayan Ravi, A. Vahid, I. Shomorony, “Capacity of the Torn Paper Channel with Lost Pieces,” International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2021.

[C24] M. A. Farahani, A. Vahid, A. E. Goodwell, “Evaluating Ecohydrological Model Sensitivity to Forcing Variability with an Information Theory-Based Approach,” American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 2020. Interdisciplinary work in environmental engineering.

[C23] I. Shomorony, A. Vahid, “Communicating over the Torn-Paper Channel,” IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), 2020.

[C22] S. C. Lin, I. H. Wang, A. Vahid, “Capacity of Erasure Broadcast Channels with Single-User Delayed CSI and Common Messages,” IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), 2020.

[C21] M. Johnny, A. Vahid, “Embedding Information in Radiation Pattern Fluctuations,” Proceedings of International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2020.

[C20] S. Nassirpour, A. Vahid, “Throughput, Delay, and Complexity Tradeoffs in Interference Channels,” 10th IEEE Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC), 2020. Winner Best Paper Award.

[C19] A. Vahid, I. H. Wang, S. C. Lin, “Capacity results for erasure broadcast channels with intermittent feedback,” IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW), 2019.

[C18] Mappouras, A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “GreenFlag: Protecting 3D-Racetrack Memory from Shift Errors,” 49th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN). Runner-up Best Paper Award.

[C17] S. C. Lin, I. H. Wang, A. Vahid, “No Feedback, No Problem: Capacity of Erasure Broadcast Channels with Single-User Delayed CSI,” International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2019.

[C16] A. Vahid, “Finite Field X-Channels with Delayed CSIT and Common Messages,” International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2018.

[C15] A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, “ARQ for Interference Packet Networks,” International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2018.

[C14] G. Mappouras, A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “Jenga: Efficient Fault Tolerance for Stacked DRAM,” proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD), 2017.

[C13] A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, “When does spatial correlation add value to delayed channel state information?,” proceedings of International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), 2016.

[C12] G. Mappouras, A. Vahid, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “Methuselah Flash: Rewriting Codes for Extra-Long Storage Lifetime,” proceedings of the 46th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2016).

[C11] A. Eslami, A. Velasco, A. Vahid, G. Mappouras, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “Writing without Disturb on Phase Change Memories by Integrating Coding and Layout Design,” proceedings Memory Systems, 2015.

[C10] A. Vahid, I. Shomorony, R. Calderbank, “Informational Bottlenecks in Two-Unicast Wireless Networks with Delayed CSIT,” proceedings Allerton Conference, 2015.

[C9] A. Vahid and R. Calderbank, “Impact of local delayed CSIT on the capacity region of the two-user interference channel,” proceedings IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, 2015.

[C8] A. Vahid, G. Mappouras, A. Velasco, R. Calderbank, D. Sorin, “Virtual Cells and Concatenated Codes for Flash Memory,” Fifth Non-Volatile Memories Workshop (NVMW), 2015.

[C7] A. Vahid, M. Ali Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr, “Binary Fading Interference Channel with No CSIT,” proceedings IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, 2014.

[C6] A. Vahid, M. Ali Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr, “Communication Through Collisions: Opportunistic Utilization of Past Receptions,” proceedings IEEE Infocom, 2014.

[C5] A. Vahid, M. Ali Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr, “Approximate Capacity of the Two-User MISO Broadcast Channel with Delayed CSIT,” proceedings Allerton Conference, 2013.

[C4] A. Vahid, M. Ali Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr, “Binary Fading Interference Channel with Delayed Feedback,” proceedings IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, 2012.

[C3] A. Vahid, M. Ali Maddah-Ali, S. Avestimehr, “Interference Channel with Binary Fading: Effect of Delayed Network State Information,” proceedings Allerton Conference, 2011.

[C2] A. Vahid, V. Aggarwal, S. Avestimehr, A. Sabharwal, “On the Capacity of Multi-hop Wireless Networks with Partial Network Knowledge,” proceedings Allerton Conference, 2010.

[C1] A. Vahid and S. Avestimehr, “The Two-User Deterministic Interference Channel with Rate-Limited Feedback,” proceedings IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, 2010.

PhD Thesis

A. Vahid, “The Impact of Imperfect Feedback on the Capacity of Wireless Networks.”

Awards

• Dean's Faculty Fellow, 2021.
• Best Paper Award at IEEE CCWC with my PhD student, 2020.
• Lab Venture Challenge Award, 2019.
• New Faculty Research Award, CU Denver, 2019.
• Creative Research Collaborative (CRC) Fellowship, CU Denver, 2018.
• Best PhD Thesis Award, Cornell University, 2015.
• Qualcomm Innovation Award Winner (Innovation Title: Collaborative Interference Management), 2013.
• Director's PhD Teaching Assistant Award, Cornell University, 2011.
• Jacobs Scholar Fellowship, School of ECE, Cornell University, 2009.
• Ranked 2nd among over 360,000 participants in Iranian National University Entrance Exam, 2004.
• Silver medal, Iranian National Physics Olympiad, 2003.

Recent News

• [Journal Publication] September 2021: Our paper on interference suppression with reconfigurable antennas is accepted in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.
• [Conference Publication] August 2021: One paper to appear in IEEE GLOBECOM 2021.
• [Grant] August 2021: My proposal on smart surfaces was selected for funding by the National Science Foundation.
• [Journal Publication] August 2021: Our paper on the capacity of broadcast channels with single-user CSI is published in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.
• [Journal Publication] July 2021: Our paper on the stability region of intermittent interference networks is published in IEEE Transactions on Communications.
• [Journal Publication] July 2021: Our paper on the capacity of erasure broadcast channels with intermittent feedback is published in IEEE Transactions on Communications.
• [Award] June 2021: I was selected as one of the recipients of the Dean's Faculty Fellow program at CU Denver.
• [Conference Publication] April 2021: Two papers to appear in IEEE ISIT 2021.
• [Service] March 2021: I served as Technical Program Committee (TPC) member at ISIT'21.
• [Service] February 2021: I served as Technical Program Committee (TPC) member at NVMW'21.
• [Conference Publication] December 2020: Two papers presented at IEEE GLOBECOM. Thanks to Dr. Ilan Shomorony of UIUC, and Dr. Shih-Chun Lin of NTUST.
• [Conference Publication] December 2020: One paper presented at AGU Fall Meeting. Thanks to Mozhgan Farahani and Dr. Allison Goodwell of CU Denver.
• [Journal Publication] November 2020: Our paper “Embedded Codes for Reassembling Non-Overlapping Random DNA Fragments,” is published in IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications.
• [Grant] August 2020: My proposal was selected for funding by the National Science Foundation.
• [Conference Publication] June 2020: Our paper “Embedding Information In Radiation Pattern Fluctuations,” was presented at ISIT,2020.
• [Award/Grant] November 2019: I received the 2019 Lab Venture Challenge Award.
• [Grant] November 2019: I received funding from the State of Colorado to commercialize my research in wireless networking.
• [Conference Publication] August 2019: I will give a talk on “Capacity Results for Erasure Broadcast Channels with Intermittent Feedback,” at ITW, Visby, Sweden.
• [Invited Talk] May 2019: I will give a talk on “Improving High Performance Memory through Information Theory,” at the CS Department.
• [Conference Publication] April 2019: Our paper “GreenFlag: Protecting 3D-Racetrack Memory from Shift Errors,” has been nominated as a best paper award candidate at DSN 2019!
• [Conference Publication] April 2019: Our paper “No Feedback, No Problem: Capacity of Erasure Broadcast Channels with Single-User Delayed CSI,” has been accepted for presentation at ISIT 2019.
• [Award/Grant] March 2019: I received the 2019 New Faculty Research Award.
• [Journal Publication] March 2019: Our paper “On the Degrees-of-Freedom of Two-Unicast Wireless Networks with Delayed CSIT,” has been accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.

Funding

• NSF CNS 2021 (total project budget: $500k, role: PI). Topic: Smart surfaces.
• NSF ECCS 2020 (total project budget: $500k, role: PI). Topic: Cross-layer interference management.
• Lab Venture Partners 2019 (total project budget: $125k, role: PI). Theia the antenna.
• State of Colorado 2019 (total project budget: $90k, role: PI). Opportunistic communications in dynamic systems.
• Qualcomm Inc. (total project budget: $100k, role: PI). Collaborative interference management.

Team

Current Students:

• Sajjad Nassirpour (PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering)
• Masoumeh Abolfathi, co-advised with Dr. Jafarian (PhD Candidate in Computer Science)

Information for Prospective Students:

I am currently looking for a postdoctoral researcher to joing my team. Candidates are expected to have expertise in one or more of the following areas: wireless networking, antenna design, machine learning for wireless communications, and Information Theory.

I welcome applications from prospective Ph.D. students. If you are interested in working with me, please send me an email describing your research interests and background. Please include your detailed CV, your transcript(s), and GRE/TOEFL scores. I particularly encourage students of color, women, and students from other underrepresented groups to apply.

I am also interested in working with graduate and undergraduate students for short-term projects.

Service

• 2021: Technical Program Chair (TPC) at IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT).
• 2021: Technical Program Chair (TPC) at Non-Volatile Memories Workshop (NVMW).
• 2020: Chair of the student travel award at IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT).
• 2020: Reviewer for Creative Research Collaborative (CRC) award at CU Denver.
• 2020: Committee member to revamp the Electrical Engineering undergraduate curriculum at CU Denver.

Contact

Teaching

Digital Communications, ELEC 5248, Spring'18, 19, 20, CU Denver

Random Processes for Engineers, ELEC 5617, Fall'18, 19, 20, 21 CU Denver

Digital Signal Processing, ELEC 4637/5637, Spring'21 (online format), CU Denver

Engineering Probability and Statistics, ELEC 3817, Spring'19, CU Denver

Information Theory, ELEC 5250, Fall'17, 19, CU Denver

Data+ Project, Duke University

• Big Data Analytics mentor. Watch the video for our work here.
• Visit the Data+ website here.

Random Signals in Communication and Signal Processing, Cornell University

• Winner of the Director's PhD Best Teaching Award

Elements

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