The main research topics of SCNL are related to Satellite Communications and Networking and Cybersecurity.

In detail, the main research activities currently addressed are:

 

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)

 

NTN integration in B5G / 6G

NTN 5G scenario

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) became a viable solution to improve the current Internet connectivity in the vision of the Beyond 5G (B5G) / 6G frameworks. Satellites, UAVs, and HAPS can offer higher coverage, reliability, and extend Internet connection to rural and remote areas where there is no other kind of telecommunication infrastructure (and the cost to build a terrestrial network from scratch would be prohibitive). 
However, the employment of networking solutions designed and developed for terrestrial networks is not straightforward.

Involved people: Nour Badini, Fabio Patrone, Mario Marchese

Related projects and collaborations:

Publication results:

 

Routing and Handover in Mega-LEO satellite networks

Industries and companies such as SpaceX, OneWeb, and Amazon, are designing and launching constellations made of thousands of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) communication satellites to contribute building a universal “Space Internet” able to support the classical and legacy terrestrial Internet. However, a lot of challenges from several viewpoints are still open, such as how to route the information throughout this network and how to manage the handover mainly caused by the fast-moving LEO satellites considering the strict hardware constraints of these space nodes.

Involved people: Nour Badini, Fabio Patrone, Mario Marchese

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Orbital Edge Computing

Mega-LEO satellite constellations are becoming a reality. Thousands of LEO satellites are orbiting the Earth mainly to offer worldwide Internet access, even if next-generation satellites could be also exploited for something else. Terrestrial users can benefit from offloading computational tasks to Orbital Edge Computing (OEC) platforms where tasks are processed onboard satellites. 
However, further improvements are still achievable considering multiple aspects, such as how to perform the computing sharing in this distributed orbital platform and which network information can be used.

Involved people: Camilo Jose Rojas, Fabio Patrone, Mario Marchese, Franco Davoli

Related projects and collaborations:

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Cybersecurity


UAV for localization and anomaly detection in IoT scenarios 

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are deployed and used for multiple purposes. One of them is related to telecommunication and involves properly equipped UAVs to fly above certain areas in order to collect data sent by underlying IoT nodes. This application has its role especially in rural areas but also in urban scenarios, if these flying nodes are exploited for additional tasks, such as cybersecurity-related tasks. 
However, multiple technological aspects still have to be considered and addressed to properly unleash the full potential of these devices, considering the different kinds of information they can collect and how they can interact with the other terrestrial and non-terrestrial network nodes.

Involved people: Zhansaya Amangeldiyeva, Fabio Patrone, Sandro Zappatore, Mario Marchese

Related projects and collaborations:

  • FOLLOWME – Flying drOnes to Locate cyber-attackers in LOraWan Metropolitan nEtworks, Progetto di ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN), 2023-2025.

Publication results:

 

Security assessment of systems with wireless communication interfaces

Nowadays, a higher number of systems are equipped with ICT technologies to improve them and offer additional functionalities to authorised users. Such improvements made these systems generate more data and connect to the Internet to allow authorised personnel to remotely see these data and manage the related apparatus. 
However, the cybersecurity aspect is often underestimated, making these systems suffer from cyber threats and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious users. An important aspect is to develop a universal tool for the system’s security assessment aims to verify the system’s security level by testing the different possible interfaces that unauthorised people can exploit to make attacks, such as the wireless communication interfaces.

Involved people: Roberto Caviglia, Muhammad Saad Sohail, Giancarlo Portomauro, Giovanni Battista Gaggero, Fabio Patrone, Mario Marchese

Related projects and collaborations:

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Anomaly detection in Industrial Control Systems

Smart Grids represent the new paradigm of evolution of electricity grids. Power grids implement a growing variety of control systems based on ICT technologies to meet the needs of real-time monitoring and control. Distributed energy sources, storage systems, and Vehicle-to-Grid provide the main examples. This evolution significantly extends the attack surface. The action of smart-grid protection must be approached from different perspectives, including Network Security and Cyber-physical security, starting from the observation that the control networks themselves carry information on the physical behavior of a process and for this reason they must respect the laws of physics that govern the process itself.  An anomaly can, therefore, be identified as a particular operational condition of the infrastructure as a whole, including both the network of controllers and the controlled process. 
The aim is the development of monitoring algorithms relying on an integrated approach that can significantly benefit from the use of Machine Learning (ML), which plays a crucial role.

Involved people: Afroz Mokarim, Alessandro Armellin, Roberto Caviglia, Giovanni Battista Gaggero, Mario Marchese

Related projects and collaborations:

  • Smart Grid Cyber-Physical Security (SCS), Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) – Italian National Recovery fund, Partenariato esteso “Security and Rights in CyberSpace - SERICS”, 2023-2025.
  • Robotics and AI for Socio-Economic Empowerment (RAISE),  -  Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) – Italian National Recovery fund, Ecosistema dell’innovazione, 2023-2025.
  • Physical and Cyber Security Information, event management & correlation (Phy.Cy.SIEMC), regional project Start 4.0 as subcontractor of Sababa Security,  2020-2021.
  • Gestore Avanzato di Scambi di Potenza in Alta Tensione per reti Energetiche della Difesa, Piano Nazionale della Ricerca Militare (PNRM) – ITER, 2020-2021.
  • Cyber Security delle infrastrutture critiche (CYBIC), regional project of Polo SOSIA as subcontractor of Circle, 2019-2021. 

Publication results: 

 

Satellite Cybersecurity

Recent competitions and challenges, such as Hack-A-Sat (https://hackasat.com/), showed how satellite systems can be appealing to hackers and prone to cyber-attacks, ranging from the simple satellite service disruption to the more dangerous partial or full control of the deployed satellites. 
However, simply applying protection systems designed and used in terrestrial networks may not be an always applicable and useful solution. Besides, proper training of the satellite users and operators is needed to allow them to properly consider this aspect and implement the fundamental security-by-design principle.

Involved people: Nour Badini, Giancarlo Portomauro, Fabio Patrone, Mario Marchese

Related projects and collaborations:

  • OpenSatRange: Un cyber range aperto per la formazione in cyber security di operatori di sistemi e reti satellitari, Giornate della ricerca accademica spaziale, Area Tematica del Tavolo di Cyber security, Italian Space Agency (ASI), 2023-2025.

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