Minhao Cui

self

I am currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst under supervision of Prof. Jie Xiong. I also closely work with Prof. Qing Wang from TU Delft.

My reserach topic is Visible Light Communication, especially for the side-channel of Visible Light Communication systems and Wireless Sensing.

Email: minhaocui at cs.umass.edu

News!

Publications

Projects

mobicom_dancingant

We utilize the leaked EM signals from the powerline to conduct wireless sensing with the help of human body. The targets only needs to wear a small and cheap ring antenna on their fingers, the proposed system can recognize the motions of the whole body.

MobiCom 2023 paper






sensys_bracelet

We utilize the human body to improve the energy harvesting performance. The wearable bracelet antenna is designed to harvest more leaked energy from the VLC systems with the help of human body.

SenSys 2022 paper




 
 
radioinlight_led

We utilize the leaked side channel signals of VLC to transmit additional data bits for communication. Without too much hardware modification and energy cost, we can double the data rate of the VLC systems with our novel design.

MobiCom 2021 paper




 
 
sensys_led

We utilize the side channel of VLC - a Radio Frequency (RF) channel created unintentionally during the transmission process of VLC - to break the VLC limitations:i) surrounding objects can easily block VLC links, and ii) intense ambient light can saturate the photodiodes of VLC receivers.

SenSys 2020 paper




In this paper, for the first time, we show that VLC is not as secure as people thought: VLC can be sniffed through walls! The key principle behind this is that in VLC transmissions, a VLC transmitter not only emits visible light signals but also leaks out `side channel RF signals'.

MobiCom 2020 paper, 5 min elevetor pitch video, Full presentation video

Awards

  • Dr. Phil Bernstein Graduate Scholarship in UMass Amherst, 2023
  • Best Paper Award in SenSys, 2022
  • Common Good Fellowship in UMass Amherst, 2022
  • Ph.D. Candidacy with Distinction in UMass Amherst, 2022
  • Student Travel Grants in MobiCom, 2021
  • Honourable Mention Award in MobiCom, 2020
  • National Scholarship in China, 2017 and 2018

TA Experience

  • Fall 2020: COMPSCI 240 - Reasoning Under Uncertainty.
  • Spring 2021: COMPSCI 240 - Reasoning Under Uncertainty.
  • Fall 2021: COMPSCI 240 - Reasoning Under Uncertainty.
  • Spring 2022: COMPSCI 240 - Reasoning Under Uncertainty.