Research

01Overview

What I work on

I design secure systems for next-generation mobile networks (5G/6G). My work uses Named Data Networking to build zero-trust architectures, where every piece of data is signed and verified, and studies network performance in high-mobility settings such as 5G and satellite networks.

03Publications

Papers & talks

1. 2026

   NDN-ZT: An NDN Proxy Framework for Building Zero Trust Wireless Network Systems

   IEEE GLOBECOM 2026 Accepted · to appear

2. 2026

   RAIDER: A Lightweight UAV-Based Relay Mesh and Edge VNF Framework for Tactical Connectivity

   T. O. Atalay, A. Famili, A. Ghafoori, A. Stavrou

   IEEE ICC 2026

3. 2026

   A Survey on Cloud-Based 6G Deployments: Current Solutions, Future Directions and Open Challenges

   T. O. Atalay, A. Famili, A. Ghafoori, A. Stavrou

   arXiv preprint

4. 2024

   Stars and Towers on the Wheels: Global Perspective on Satellite Networks vs. Terrestrial 5G

   A. Ghafoori, A. Famili, A. Stavrou

   IEEE GLOBECOM 2024

5. 2024

   Performance in Multipath & High-Mobility Leveraging Terrestrial and Satellite Networks

   A. Ghafoori

   M.S. thesis, Virginia Tech

Talks & videos

1. 2026

   Establishing a Systematic Security Foundation for Next-G Mobile Networks

   A. Ghafoori

   Project introduction for an NSF-funded Virginia Tech–UCLA collaboration · 3 min · November 2026

2. 2026

   TrustNG: A Framework for Migrating Cloud-Native 5G Cores to Zero-Trust Using Named Data Networking

   A. Ghafoori, T. Yu, T. O. Atalay, A. Famili, A. Stavrou, L. Zhang

   NDN Community Meeting (NDNComm), Spring 2026

   Video ↗Slides ↗

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