Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SEEDS (A holistic design of secure vehicular networks: communications, data caching and blockchain services)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-03-01 al 2025-02-28
With the rapid development of future connected vehicles, Cyber Security has been gaining increasing importance to the connected systems that are fundamental to our society, health and welfare. It will be given priority to the upcoming areas, including autonomous systems and cyber-physical systems, etc. The SEEDS project sets an ambitious research agenda to fully exploit the potentials of V2X communications, data caching and blockchain services for revolutionizing the security and privacy of vehicular networks. As the conclusion of the key innovations of the project, 1) Firstly, we have applied mathematical modelling approaches and computer simulations to successfully evaluate our developed physical layer security schemes. Our proposed security scheme ensures that the performance of the considered system can be improved by adjusting the SIC decoding order at the MEC server, where the corresponding conditions are derived. Another major outcome of this project is from the multiple access (MA) perspective. In particular, the outcome of this project characterized the fundamental issues and information-theoretic capacity limits of power-domain NOMA, and then extended it to the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scenario, including the foundational principles of near-field communications, and the sensing and communications (ISAC) systems. 2) Secondly, from the networking and data centric point of view, we introduced a robust and multifaceted innovation strategy for securing and optimizing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) networks. A major thrust of the work was the development of lightweight, blockchain-based systems tailored to the resource constraints of vehicular environments. In parallel, the project leveraged edge computing and artificial intelligence to enhance the responsiveness and resilience of V2X communications. Deep reinforcement learning techniques were used to create intelligent task offloading agents capable of optimizing computation, latency, and energy use in dynamic vehicular contexts. Edge-based intrusion detection systems were also implemented using distributed machine learning models, providing real-time protection against threats such as denial-of-service attacks, spoofing, and data tampering—while maintaining low latency and computational overhead. Another innovation was the development of advanced security and trust mechanisms within in-vehicle networks. 3) To further validate the project’s innovations, SEEDS built a suite of experimental testbeds. A 5G-V2X campus testbed was developed to test real-world integration of secure blockchain consensus mechanisms and to explore intelligent autonomous driving features.
1) PR1 period (01/03/2021 to 28/02/2023):
Our project started in an extremely challenging year when COVID showed its worst and International travelling to Asia countries is almost impossible. It brings major difficulties to commit our planned secondment activities but we have managed to come up innovative ways to carry on our research activities and made fruitful achievements in the past two years. Specifically, some highlighted activities can be summarized as follows:
- WP1: T1.1 T1.2; WP2: T2.1 T2.2; WP3: T3.1 T3.2; WP4: T4.1 T4.2.
– Two annual workshops (SEEDS summer school) in Vehicular Communications and its physical layer security were held separately in September 2021 (online) and July 2022 (F2F). More than 65 people from the consortium attended the school.
– Regular seminar events, including university research forum/EPSRC visit and invited talks from Simplex Services, Samsung, Tata motors, Continental, ZTE and our consortium team members.
– Research outputs: more than 26 research papers published in major IEEE transactions or conferences. 3+ open-source codes have been published on Zenodo. 7 keynote or tutorial talks presented at major IEEE conference. 3 researcher awards (workskills UK 22, IEEE Industry Placement 21) and 1 best paper award (ICUS’21).
2) PR2 period (01/03/2023 to 28/02/2025):
Given the COVID and export control challenges, the consortium had made the best as we can to maximize our learning experience from the project. Specifically, some highlighted activities can be summarized as follows:
- WP1: T1.1 T1.2; WP2: T2.3 T2.4; WP3: T3.3 T3.4; WP4: T4.3 T4.4; WP5: T5.1 T5.2 T5.3.
– Two annual workshops (SEEDS summer school) and one conference (CSTFM 2024) in vehicular communications and smart transportation were held separately in May 2023 (hybrid), May 2024 (F2F) and October 2024 (F2F). More than 100 people from the consortium and wider interests groups attended the events.
– Regular seminar events, including university hosted research workshop with wider research institutes in Europe and invited talks from vehicular industry such as Cohda Wireless, UK parking association and our consortium team members.
– Research outputs: more than 29 research papers published in major IEEE transactions or conferences. 18+ open-source codes have been published on Zenodo. 6 keynote or tutorial talks presented at major IEEE conferences. 2 best paper award (IEEE VTS Best Magazine Award and IEEE Globecom 2024).
Our project started in an extremely challenging year when COVID showed its worst and International travelling to Asia countries is almost impossible. It brings major difficulties to commit our planned secondment activities but we have managed to come up innovative ways to carry on our research activities and made fruitful achievements in the past two years. Specifically, some highlighted activities can be summarized as follows:
- WP1: T1.1 T1.2; WP2: T2.1 T2.2; WP3: T3.1 T3.2; WP4: T4.1 T4.2.
– Two annual workshops (SEEDS summer school) in Vehicular Communications and its physical layer security were held separately in September 2021 (online) and July 2022 (F2F). More than 65 people from the consortium attended the school.
– Regular seminar events, including university research forum/EPSRC visit and invited talks from Simplex Services, Samsung, Tata motors, Continental, ZTE and our consortium team members.
– Research outputs: more than 26 research papers published in major IEEE transactions or conferences. 3+ open-source codes have been published on Zenodo. 7 keynote or tutorial talks presented at major IEEE conference. 3 researcher awards (workskills UK 22, IEEE Industry Placement 21) and 1 best paper award (ICUS’21).
2) PR2 period (01/03/2023 to 28/02/2025):
Given the COVID and export control challenges, the consortium had made the best as we can to maximize our learning experience from the project. Specifically, some highlighted activities can be summarized as follows:
- WP1: T1.1 T1.2; WP2: T2.3 T2.4; WP3: T3.3 T3.4; WP4: T4.3 T4.4; WP5: T5.1 T5.2 T5.3.
– Two annual workshops (SEEDS summer school) and one conference (CSTFM 2024) in vehicular communications and smart transportation were held separately in May 2023 (hybrid), May 2024 (F2F) and October 2024 (F2F). More than 100 people from the consortium and wider interests groups attended the events.
– Regular seminar events, including university hosted research workshop with wider research institutes in Europe and invited talks from vehicular industry such as Cohda Wireless, UK parking association and our consortium team members.
– Research outputs: more than 29 research papers published in major IEEE transactions or conferences. 18+ open-source codes have been published on Zenodo. 6 keynote or tutorial talks presented at major IEEE conferences. 2 best paper award (IEEE VTS Best Magazine Award and IEEE Globecom 2024).
Economic Impact:
The SEEDS project delivers substantial economic value by enhancing the efficiency, security, and scalability of intelligent vehicular networks, which are central to the future of mobility, smart cities, and digital infrastructure. By introducing lightweight blockchain mechanisms and AI-driven decision systems that require fewer computational resources, SEEDS reduces the cost of deploying trusted vehicular systems—making them more accessible for broader markets, including cost-sensitive regions or municipalities. Enhanced security through intrusion detection and anomaly monitoring also means lower risk and potential losses from cyberattacks—an increasingly critical cost consideration in connected transportation. The open-source nature of several tools and testbed frameworks developed within SEEDS fosters commercial scalability and technology transfer. Open science community can integrate these components without building systems from scratch, accelerating innovation cycles and supporting the growth of a competitive V2X technology ecosystem.
Environmental Impact:
From an environmental standpoint, the SEEDS project contributes positively in several areas. The edge intelligence and optimized task offloading mechanisms reduce the need for long-distance data transmission to cloud servers, which typically consumes significant energy. By localizing computation and using energy-efficient algorithms, the system lowers the overall power consumption of V2X services, contributing to reduced carbon emissions from digital infrastructure. Enhanced communication and security in vehicular networks enable better coordination, route planning, and platooning—strategies that reduce congestion and idle times, thereby minimizing fuel consumption and emissions. Intelligent perception modules and autonomous driving controllers developed in the project further support smoother, safer, and more efficient driving patterns, directly impacting air quality and urban noise levels. By supporting smarter transportation through secure and efficient technologies, SEEDS aligns with Europe’s broader Green Deal and digital sustainability goals, promoting both economic growth and ecological responsibility.
The SEEDS project delivers substantial economic value by enhancing the efficiency, security, and scalability of intelligent vehicular networks, which are central to the future of mobility, smart cities, and digital infrastructure. By introducing lightweight blockchain mechanisms and AI-driven decision systems that require fewer computational resources, SEEDS reduces the cost of deploying trusted vehicular systems—making them more accessible for broader markets, including cost-sensitive regions or municipalities. Enhanced security through intrusion detection and anomaly monitoring also means lower risk and potential losses from cyberattacks—an increasingly critical cost consideration in connected transportation. The open-source nature of several tools and testbed frameworks developed within SEEDS fosters commercial scalability and technology transfer. Open science community can integrate these components without building systems from scratch, accelerating innovation cycles and supporting the growth of a competitive V2X technology ecosystem.
Environmental Impact:
From an environmental standpoint, the SEEDS project contributes positively in several areas. The edge intelligence and optimized task offloading mechanisms reduce the need for long-distance data transmission to cloud servers, which typically consumes significant energy. By localizing computation and using energy-efficient algorithms, the system lowers the overall power consumption of V2X services, contributing to reduced carbon emissions from digital infrastructure. Enhanced communication and security in vehicular networks enable better coordination, route planning, and platooning—strategies that reduce congestion and idle times, thereby minimizing fuel consumption and emissions. Intelligent perception modules and autonomous driving controllers developed in the project further support smoother, safer, and more efficient driving patterns, directly impacting air quality and urban noise levels. By supporting smarter transportation through secure and efficient technologies, SEEDS aligns with Europe’s broader Green Deal and digital sustainability goals, promoting both economic growth and ecological responsibility.