About Me
I am an Associate Professor/Reader in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. I am also a Co-founder and the CEO of Net AI, a university spin-out whose mission is to put mobile network management on autopilot in the cloud.
I lead the Mobile Intelligence Lab and the Informatics Internet of Things research programme. I am a member of the Institute for Computing Systems Architecture (ICSA) and I am also affiliated to the Security & Privacy group.
Before joining Edinburgh, I was a research fellow at the Hamilton Institute of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Between 2007–2011 I was a research assistant at IMDEA Networks (Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Networks). I held visiting research positions at the University of Brescia (2017, 2015), Northeastern University (2016), Technical University Darmstadt (2016), and Rice University (2010).
I hold a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in Telematics Engineering from University Carlos III of Madrid, and a Dipl.Eng. degree from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
My research seeks to bridge the gap between fundamental mathematical models and real-world applications of networked systems. I focus on problems related to artificial intelligence in mobile networks, traffic analytics, performance optimisation, security and privacy, prototyping and test beds.
News
19 April, 2022 – Work with my student Haoyu Liu on detecting incipient large-scale network attacks using deep learning accepted for publication in Computer Communications.
8 March, 2022 – Guest lecture at U. Cardiff on harnessing AI to secure the edge.
3 January, 2022 – Work with my student Yini Fang and my collaborator Salih Ergut (OREDATA) on mobile traffic forecasting using a handover-aware spatiotemporal graph neural network accepted for publication in IEEE Communications Letters.
15 December, 2021 – I wrote a contribution in AIhub about the research my team has been pursuing to elucidate mobile traffic consumption at city scale using AI.
12 December, 2021 – Work with my former student Chaoyun Zhang and my old time collaborator Xavier Costa on Adversarial Attacks Against Deep Learning-based Network Intrusion Detection Systems and Defense Mechanisms was accepted for publication in IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking.
7 December, 2021 – Work with my student Weihe Li and his former team at CSU on predictive audio/video bitrate adaptation was accepted for publication in IEEE Wireless Communications Letters.
10 November, 2021 – I gave a tech talk about how to harness the power of AI for mobile traffic analysis at OREDATA.
20 October, 2021 – Spoke about my team's research on AI-driven mobile traffic analytics at the MIT CINCS / Hamilton Institute Seminar series.
15 October, 2021 – Research with Doug Leith and my student Haoyu Liu on Android OS privacy on Android OS privacy has been featured in a number of press articles including in EuroNews, the Irish Times, and The Register
Media
Android OS Privacy
Research with Doug Leith (Trinity College Dublin) and my student Haoyu Liu on the privacy of different Android distributions was featured in EuroNews, Hacker News, The Register, Help Net Security, The Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph, Irish Examiner, DIGIT, Science X, Techdirt, RT, India Education Daily, Heise (DE), Tarnkappe.info (DE), Clubic (FR), ICTjournal (FR), OK Diario (ES), Gigazine (JP), CityPortal (GR), Fastweb (IT), IlCitadinoOnline (IT), TuttoAndroid (IT), Tiroler Tageszeitung (AT), Evenimentul Zilei (RO), GRYOnline (PL), Kallxo (XK), Diario Libre (RD).
Monitoring Covid-19 Incidence via Open Surveys
Work with the CoronaSurveys team on monitoring and forecasting the incidence of Covid-19 using open surveys was featured in Business Wire, Bloomberg, BioSpace, Science X, Datanami, La Razon, Republica, Tele Madrid, Madri+d, Cope, Ambientum, Catalunya Vanguardista, Leganes Activo, Globo Rural, Publico Surgiu, RedibInforma, and Liverpool Noise.
Deep learning in mobile networks
Our survey of deep learning in mobile and wireless networks has been picked up by Chinese media and was covered in The Heart of the Machine, Tencent, NetEase, SINA, and Sohu.com.
Smart-home security
Our security and privacy investigation of the Belkin WeMo ecosystem featured in The National, The Herald, Phys.org, Technology.org, ECN Mag, tekk.tv, qianjia.com, The Edinburgh Reporter, Edinburgh Live, Scottish Construction Now, Scottish Housing News. Forth Radio also ran a short interview with me about this work.
Wearable IoT security
Our research on the vulnerabilities of fitness trackers featured in The Times, The Telegraph, International Business Times, Huffington Post, New York Post, The Scotsman, STV News, Yorkshire Post, The Northern Echo, Channel News, Market Watch, SC Magazine, The Inquirer, CORDIS News, Homeland Security News Wire, China Press, Xinhua News, China Industrial Control Network, Shenzhen News Network, Photoelectric News Network, Hong Kong News, Indo-Asian News Service, The Economic Times, The Hindu, Businessworld India, The New Indian Express, The Pioneer, domain-b.com, HackRead, Techworm, V3, texnologia.net, Gears of Biz, Infosecurity Magazine, Third Age, Phys.org, ECN Mag, Digtial Journal, Gadgets & Wearables, DIGIT, EurekAlert!
The BBC Radio 4 Extra's Newsjack show mentioned us in their satire on fitness tracking (season 17, episode 2).
I also gave an interview about our research to BBC Radio Scotland for the Newsdrive show (12/04/2019).
Publications
H. Liu and P. Patras, "NetSentry: A Deep Learning Approach to Detecting Incipient Large-scale Network Attacks", to appear in Computer Communications, 2022.
Y. Fang, S. Ergut, and P. Patras, "SDGNet: A Handover-aware Spatiotemporal Graph Neural Network for Mobile Traffic Forecasting", IEEE Communications Letters, 2022.
C. Zhang, X. Costa-Perez, and P. Patras, "Adversarial Attacks Against Deep Learning-based Network Intrusion Detection Systems and Defense Mechanisms", IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2022.
W. Li, J. Huang, W. Lyu, J. Wang, and P. Patras, "VAMP: A Predictive Approach to Audio/Video Bitrate Adaptation Over Wireless Networks", IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, 2022.
Y. Fang, A. Diallo, C. Zhang, and P. Patras, "Spider: Deep Learning-driven Sparse Mobile Traffic Measurement Collection and Reconstruction" in Proc. IEEE Globecom 2021.
M. Michaelides, C. Sengul, and P. Patras, "An Experimental Evaluation of MQTT Authentication and Authorization in IoT" to appear in Proc. ACM WiNTECH 2022.
Narengerile, J. Thompson, P. Patras, and T. Ratnarajah, "Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Beam Training for Spatially Consistent Millimeter Wave Channels" in Proc. IEEE PIMRC 2021.
A. Diallo and P. Patras, "Adaptive Clustering-based Malicious Traffic Classification at the Network Edge", in Proc. IEEE INFOCOM 2021.
C. Zhang, M. Fiore, I. Murray, and P. Patras, "CloudLSTM: A Recurrent Neural Model for Spatiotemporal Point-cloud Stream Forecasting", in Proc. AAAI 2021.
Conferences/Workshops
(I am on sabbatical leave between September 2021 – August 2022 and will not be taking new scholarly activity commitments.)
TEAM
Alec Diallo (PhD student, 2019–2023)
Alec is harnessing Artificial Intelligence to build automatic network threat detection and counteraction mechanisms. He is supported by arm.
Haoyu Liu (PhD student, 2019–2023)
Haoyu's research focuses on developing machine learning tools for Internet of Things (IoT) and Network Security. He is supported by arm and CENSIS.
Weihe Li (PhD student, 2021–2024)
Weihe's research focuses on developing new techniques for accurate detection of specific types of traffic flows in high-speed networks. He is partially funded by Cisco.
Rupen Mitra (MPhil student, 2019–2022)
Rupen's research interests are at the intersection of networked systems, Internet measurements, and security. Previously, he worked with Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson.
Previous Post-doctoral Research Associates
Alexis Duque, Oct. 2020–Mar. 2021. (now with Net AI)
Previous Students
Yini Fang (MPhil), The University of Edinburgh, 2022 (now at Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Chaoyun Zhang (PhD), The University of Edinburgh, 2020. (now at Tencent)
Rui Li (PhD), The University of Edinburgh, 2019. (now at Samsung AI Centre Cambridge)
Interns
Luyang Xu, Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nov. 2020 –Oct. 2021.
Stephen Waddell, University of Edinburgh, June–Aug. 2019.
Marco Cominelli, University of Brescia, July–Dec. 2018
Adela Rotar, University of Edinburgh, May–July 2018.
Haoyu Liu, University of Edinburgh, June–Sept. 2018.
Ayush Bhardwaj, IIT Roorkee, June–Aug. 2018.
Daniel Licciardello, University of Catania, Mar. 2016–May 2016.
Chiara Capretti, University of Brescia, Sept. 2015–Dec. 2015.
Nicolo Facchi, University of Brescia, Sept. 2014–Feb. 2015.
COURSES
Internet of Things Systems, Security, and the Cloud (IoTSSC, 2018–2021)
The course gives students theoretical and practical grounding in IoT, covering systems architecture, hardware platforms, embedded programming and debugging, networking paradigms for IoT, secure operation, cloud integration, and simple data analytics.
Computing in the Classroom (CiC, 2019–20)
The course offers an in-depth, sustained experience in the classroom to fourth-year students contemplating a career in education.
Computer Science Large Practical (CSLP, 2014–16)
The course exposed students to the problems that arise with the design and implementation of large scale computer systems, and to methods of coping with such problems.
Undergraduate Research Practical (URP, 2015)
This course allowed undergraduate students to participate in a research project in collaboration with a member of staff or a research group.
Computer & Communications Networks (CCN, 2013)
This course introduced the principles of computer networking using a top down approach, from the application layer and working down toward the physical layer (delivered at Maynooth University).
Network Infrastructure (NI, 2008–09)
This course covered advanced concepts, principles and theory related to network-centred computing (delivered at University Carlos III of Madrid).
Contact Me
EMAIL: paul [dot] patras [at] ed.ac.uk
ADDRESS: Room 1.22A, Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK.
