It will also increase cybersecurity offerings and research opportunities

UTICA, NY – A new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will see the development of a first-of-its-kind open federated XG network that can be used to connect smart live Internet of Things (IoT) equipment. It will also help to develop an intelligent agility network that can facilitate the use of innovative application scenarios for education and teaching such as high definition (HD) live broadcasts, VR/AR teaching, holographic classrooms and HD supervision that currently suffer from the backward performance of current communication networking convenience, network delay, security management, terminal cost, and so on. The testbed supports real-time research that scales up to 10,000 5G-based user equipment

“SUNY Poly is incredibly grateful for this investment by AFRL,” said SUNY Poly Associate Professor and Chair of the Network + Computer Security: Cybersecurity Department Dr. Hisham Kholidy. “In simple words, we see this Open Federated XG network as a revolution in mobile network architecture. It is like building a flexible playground where different companies and technologies can easily join in and work together to create exciting new experiences. It’s a way of designing the 5G network so that various devices, services, and companies can connect and collaborate more easily, making the whole system more innovative and adaptable.”

“AFRL continues to be a great partner to SUNY Poly. This new agreement will result in tremendous opportunities for our students and faculty, as well as significant research,” said SUNY Poly Associate Provost for Research and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering Dr. Michael Carpenter. “I commend Dr. Kholidy for his work with AFRL, and for continuing to advance these game-changing relationships, which will truly benefit all involved.” 

AFRL plans to provide approximately $420,000 worth of equipment (5G network Core and Radio Access network), as part of the CRADA, for an Erickson 5G testbed to be established at SUNY Poly’s Advanced Cybersecurity Research Lab (ACRL) in Kunsela Hall, which Kholidy founded. AFRL will also be providing an estimated level of technical staff valued at approximately $150,000 over the life of the four-year agreement. The main goal of the CRADA is to extend the current testbed that has been developed at the ACRL to be a unique solution for companies and researchers to test their private 5G stand-alone interoperable applications, perform vulnerability assessments on this testbed, and develop and test Zero Trust security solutions.

This agreement works in tandem with a $1.1 million contract, the largest single-investigator award ever received at the SUNY Poly’s campus, Kholidy was awarded by AFRL this past summer for a project that will help address the need for an advanced security system that can identify, assess, and protect against attacks across the 5G open architecture in a timely and accurate way without human intervention. The equipment provided by AFRL, as part of the CRADA, will make that research possible.