My research activity has been mostly dedicated to signal processing for wireless communications, and in the last last few years mainly focused on spectrum sensing for cognitive-radio applications, optimal estimation in impulsive noise environments, as well as on signal-waveform analysis for 5G-communications.

Quite recently, I have been attracted by the emerging topic of signal processing on graphs, which can model (Big-) data on a more general non-metric space (i.e., a graph), with respect to classical discrete signal processing. In this framework, I am interested in sparse signal representations, sampling and reconstructions, as well distributed statistical inference and adaptive filtering.

Applications may vary from (statistical) monitoring and control of sensor and telecommunication networks, to social networks analysis, vehicular and power-grid networks, as well as gene-regulatory networks.

This reserach topic is developed in collaboration with Dr. P. Di Lorenzo,  and Prof. S. Barbarossa from University of Rome "La Sapienza", and more recently, Prof. G. Leus from University of Delft, in the Netherlands.

At beginning of my carrer my research has been focused on non-linear distortion phenomena analysis and compensation.This activity, which included real amplifier characterization by laboratory measurements and predistortion systems realization, has been developed in collaboration with Itelco (now Electrosys).

The sensitivity of OFDM systems to distortions introduced by non linear amplifiers in Broadcasting (DAB, DVB-T) and WLAN (IEEE 802.11) applications has been investigated as testified by the publication of some papers on this topics. 

The collaboration with Itelco also lead to the realization and patenting of both a BaseBand and a Mixed BaseBand-IF predistorter for DAB and DVB-T broadcasting.

Multiuser Detection for W- CDMA is another research topic I was involved with for a while, with particular interest in the sensitivity of MMSE blind multiuser detector to Channel and Correlation Matrices Estimation errors as well as to their sensitiveness to nonlinear distortions.

Successively, my research interests were mainly focused on Block Transmission Techniques for Multi-User Wireless Communication Systems (MC-CDMA, DS-CDMA, GMC-CDMA, OFDMA, etc.) and to their potential improvement by Multiple Antennas (also in a distributed fashion) by means of Space-Time Coding and to their possible application in  IVth-generation mobile communication systems. The research activity on these topics has been significantly stimulated by a visiting period in 2001 at the SpinCom research group coordinated by Prof. G.B. Giannakis at the Minnesota University, Minneapolis, USA.

Along this research track, I was also the scientific coordinator for the University of Perugia for a two-year Research Project founded by the Italian Minister for University and Research (MIUR) which studied  MC-CDMA techniques for 4th generation mobile telecommunication systems. 

Significant results has been obtained on channel estimation and low complexity equalization for multicarrier systems in time-varying scenarios with high Doppler spreads, which have been investigated within a collaboration with Prof. G. Leus from University of Delft, Delft, the Netherlands. In this framework I was also the scientific coordinator of a collaboration with Magneti Marelli Motorsport.

I have been also involved in data-link and physical cross-layer design to optimize the throughput of wireless links under prescribed performance constraints. Topics in this framework are related to scheduling policies and their interactions with data-link ARQ and physical FEC, which also include Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) strategies. This activity has been be developed targeting satellite applications, within the European Network of Excellence SatNEx II.

My interest has been also attracted for a while by signal processing for bio-medical applications, with specific interest on coded-excitation signal-waveform design for ultrasound applications, and ECG acquisition and compression, which lead also to the development of a fully-functional ECG-device and a laboratory ultrasound platform.

For deeper details, please visit my detailed Research Curriculum, Projects, and Papers