Welcome! I’m Jikang Deng (邓纪康), a PhD student in Communication Theory Lab (CTL) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini. I obtained the Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in electrical and computer engineering from KAUST in 2025. I received the Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) degree in network engineering from School of Information and Communication Engineering (SICE), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in 2023.
My research interests include wireless communication, non-terrestrial network (NTN), AI for communications, and near-field communication. My research aims to bridge the digital divide and connect the unconnected. Please feel free to connect—I’m always open to new ideas and collaborations! You can reach me at jikang.deng[at]kaust.edu.sa
🔬 Research Interest
- Wireless Communication
- Non-terrestrial Network (NTN)
- AI for communications
- Near-field Communication
🔔 News
- 2025.11: 🎉 My 2nd first-authored full journal paper “Two-Timescale Optimization Framework for IAB-Enabled Heterogeneous UAV Networks” got accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT-J)!
- 2025.11: 🎉 Our magazine paper “Distributed Coordination for Heterogeneous Non-Terrestrial Networks” got accepted by IEEE Communications Magazine (COMMAG)!
- 2025.09: 🎉 Our magazine paper “Distributed Coordination for Heterogeneous Non-Terrestrial Networks” was featured in the September 2025 issue of IEEE Spectrum [Link]!
- 2025.06: My 1st first-authored full journal paper “Orthogonality Analysis in LoRa Uplink Satellite Communications Affected by Doppler Effect” got accepted by IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (TAES)!
- 2025.04: I successfully defended my master’s thesis “Hierarchical Distributed Coordination for Heterogeneous Non-terrestrial Network” in KAUST.
- 2024.11: I presented my poster “Orthogonality Analysis in LoRa Uplink Satellite Communications Affected by Doppler Effect” in 2024 6G Summit, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
📝 Research Experience
Publications
Distributed Coordination for Heterogeneous Non-Terrestrial Networks [arXiv]
Jikang Deng, Hui Zhou, Mohamed-Slim Alouini
— IEEE Communications Magazine (COMMAG), Nov. 2025.
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Academic Impact✨: This paper has been featured in the September 2025 issue of IEEE Spectrum [Link]!
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Main Contribution: This paper summarizes the unique characteristics of each NTN platform, identifes the communication challenges, and proposes the potential coordinated solution based on multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) in heterogeneous NTN.
Two-Timescale Optimization Framework for IAB-Enabled Heterogeneous UAV Networks [IEEE IoT-J] [arXiv]
Jikang Deng, Hui Zhou, Mohamed-Slim Alouini
— IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT-J), Nov. 2025.
- Main Contribution: This paper proposed a two-timescale multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (TTS-MADDPG) algorithm to maximize the throughput by jointly optimizing the user scheduling and trajectory control of UAVs.
Orthogonality Analysis in LoRa Uplink Satellite Communications Affected by Doppler Effect [IEEE TAES] [arXiv]
Jikang Deng, Fatma Benkhelifa, Mohamed-Slim Alouini
— IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (TAES), Jun. 2025.
- Main Contribution: This paper comprehensively analyzes LoRa’s orthogonality in satellite communication under Doppler effect. It reveals the direct impact of differential Doppler shift on the cross-correlation variations and offers practical guidelines for future LoRa configurations in satellite communication.
AI-Native Open RAN for Non-Terrestrial Networks: An Overview [arXiv]
Jikang Deng, Fizza Hassan, Hui Zhou, Saad Al-Ahmadi, Mohamed-Slim Alouini, Daniel B. Da Costa | arXiv, Jul. 2025.
- Main Contribution: This paper reviews ORAN research for NTNs, highlights DevOps challenges, proposes an ORAN-based NTN framework with key features, components, and architectures, and also explores the future research directions and potential use cases.
Academic Service
- Reviewer for IEEE Communications Magazine (COMMAG)
- Reviewer for IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (WCL)
- Reviewer for IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (OJ-COMS)
- Reviewer for IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)
📖 Educations
- 2025.06 - Present: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
- Doctor of Philosophy, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 2023.08 - 2025.05: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
- Master of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 2019.09 - 2023.06: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC)
- Bachelor of Engineering, Network Engineering
- Chengdu, China
🎖 Honors and Awards
- 2022: SICE Person of the Year in College (荣耀信通年度人物), UESTC
- 2022: Meritorious Winner, Mathematical Contest in Modeling (Held by COMAP, USA)
- 2022: Xiaomi Scholarship, UESTC
- 2021: Suzhou Yucai Scholarship, UESTC
- 2020 - 2022: Outstanding Students First-Level Scholarships (Three Times), UESTC