Sayanta Seth
Current Affiliation
Postdoctoral Associate, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) @ Virginia Tech
Research Areas
Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN), Digital Twins for Cyber-Physical Systems, AI-native Wireless Networks, Spectrum Coexistence (FR3/mmWave), NextG (6G) Wireless Systems, Network Economics, and Cislunar Communications, large-scale commercial-grade O-RAN hardware interoperability/security testing.
Research Summary
Dr. Sayanta Seth's research focuses on designing intelligent, secure, and interoperable NextG wireless systems that integrate artificial intelligence, digital twins, and open network architectures. His work spans O-RAN, AI-driven spectrum coexistence, cyber-physical system modeling, and lunar communications, with an emphasis on building deployable and experimentally validated solutions. His research combines high-fidelity simulation, software-defined radio testbeds, and AI-enabled decision making to address emerging challenges in 6G networks, including spectrum sharing, network automation, and resilient communication infrastructures. He has extensive experience developing O-RAN compliant systems using OCUDU, OpenAirInterface (OAI), and near real-time and non-real-time RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs).
Dr. Seth is a key contributor to the development of a Lunar Digital Twin (LDT) funded through a NASA SBIR Phase I award ($150,000). The project develops a high-fidelity virtual representation of the Earth-Space-Lunar communication environment to support the design, optimization, and management of future lunar communication systems.
As part of this effort, he leads technical development and demonstration activities, integrating communication models, simulation environments, and visualization tools that enable researchers to study end-to-end connectivity scenarios involving satellites, lunar rovers, and astronauts for future Moon-to-Earth networks.
Dr. Seth serves as a Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on several pending National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals, including:
- Lunar Digital Twin (NASA SIBR Phase II, $1.2M): A scalable lunar digital twin that would emerge as a full-fledged product for potential customers such as NASA, SpaceX etc.
- GFM-NET (NSF VINES Track 2, $750,000): AI-native, O-RAN enabled framework for spectrum-agile networking supporting grid-forming power systems.
- COSMIC (NSF NeTS, $500,000): AI and Digital Twin based spectrum coexistence framework for LEO satellite systems and incumbent terrestrial services.
- STRIDE (NSF VINES Track 1, $375,000): Spectrum-sharing aware O-RAN infrastructure for dynamic smart warehouse environments with autonomous robots
Background and Alma Mater
Before joining CCI, Dr. Seth was a postdoc at NC State University. Dr. Seth earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida.