publications

Conference Papers

2026

1. RTAS

   Balancing Security and Schedulability: WCET Evaluation and Security Optimization in CPS

   Zihan Li, Marion Sudvarg, Ching-Hsiang Chan, Ryan Burrow, Nathan Burow, Cailani Lemieux-Mack, Sanjoy Baruah, Ning Zhang, and Bryan C. Ward

   In 2026 IEEE 32nd Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS), 2026

   DOI Bib HTML PDF

   

   @inproceedings{RTsecurity_rtas26,
     title = {Balancing Security and Schedulability: WCET Evaluation and Security Optimization in CPS},
     author = {Li, Zihan and Sudvarg, Marion and Chan, Ching-Hsiang and Burrow, Ryan and Burow, Nathan and Lemieux-Mack, Cailani and Baruah, Sanjoy and Zhang, Ning and Ward, Bryan C.},
     booktitle = {2026 IEEE 32nd Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS)},
     year = {2026},
     volume = {},
     number = {},
     pages = {344-359},
     keywords = {Printing;Real-time systems;Security;Timing;Conferences;Optimization;Memory;Schedules;Scheduling;Stacking},
     doi = {10.1109/RTAS68450.2026.00038},
     url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11558406},
     organization = {IEEE},
   }

2. DySPAN

   Sensing and Stopping Interfering Secondary Users: Validation of an Efficient Spectrum Sharing System

   Meles G. Weldegebriel, Zihan Li, Dustin Maas, Gregory Hellbourg, Ning Zhang, and Neal Patwari

   In 2026 IEEE International Symposium on Spectrum Innovation (DySPAN), 2026

   DOI Bib HTML

   @inproceedings{pseudonym_dyspan26,
     author = {Weldegebriel, Meles G. and Li, Zihan and Maas, Dustin and Hellbourg, Gregory and Zhang, Ning and Patwari, Neal},
     booktitle = {2026 IEEE International Symposium on Spectrum Innovation (DySPAN)},
     title = {Sensing and Stopping Interfering Secondary Users: Validation of an Efficient Spectrum Sharing System},
     year = {2026},
     volume = {},
     number = {},
     pages = {1-10},
     keywords = {Interference;Watermarking;Signal detection;Timing;Printing;OFDM;Databases;Signal to noise ratio;Bandwidth;Receivers;Dynamic Spectrum Sharing;Interference Mitigation;Signal Watermarking},
     doi = {10.1109/DySPAN69846.2026.11571156},
     url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11571156},
     organization = {IEEE},
   }

2025

1. OSDI

   A Unified Hardware Performance Profiling Infrastructure to Measure and Manage Uncertainty

   Ao Li, Marion Sudvarg, Zihan Li, Sanjoy Baruah, Chris Gill, and Ning Zhang

   In 19th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI 25), Jul 2025

   Bib HTML

   

   @inproceedings{tintin_osdi25,
     title = {A Unified Hardware Performance Profiling Infrastructure to Measure and Manage Uncertainty},
     author = {Li, Ao and Sudvarg, Marion and Li, Zihan and Baruah, Sanjoy and Gill, Chris and Zhang, Ning},
     booktitle = {19th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI 25)},
     pages = {575--593},
     isbn = {978-1-939133-47-2},
     address = {Boston, MA},
     year = {2025},
     url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/osdi25/presentation/li},
     publisher = {USENIX Association},
     month = jul,
   }

2. DAC

   Resilient Federated Learning on Embedded Devices with Constrained Network Connectivity

   Zihan Li, Han Liu, Ao Li, Ching-hsiang Chan, Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, William Yeoh, Wenjing Lou, and Ning Zhang

   In 2025 62nd ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC), Jul 2025

   DOI Bib HTML PDF

   

   @inproceedings{AdaFL_dac25,
     author = {Li, Zihan and Liu, Han and Li, Ao and Chan, Ching-hsiang and Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy and Yeoh, William and Lou, Wenjing and Zhang, Ning},
     title = {Resilient Federated Learning on Embedded Devices with Constrained Network Connectivity},
     booktitle = {2025 62nd ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC)},
     year = {2025},
     pages = {1--7},
     url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11133269},
     keywords = {Training;Performance evaluation;Adaptation models;Federated learning;Scalability;Bandwidth;Robustness;Hardware;Testing;Resilience},
     doi = {10.1109/DAC63849.2025.11133269},
     organization = {IEEE},
   }

2024

1. USENIX

   Your Firmware Has Arrived: A Study of Firmware Update Vulnerabilities

   Yuhao Wu, Jinwen Wang, Yujie Wang, Shixuan Zhai, Zihan Li, Yi He, Kun Sun, Qi Li, and Ning Zhang

   In 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 24), Aug 2024

   Bib HTML

   

   @inproceedings{firmware_usenix24,
     author = {Wu, Yuhao and Wang, Jinwen and Wang, Yujie and Zhai, Shixuan and Li, Zihan and He, Yi and Sun, Kun and Li, Qi and Zhang, Ning},
     title = {Your Firmware Has Arrived: A Study of Firmware Update Vulnerabilities},
     booktitle = {33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 24)},
     year = {2024},
     isbn = {978-1-939133-44-1},
     address = {Philadelphia, PA},
     pages = {5627--5644},
     url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity24/presentation/wu-yuhao},
     publisher = {USENIX Association},
     month = aug,
   }

Conference / Workshop Short Papers

2026

1. RFID

   Spectrogram-Based Interference Source Attribution at OVRO: An Over-the-Air Validation Using Pseudonymetry

   Meles G. Weldegebriel, Zihan Li, Gregory Hellbourg, Ning Zhang, and Neal Patwari

   In 2026 IEEE RFID NRDZ Workshop To Appear, 2026

2025

1. OSPERT

   Tintin: PMU Scheduling to Minimize Uncertainty

   Marion Sudvarg, Ao Li, Zihan Li, Sanjoy Baruah, Chris Gill, and Ning Zhang

   In The 19th Annual Workshop on Operating Systems Platforms for Embedded Real-Time Applications (OSPERT 25), 2025

   Bib

   @inproceedings{tintin_ospert25,
     title = {Tintin: PMU Scheduling to Minimize Uncertainty},
     author = {Sudvarg, Marion and Li, Ao and Li, Zihan and Baruah, Sanjoy and Gill, Chris and Zhang, Ning},
     booktitle = {The 19th Annual Workshop on Operating Systems Platforms for Embedded Real-Time Applications (OSPERT 25)},
     year = {2025}
   }

2022

1. RTSS

   Work-in-Progress: Measuring Security Protection in Real-time Embedded Firmware

   Yuhao Wu, Yujie Wang, Shixuan Zhai, Zihan Li, Ao Li, Jinwen Wang, and Ning Zhang

   In 2022 IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium (RTSS), Dec 2022

   DOI Bib HTML

   

   @inproceedings{wip_rtss22,
     author = {Wu, Yuhao and Wang, Yujie and Zhai, Shixuan and Li, Zihan and Li, Ao and Wang, Jinwen and Zhang, Ning},
     booktitle = {2022 IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium (RTSS)},
     title = {Work-in-Progress: Measuring Security Protection in Real-time Embedded Firmware},
     year = {2022},
     volume = {},
     number = {},
     pages = {495-498},
     keywords = {Bridges;Embedded systems;Scheduling algorithms;Ecosystems;Cyber-physical systems;Real-time systems;Security},
     doi = {10.1109/RTSS55097.2022.00050},
     month = dec,
   }