Mohammad Moltafet – About me

I received my Ph.D. in Communications Engineering from the University of Oulu, Finland, in 2021. During my doctoral studies, I was a Visiting Ph.D. Researcher at Linköping University, Sweden, in 2019. I subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oulu and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Before joining Tennessee Tech University in August 2026, I was an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tennessee Tech University.

Research Interests and Background

My current research interests include:

• Semantic communications with special emphasis on information freshness, goal-oriented communications, and real-time remote tracking
• Reinforcement learning and decision-making under uncertainty, including Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), Constrained MDPs (CMDPs), and Partially Observable MDPs (POMDPs)
• Next-generation wireless systems and networking, including radio access networks, multiple access techniques, optimization, and stochastic control for both broadband data networks, i.e., 5/6G, and wireless sensor networks
• Optimization techniques for wireless communications and signal processing, including convex optimization, Lyapunov optimization, machine learning, distributed optimization, large-scale optimization, and dynamic programming
• Cybersecurity with special emphasis on information-theoretic security, multi-party communications in IoT systems, data storage, and federated learning

The core theoretical background required for carrying out successful research in these fast-developing fields is formed by: Communication Theory and Networking, Mathematical Optimization, Information Theory, Machine Learning, Probability Theory, Queueing Theory, Signal Processing, and Number Theory.

Awards & Grants

• Tauno Tönning Foundation personal grant for doctoral studies, 2021 (a competitive award for researchers in Finland)
• Nokia Foundation personal grant for doctoral studies, 2020 (a competitive award for researchers in Finland)
• HPY Research Foundation personal grant for doctoral studies, 2020 (a competitive award for researchers in Finland)
• Riitta ja Jorma J. Takanen Foundation personal grant for doctoral studies, 2020 (a competitive award for researchers in Finland)
• Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion personal grant for doctoral studies, 2019 (a competitive award for researchers in Finland)
• Recognition to the Ph.D. student with the highest accumulated JUFO in the University of Oulu, Finland, during 2019 and 2020
• The best M.Sc. thesis at Tarbiat Modares University, 2016 (Selected Thesis – 2016)
• M.Sc. Ranked 1st among all Communications Engineering M.Sc. students of Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Mohammad Moltafet – Journals

1. J. Yang, M. Moltafet, and H. R. Sadjadpour, "Status updating in two-way delay systems with preemption," in IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 30, pp. 2690-2694, July 2026.
2. S. Sadeghi, A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and R. Wichman, "Real-time tracking in a pull-based status update system with unreliable command channel," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 13, no. 14, pp. 32169-32184, 15 Jun, 2026.
3. S. Sadeghi, A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Real-time tracking in a status update system with an imperfect feedback channel," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 75, no. 5, pp. 8064-8079, May 2026.
4. M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, and Z. Rezki, "An unconditionally secure encryption scheme for IoBT networks," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 12, no. 21, pp. 44537-44550, Nov. 2025.
5. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Goal-oriented remote tracking through correlated observations in pull-based communications," IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 29, no. 12, pp. 2805-2809, Dec. 2025.
6. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Semantic-aware sampling and transmission in energy harvesting systems: A POMDP approach," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 73, no. 7, pp. 4898–4913, July 2025. [pdf]
7. M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, and Z. Rezki, "On the semantic security in the general bounded storage model: A new proof," IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 19, pp. 4263–4271, Mar. 2024. [pdf]
8. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, M. Codreanu, and R. D. Yates, "Status update control and analysis under two-way delay," IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 2918–2933, Jan. 2024. [pdf]
9. S. Sadeghi, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Multi-source AoI-constrained resource minimization under HARQ: Heterogeneous sampling processes," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 1084–1099, Jan. 2024.
10. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Dynamic scheduling for minimizing AoI in resource-constrained multi-source relaying systems with stochastic arrivals," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 450–466, Dec. 2023. [pdf]
11. S. Sadeghi, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "AoI analysis and optimization in systems with computations-intensive updates," Journal of Communications and Networks, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 585–597, Oct. 2023.
12. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Query-age-optimal scheduling under sampling and transmission constraints," IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 1205–1209, Apr. 2023.
13. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Moment generating function of the AoI in multi-source M/G/1/1 queueing systems," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. 6503–6516, Oct. 2022. [pdf]
14. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, M. Codreanu, and N. Pappas, "Power minimization for AoI of information constrained dynamic control in wireless sensor networks," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 419–432, Jan. 2022.
15. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Moment generating function of the AoI in a two-source system with packet management," IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 882–886, Apr. 2021.
16. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Average AoI in multi-source systems with source-aware packet management," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 1121–1133, Feb. 2021.
17. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "On the age of information in multi-source queueing models," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 68, no. 8, pp. 5003–5017, May 2020.
18. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Worst case age of information in wireless sensor networks: A multi-access channel," IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 321–325, Mar. 2020.
19. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and N. Mokari, "Joint radio resource allocation and SIC ordering in NOMA-based networks using submodularity and matching theory," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 68, no. 10, pp. 9761–9773, Oct. 2019.
20. M. Moltafet, S. Parsaeefard, M. R. Javan, and N. Mokari, "Robust radio resource allocation in MISO-SCMA assisted C-RAN in 5G networks," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 5758–5768, Jun. 2019.
21. A. Mokdad, P. Azmi, N. Mokari, M. Moltafet, and M. Ghaffari-Miab, "Cross-layer energy-efficient resource allocation in PD-NOMA based H-CRANs: Implementation via GPU," IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1246–1259, Jun. 2019.
22. M. Moltafet, P. Azmi, M. R. Javan, N. Mokari, and A. Mokdad, "Optimal radio resource allocation to achieve a low BER in PD-NOMA-based heterogeneous cellular networks," Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 1–23, May 2019.
23. M. Moltafet, R. Joda, N. Mokari, M. R. Sabagh, and M. Zorzi, "Joint access and fronthaul radio resource allocation in PD-NOMA-based 5G networks enabling dual connectivity and CoMP," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 66, no. 12, pp. 6463–6477, Dec. 2018.
24. M. Moltafet, P. Azmi, N. Mokari, M. R. Javan, and A. Mokdad, "Optimal and fair energy-efficient resource allocation for energy harvesting-enabled-PD-NOMA-based HetNets," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 2054–2067, Mar. 2018.
25. M. Moltafet, N. M. Yamchi, M. R. Javan, and P. Azmi, "Comparison study between PD-NOMA and SCMA," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 1830–1834, Feb. 2018.
26. M. Moltafet, N. Mokari, M. R. Javan, H. Saeedi, and H. Pishro-Nik, "A new multiple access technique for 5G: Power domain sparse code multiple access (PSMA)," IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 747–759, Nov. 2017.
27. M. Moltafet, A. Mokdad, P. Azmi, and N. Mokari, "Radio resource allocation in PD-NOMA based HCN system considering CoMP technology," International Journal of Digital Information and Wireless Communications, vol. 8, pp. 260–264, 2017.
28. M. Moltafet, and P. Azmi, "Efficient resource allocation in NOMA-based HCN systems," The Modares Journal of Electrical Engineering, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 36–41, 2016.
29. M. Moltafet, and P. Azmi, "Resource allocation in SCMA-based system," The Modares Journal of Electrical Engineering, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 9–14, 2016.

Mohammad Moltafet – Conferences

1. X. Gao, M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, "Timely ground-station status delivery via UAV-assisted data collection and hierarchical RL," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, 2026.
2. P. Oftadeh, Z. Rezki, M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, "Task-oriented semantic CSI feedback for MIMO precoding," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, 2026.
3. M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, Z. Rezki, M. Codreanu, and R. D. Yates, "AoI in M/G/1/1 Queues with Probabilistic Preemption," Proc. IEEE ISIT, Michigan, USA, Jun. 22–27, 2025. [pdf]
4. S. S. Vilni, A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Real-time Tracking in Status Update Systems Under Imperfect Feedback: A Deep R-Learning Approach," Proc. IEEE INFOCOM Workshop, London, UK, May 2025.
5. M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, and Z. Rezki, "An unconditionally secure and non-malleable encryption scheme for cloud storage," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, Oct. 2024.
6. S. S. Vilni, A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Goal-oriented real-time tracking in a status update system under imperfect feedback," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, Oct. 2024.
7. M. Moltafet, H. R. Sadjadpour, and Z. Rezki, "An unconditionally secure encryption protocol for cloud storage," Proc. IEEE ISIT, Athens, Greece, Jul. 2024.
8. A. Alatawi, H. R. Sadjadpour, Z. Rezki, M. Moltafet, and A. Elfikky, "Adaptive deep neural network for non-stationary wireless channels," Proc. IEEE WINCOM, Leeds, England, Jul. 2024.
9. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Goal-oriented remote tracking of an unobservable multi-state Markov source," Proc. IEEE WCNC, Dubai, UAE, Apr. 2024.
10. M. Moltafet, H. Sadjadpour, and Z. Rezki, "A Practical Perfect Secrecy Approach for IoBT Systems," Proc. IEEE MILCOM, Boston, MA, USA, Oct.–Nov. 2023.
11. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, and M. Codreanu, "Semantic-aware real-time tracking of a Markov source under sampling and transmission costs," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, Oct.–Nov. 2023.
12. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Optimal semantic-aware sampling and transmission in energy harvesting systems through the AoII," Proc. IEEE GLOBECOM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2023.
13. S. S. Vilni, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "AoI-Constrained Transmission Scheduling with HARQ and Heterogeneous Sampling Processes," Proc. IEEE INFOCOM Workshop, New York, USA, 2023.
14. S. S. Vilni, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Average AoI Minimization in an HARQ-based Status Update System under Random Arrivals," Proc. IEEE IoTaIS, Bali, Indonesia, 2022, pp. 160–165.
15. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "AoI in Source-Aware Preemptive M/G/1/1 Queueing Systems: Moment Generating Function," Proc. IEEE ISIT, Helsinki, Finland, Jun.–Jul. 2022, pp. 139–143. [pdf]
16. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Minimizing the AoI in multi-source two-hop systems under an average resource constraint," Proc. IEEE SPAWC, Helsinki, Finland, Jun. 2022. [pdf]
17. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Moment generating function of the AoI in multi-source systems with computation-intensive status updates," Proc. IEEE ITW, 2021, pp. 1–5.
18. A. Zakeri, M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Minimizing AoI in resource-constrained multi-source relaying systems with stochastic arrivals," Proc. IEEE GLOBECOM, 2021, pp. 1–5.
19. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Source-aware packet management for computation-intensive status updating: MGF of the AoI," Proc. IEEE ISWCS, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 2021, pp. 1–6.
20. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "An exact expression for the average AoI in a multi-source M/M/1 queueing model," Proc. IEEE PIMRC, London, UK, Sep. 2020, pp. 1–6.
21. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Average age of information in a multi-source M/M/1 queueing model with LCFS prioritized packet management," Proc. IEEE INFOCOM Workshop, Toronto, Canada, Jul. 2020, pp. 303–308.
22. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Average age of information for a multi-source M/M/1 queueing model with packet management," Proc. IEEE ISIT, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Jun. 2020, pp. 1765–1769.
23. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Average age of information for a multi-source M/M/1 queueing model with packet management and self-preemption in service," Proc. IEEE WiOpt, Volos, Greece, Jun. 2020, pp. 1–5.
24. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "An approximate expression for the average AoI in a multi-source M/G/1 queueing model," Proc. IEEE 6G Summit, Levi, Finland, Mar. 2020, pp. 1–5.
25. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, M. Codreanu, and N. Pappas, "Power minimization in wireless sensor networks with constrained AoI using stochastic optimization," Proc. Annual Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, USA, Nov. 2019, pp. 406–410.
26. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Closed-form expression for the average age of information in a multi-source M/G/1 queueing model," Proc. IEEE ITW, Visby, Sweden, Aug. 2019, pp. 1–5.
27. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Worst-case analysis of age of information in a shared-access channel," Proc. IEEE ISWCS, Oulu, Finland, Aug. 2019, pp. 613–617.
28. M. Jahandideh, M. Moltafet, M. Codreanu, and M. Latva-Aho, "Low complexity sparse channel estimation for wideband mmWave systems: Multi-stage approach," Proc. IEEE WCNC, Marrakesh, Morocco, Apr. 2019, pp. 1–6.
29. M. Moltafet, N. Mokari, R. Joda, M. R. Sabagh, and M. Zorzi, "Joint access and fronthaul resource allocation in dual connectivity and CoMP based networks," Proc. IEEE ICC, Kansas City, MO, USA, May 2018, pp. 1–6.
30. A. Mokdad, M. Moltafet, P. Azmi, and N. Mokari, "Robust radio resource allocation for heterogeneous traffic in PD-NOMA-based HCNs," Proc. IEEE MENACOMM, Jounieh, Lebanon, Apr. 2018, pp. 1–6.
31. M. Moltafet, N. Mokari, M. R. Javan, H. Saeedi, and H. Pishro-Nik, "PSMA for 5G: Network throughput analysis," Proc. IEEE PIMRC, Montreal, QC, Canada, Oct. 2017, pp. 1–6.
32. A. Mokdad, M. Moltafet, P. Azmi, and N. Mokari, "Robust radio resource allocation for heterogeneous traffic in PD-NOMA-based cellular systems," Proc. IEEE ICEE, Tehran, Iran, May 2017, pp. 1796–1801.
33. M. Moltafet, P. Azmi, and N. Mokari, "Power minimization in 5G heterogeneous cellular networks," Proc. IEEE ICEE, Shiraz, Iran, May 2016, pp. 234–238.

Mohammad Moltafet – Book Chapters and Academic Theses

1. M. Moltafet, M. Leinonen, and M. Codreanu, "Timely status updating via packet management in multi-source systems," Age of Information: Foundations and Applications, Cambridge University Press, Jan. 2023.
2. M. Moltafet, Information Freshness in Wireless Networks, Ph.D. thesis, Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Oulu, Finland, Jun. 2021.
3. M. Moltafet, Radio Resource Allocation in NOMA-based HCN systems, Master's thesis, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran, Sept. 2016.

Mohammad Moltafet – Courses

Courses

• ECE 3710 – Introduction to Telecommunications
  Tennessee Tech University, Fall 2026
• ECE 251 – Principles of Digital Communications
  University of California, Santa Cruz, Spring 2026

Teaching Assistant Experience

• Communication Systems
• Signals and Systems
• Engineering Mathematics
• Differential Equations
• General Mathematics for Engineers I
• General Mathematics for Engineers II

Mohammad Moltafet – Students and Research Mentees

Students and Research Mentees

• Xiangjian Gao (2025 – 2026)
  University of California, Santa Cruz
  Research area: Timely information delivery in UAV-assisted wireless networks
  Co-advised with Prof. Hamid R. Sadjadpour
• Jinxin Yang (2025 – 2026)
  University of California, Santa Cruz
  Research area: Status updating in two-way delay systems
  Co-advised with Prof. Hamid R. Sadjadpour
• Dr. Abdulaziz Alatawi (2024 – 2026)
  University of California, Santa Cruz
  Research area: Freshness-aware wireless channel estimation
  Co-advised with Prof. Hamid R. Sadjadpour
• Dr. Saeid Sadeghi-Vilni (December 2021 – April 2025)
  University of Oulu, Finland
  Research area: Information freshness for ultra-reliable low-latency applications
  Co-advised with Prof. Marian Codreanu
• Dr. Abolfazl Zakeri (October 2021 – November 2024)
  University of Oulu, Finland
  Research area: Reinforcement learning for semantic-aware wireless communications
  Co-advised with Prof. Marian Codreanu