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Mohamed-Slim Alouini

Al-Khawarzmi Distinguished Professor , Electrical and Computer Engineering

Principal Investigator, Communication Theory Lab

UNESCO Chair, Education to Connect the Unconnected

Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division
Email icon slim.alouini@kaust.edu.sa

Program Affiliations

Biography

Throughout his 30-year academic career, Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini, an IEEE and OPTICA Fellow, has developed analytical and simulation tools for evaluating the performance of radio-frequency and optical wireless communication systems. He has also designed and optimized innovative technologies for emerging wireless networks.

Professor Alouini, a co-founder of KAUST's ECE program, inspires future engineers through his pioneering work in wireless communications. His integrated space-air-ground networks, spectrum sharing schemes, and optical wireless communication systems research shape connectivity's future and embody KAUST's scientific excellence and global impact.

Professor Alouini has published numerous conference and journal papers and co-authored the textbook Digital Communication over Fading Channels, published by Wiley Interscience. A former editor of IEEE Transactions on Communications and IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication, he also served as an editor for IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing and the Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing journal. He was also a series editor for the IEEE Communication Magazine's Optical Communication and Networks Special Series and the founding field chief editor for the Frontiers in Communications and Networks journal. He is now the Founding Editor-in-Chief for the Nature Partnership Journal (NPJ) on Wireless Technologies (since 2025) and an editor for the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronics Systems (since 2022).

Professor Alouini has been an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Communication Society (2016-2017), the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society  (2018-2022), the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (2023-2024), and the IEEE Photonics Society (2025)

Research Interests

In addition to diversity combining techniques and MIMO techniques, Professor Alouini is interested in multi-hop and cooperative communications, optical wireless communication systems, cognitive radio systems, green communication systems, underwater/maritime communication systems, and integrated ground-airborne-space networks for research.

Professor Alouini is actively working on addressing the uneven global distribution, access to, and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by studying and developing new generations of aerial and space networks as a solution to provide connectivity to rural, low-income, disaster-prone, and/or hard-to-reach areas.

His KAUST Communication Theory Lab (CTL) investigates viable solutions to minimize ICT costs by (i) capitalizing on emerging and new solutions that operate within the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum and by (ii) deploying a variety of aerial and space-based networks.
Keyword tag icon
communications cognitive radio systems modulation schemes optical wireless communication systems

Education Profile

  • Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, United States, 1998

  • M.S. Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta, United States, 1995

  • Diplome d'Etudes Approfondies (D.E.A.) in Electronics, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France, 1993

  • Diplome d'Ingenieur, École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (Télécom Paris Tech), Paris, France, 1993

Awards and Recognitions

Publications

  • Y. Qin, M. Kishk, and M. -S. Alouini, "Coverage analysis and trajectory optimization for aerial users with dedicated cellular infrastructure", IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 3042-3056, April 2024.

  • B. Y. Belmekki, A. Aljohani, S. Thubaity, A. Harthi, K. Bean, A. Aijaz, and M. -S. Alouini, "Cellular network from the sky: Toward people-centered smart communities", IEEE Open Journal of Communication Society, Vol. 5, pp. 1916-1936, April 2024.

  • M. Khamassi, A. Kammoun, and M. -S. Alouini, "Precoding for high throughput satellite communication systems: A survey", IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, Vol. 26, No. 1, March 2024.

  • R. Priyadarshani and M. -S. Alouini, "Earth-to-HAPS FSO communication with spatial diversity and channel correlation", IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. 304-319, February 2024.

  • P. Le Ngoc and M. -S. Alouini, "Performance analysis of RIS-aided THz wireless systems over alpha-mu fading: An approximate closed-form approach", IEEE Internet of Things Journal, Vol. 11 , No. 1, pp. 1328-1343, January 2024.

  • Y. Zhang, M. Kishk, and M. -S. Alouini, " Computation offloading and service caching in heterogeneous MEC wireless networks", IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, Vol. 22, No. 9, pp. 5330-5345, September 2023.

  • H. -J. Moon, C. -B. Chae, and M. -S. Alouini, "Performance analysis of passive retro-reflector based tracking in free-space optical communications with pointing errors", IEEE Transaction on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 72, No. 8, pp. 10982-10987, August 2023.

  • A. El Falou and M. -S. Alouini, "Enhancement of rural connectivity by recycling TV towers with massive MIMO techniques", IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 61 , No. 4, pp. 78-83, April 2023.

  • H. Dahrouj, S. Liu, and M. -S. Alouini, "Machine learning-based user scheduling in integrated satellite-HAPS-ground networks", IEEE Networks Magazine, No. 3, pp. 102-109, March/April 2023

  • Y. Ata and M. -S. Alouini, "Performance of integrated ground-air-space FSO links over various turbulent environments," IEEE Photonics Journal, Vol. 14, No. 6, pp. 1-16, December 2022.

  • D. Na, K. -H. Park, Y. -C. Ko, and M. -S. Alouini, "Beamforming and band allocation for satellite and high-altitude platforms cognitive systems", IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, Vol. 11, No. 11, pp. 2330-2334, November 2022

  • R. Wang, A. Talgat, M. Kishk, and M. -S. Alouini, "Conditional contact angle distribution in LEO satellite-relayed transmission ", IEEE Communication Letters, Vol. 26, No. 11, pp. 2735-2739, November 2022.

  • A. Kafizov, A. Elzenaty, and M. -S. Alouini, "Probabilistic shaping based spatial modulation for spectral-efficient VLC", IEEE Transaction on Communications, Vol. 21, No. 10, pp. 8259-8275, October 2022.

  • E. Yaacoub and M. -S. Alouini, "Efficient fronthaul and backhaul connectivity for IoT traffic in rural area", IEEE Internet of Things Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 60-66, March 2021.

  • E. Yaacoub and M. -S. Alouini, "A key 6G challenge and opportunity - Connecting the base of the pyramid: A survey on rural connectivity", Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 108, No. 4, pp. 549-582, April 2020.

Research Areas

Multimedia