Lili Qiu, professor of Computer Science and a leader in AI systems, wireless sensing, and real-world intelligence, was awarded a Test-of-Time award by ACM SIGMOBILE for her 2003 paper: Impact of Interference on Multi-hop Wireless Network Performance, along with co-authors Kamal Jain, Jitendra Padhye, and Venkata N. Padmanabhan.
The paper created the first rigorous framework for how to mathematically calculate the maximum amount of data a wireless network can handle at any given time, fundamentally changing how engineers analyze and design wireless networks.
The SIGMOBILE Test-of-Time awards recognize papers that have had a sustained and significant impact in the world, understanding that a paper's influence can be best judged with the perspective of time and impact.
Interference on Multi-hop Wireless Network Performance asks a simple question: What is the maximum achievable capacity of the wireless network in front of me? Although simple, the question remained largely unanswered in the early 2000s. The paper made wireless capacity computable. Its key insight was the “conflict graph.” Instead of worrying about radio wave equations, they mapped the network visually and mathematically. By doing this, they turned a messy physics problem into a structured map for computing capacity bounds in real wireless networks.
ACM SIGMOBILE is the international professional organization for researchers, practitioners, educators, and students working across mobile systems, wireless networking, sensing, ubiquitous computing, edge computing, and mobile applications.
This recognition adds to a growing list of honors earned by UT Computer Science faculty and researchers. Explore more award-winning research and achievements from across the department.