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Mohamed Amine Ferrag

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Published work

9 published item(s)

preprint2026arXiv

$α^3$-Bench: A Unified Benchmark of Safety, Robustness, and Efficiency for LLM-Based UAV Agents over 6G Networks

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used as high level controllers for autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) missions. However, existing evaluations rarely assess whether such agents remain safe, protocol compliant, and effective under realistic next generation networking constraints. This paper introduces $α^3$-Bench, a benchmark for evaluating LLM driven UAV autonomy as a multi turn conversational reasoning and control problem operating under dynamic 6G conditions. Each mission is formulated as a language mediated control loop between an LLM based UAV agent and a human operator, where decisions must satisfy strict schema validity, mission policies, speaker alternation, and safety constraints while adapting to fluctuating network slices, latency, jitter, packet loss, throughput, and edge load variations. To reflect modern agentic workflows, $α^3$-Bench integrates a dual action layer supporting both tool calls and agent to agent coordination, enabling evaluation of tool use consistency and multi agent interactions. We construct a large scale corpus of 113k conversational UAV episodes grounded in UAVBench scenarios and evaluate 17 state of the art LLMs using a fixed subset of 50 episodes per scenario under deterministic decoding. We propose a composite $α^3$ metric that unifies six pillars: Task Outcome, Safety Policy, Tool Consistency, Interaction Quality, Network Robustness, and Communication Cost, with efficiency normalized scores per second and per thousand tokens. Results show that while several models achieve high mission success and safety compliance, robustness and efficiency vary significantly under degraded 6G conditions, highlighting the need for network aware and resource efficient LLM based UAV agents. The dataset is publicly available on GitHub : https://github.com/maferrag/AlphaBench

preprint2026arXiv

6G Needs Agents: Toward Agentic AI-Native Networks for Autonomous Intelligence

Sixth-generation (6G) networks are increasingly envisioned as AI-native infrastructures integrating communication, sensing, and computing into a unified fabric. However, existing approaches remain largely optimization-centric, relying on closed-loop control with limited reasoning capability. In this paper, we argue for a paradigm shift toward Agentic AI-Native 6G, in which Large Language Model (LLM)-based agents operate as bounded, policy-governed reasoning entities within a semantic control plane layered above deterministic 3GPP infrastructure. We propose a four-layer architecture that integrates deterministic network infrastructure, semantic abstraction of intent and context, hierarchical reasoning, and a distributed multi-agent fabric spanning device, edge, and core domains. To assess feasibility, we develop a proof-of-concept agentic reasoning and orchestration framework and conduct an extensive empirical study using a domain-specific 6G benchmark under realistic deployment constraints. Our results reveal a fundamental tradeoff between reasoning capability and system efficiency, showing that no single model simultaneously satisfies latency, throughput, and accuracy requirements. Instead, heterogeneous deployment of LLM agents across the device--edge--core continuum is necessary to balance these constraints. We further demonstrate that quantization introduces non-uniform effects across models, reinforcing the need for system-level optimization rather than model-level compression alone. These findings establish agentic intelligence as a viable architectural direction for 6G and highlight key challenges in achieving scalable, trustworthy, and self-reasoning networks. All experimental results and evaluation scripts are publicly available to support reproducibility.

preprint2026arXiv

LISA: Cognitive Arbitration for Signal-Free Autonomous Intersection Management

Large language models (LLMs) show strong potential for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), particularly in tasks requiring situational reasoning and multi-agent coordination. These capabilities make them well suited for cooperative driving, where rule-based approaches struggle in complex and dynamic traffic environments. Intersection management remains especially challenging due to conflicting right-of-way demands, heterogeneous vehicle priorities, and vehicle-specific kinematic constraints that must be resolved in real time. However, existing approaches typically use LLMs as auxiliary components on top of signal-based systems rather than as primary decision-makers. Signal controllers remain vehicle-agnostic, reservation-based methods lack intent awareness, and recent LLM-based systems still depend on signal infrastructure. In addition, LLM inference latency limits their use in sub-second control settings. We propose LISA (LLM-Based Intent-Driven Speed Advisory), a signal-free cognitive arbitration framework for autonomous intersection management. LISA uses an LLM to reason over declared vehicle intents, incorporating priority classes, queue pressure, and energy preferences. We evaluate LISA against fixed-cycle control, SCATS, AIM, and GLOSA across varying traffic loads. Results show that LISA reduces mean control delay by up to 89.1% and maintains Level of Service C while all non-LLM baselines degrade to Level of Service F. Under near-saturated demand, LISA reduces mean waiting time by 93% and peak queue length by 60.6% relative to fixed-cycle control. It also lowers fuel consumption by up to 48.8% and achieves 86.2% intent satisfaction, compared to 61.2% for the best non-LLM method. These results demonstrate that LLM-based reasoning can enable real-time, signal-free intersection management.

preprint2026arXiv

Reasoning Beyond Limits: Advances and Open Problems for LLMs

Recent breakthroughs in generative reasoning have fundamentally reshaped how large language models (LLMs) address complex tasks, enabling them to dynamically retrieve, refine, and organize information into coherent multi-step reasoning chains. Techniques such as inference-time scaling, reinforcement learning, supervised fine-tuning, and distillation have been effectively applied to state-of-the-art models, including DeepSeek-R1, OpenAI o1 and o3, GPT-4o, Qwen-32B, and various Llama variants, significantly enhancing their reasoning capabilities. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the top 27 LLMs released between 2023 and 2025, such as Mistral AI Small 3 24B, DeepSeek-R1, Search-o1, QwQ-32B, and Phi-4, and analyze their core innovations and performance improvements. We also provide a detailed overview of recent advancements in multilingual large language models (MLLMs), emphasizing methods that improve cross-lingual reasoning and address the limitations of English-centric training. In parallel, we present a comprehensive review of progress in state space model (SSM)-based architectures, including models such as Mamba, which demonstrate improved efficiency for long-context processing compared to transformer-based approaches. Our analysis covers training strategies including general optimization techniques, mixture-of-experts (MoE) configurations, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), chain-of-thought prompting, self-improvement methods, and test-time compute scaling and distillation frameworks. Finally, we identify key challenges for future research, including enabling multi-step reasoning without human supervision, improving robustness in chained task execution, balancing structured prompting with generative flexibility, and enhancing the integration of long-context retrieval and external tools.

preprint2026arXiv

VARS-FL: Validation-Aligned Client Selection for Non-IID Federated Learning in IoT Systems

Federated learning (FL) systems typically employ stateless client selection, treating each communication round independently and ignoring accumulated evidence of client contribution quality. Under non-IID data, this leads to slow convergence and unstable training, particularly when selection relies on local proxies (e.g., training loss) that are misaligned with the global optimization objective. These challenges are especially pronounced in Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT) environments, where data is highly heterogeneous and distributed across devices observing different traffic patterns. In this paper, we propose VARS-FL (Validation-Aligned Reputation Scoring for Federated Learning), a client selection framework that quantifies each client's contribution using the reduction in server-side validation loss induced by its update. These per-round signals are aggregated into a Reputation score that combines a sliding-window average of recent contributions with a logarithmically scaled participation term, enabling robust exploration-exploitation selection. VARS-FL requires no changes to local training or aggregation and remains fully compatible with standard FedAvg. We evaluate VARS-FL on a 15-class non-IID IoT intrusion detection task using the Edge-IIoTset dataset, with 100 clients across multiple seeds, and compare it against FedAvg, Oort, and Power-of-Choice. VARS-FL consistently improves accuracy, F1-Macro, and loss, while accelerating convergence (up to 36% fewer rounds to reach 80% accuracy). These results demonstrate that validation-aligned, history-aware client selection provides a more reliable and efficient training process for federated learning in heterogeneous IoT environments.

preprint2021arXiv

A novel Two-Factor HoneyToken Authentication Mechanism

The majority of systems rely on user authentication on passwords, but passwords have so many weaknesses and widespread use that easily raise significant security concerns, regardless of their encrypted form. Users hold the same password for different accounts, administrators never check password files for flaws that might lead to a successful cracking, and the lack of a tight security policy regarding regular password replacement are a few problems that need to be addressed. The proposed research work aims at enhancing this security mechanism, prevent penetrations, password theft, and attempted break-ins towards securing computing systems. The selected solution approach is two-folded; it implements a two-factor authentication scheme to prevent unauthorized access, accompanied by Honeyword principles to detect corrupted or stolen tokens. Both can be integrated into any platform or web application with the use of QR codes and a mobile phone.

preprint2016arXiv

A Survey on Privacy-preserving Schemes for Smart Grid Communications

In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of privacy-preserving schemes for Smart Grid communications. Specifically, we select and in-detail examine thirty privacy preserving schemes developed for or applied in the context of Smart Grids. Based on the communication and system models, we classify these schemes that are published between 2013 and 2016, in five categories, including, 1) Smart grid with the advanced metering infrastructure, 2) Data aggregation communications, 3) Smart grid marketing architecture, 4) Smart community of home gateways, and 5) Vehicle-to grid architecture. For each scheme, we survey the attacks of leaking privacy, countermeasures, and game theoretic approaches. In addition, we review the survey articles published in the recent years that deal with Smart Grids communications, applications, standardization, and security. Based on the current survey, several recommendations for further research are discussed at the end of this paper.

preprint2016arXiv

Authentication Protocols for Internet of Things: A Comprehensive Survey

In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of authentication protocols for Internet of Things (IoT). Specifically, we select and in-detail examine more than forty authentication protocols developed for or applied in the context of the IoT under four environments, including: (1) Machine to machine communications (M2M), (2) Internet of Vehicles (IoV), (3) Internet of Energy (IoE), and (4) Internet of Sensors (IoS). We start by reviewing all survey articles published in the recent years that focusing on different aspects of the IoT idea. Then, we review threat models, countermeasures, and formal security verification techniques used in authentication protocols for the IoT. In addition, we provide a taxonomy and comparison of authentication protocols for the IoT in form of tables in five terms, namely, network model, goals, main processes, computation complexity, and communication overhead. Based on the current survey, we identify open issues and suggest hints for future research.

preprint2016arXiv

Privacy-preserving schemes for Ad Hoc Social Networks: A survey

In this paper, we review the state of the art of privacy-preserving schemes for ad hoc social networks, including, mobile social networks (MSNs) and vehicular social networks (VSNs). Specifically, we select and in-detail examine thirty-three privacy preserving schemes developed for or applied in the context of ad hoc social networks. These schemes are published between 2008 and 2016. Based on this existing privacy preservation schemes, we survey privacy preservation models, including location privacy, identity privacy, anonymity, traceability, interest privacy, backward privacy, and content oriented privacy. The recent important attacks of leaking privacy, countermeasures, and game theoretic approaches in VSNs and MSNs are summarized in form of tables. In addition, an overview of recommendations for further research is also provided. With this survey, readers can have a more thorough understanding of research trends in privacy-preserving schemes for ad hoc social networks