Dr. Vasileios Papanikolaou

Chair of Digital Communications

Research associates

Address

Cauerstraße 7-9 91058 Erlangen

Contact

Email: vasilis.papanikolaou@fau.de

Optical wireless communications (OWC), Free Space Optics, Hybrid OWC/RF connectivity, Quantum Communications

Vasilis K. Papanikolaou (Member, IEEE) received the Diploma and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2018 and 2023, respectively. He is currently aPost-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Institute for Digital Communications, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany. He was a member with the Wireless and Communications and Information Processing Group, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He was a Visiting Research Assistant with Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K.; Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. His research interests include optical wireless communications, wireless power transfer, and quantum communications. He was a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship from 2023 to 2025. He was a co-recipient of the Best Paper Award from the IEEE TAOS TC in 2023 and 2024. He is the co-recipient of the Prof. A. C. Boucouvalas Best Paper Award from IEEE CSNDSP 2026. He is currently an Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS. He was an Exemplary Reviewer of IEEE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS in 2019, 2020, and 2022; and the IEEE OPEN JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY in 2021 (top 3% of reviewers).

2026

Bozanis D., Tyrovolas D., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Liaskos CK., Schober R., Karagiannidis GK.:
Location-driven Programmable Wireless Environments through Light-emitting RIS (LeRIS)
In: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2026)
ISSN: 1536-1276
DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2026.3684685
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Giachoudis C., Khalighi MA., Zvanovec S., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Karagiannidis GK.:
MAC Protocol Design for Optical Wireless Body-Area Networks: Latency, Energy Efficiency and Scalability Analysis
In: IET Networks 15 (2026), Article No.: e70023
ISSN: 2047-4954
DOI: 10.1049/ntw2.70023
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Khalili A., Kaziu B., Papanikolaou VK., Schober R.:
Pinching Antenna-enabled ISAC Systems: Exploiting Look-Angle Dependence of RCS for Target Diversity
2025 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2025 (Taipei, December 2025 - December 2025)
In: Proceedings - IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2026
DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM59602.2025.11432471
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2025

Ajam H., Rittler A., Jamali V., Papanikolaou VK., Schmauß B., Schober R.:
Modeling and Mitigation of Intersymbol Interference in High Rate IRS-assisted FSO Links
In: IEEE Transactions on Communications 74 (2025), p. 1543-1559
ISSN: 0090-6778
DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2025.3636084
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Bozanis D., Mitsiou NA., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK., Papanikolaou VK.:
On the Beamforming Design of Cross-Band OWC/RF Cell-Free MIMO
In: IEEE Communications Letters 30 (2025), p. 80-84
ISSN: 1089-7798
DOI: 10.1109/LCOMM.2025.3629703
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Bozanis D., Tyrovolas D., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Liaskos CK., Schober R., Karagiannidis GK.:
Closed-Form Location and Orientation Estimation in Optical Wireless Systems
2025 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, WCNC 2025 (Milan, March 2025 - March 2025)
In: IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, WCNC 2025
DOI: 10.1109/WCNC61545.2025.10978143
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Huang Y., Papanikolaou VK., Ajam H., Safari M., Schober R., Haas H., Tavakkolnia I.:
Energy-Efficient RIS-Aided Laser-Based LiFi System with Dynamic Coverage Optimization
2025 IEEE International Conference on Communications, ICC 2025 (Montreal, QC, CAN, June 2025 - June 2025)
In: Matthew Valenti, David Reed, Melissa Torres (ed.): IEEE International Conference on Communications 2025
DOI: 10.1109/ICC52391.2025.11161959
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Kyriatzis N., Gkiaouris D., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Papanikolaou VK., Schober R., Karagiannidis GK.:
Miniaturized Satellite Communication Systems With Lightwave Power Transfer
In: IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (2025)
ISSN: 0018-9251
DOI: 10.1109/TAES.2025.3562176
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Papanikolaou VK., Zhou G., Kaziu B., Khalili A., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK., Schober R.:
Resolving the Double Near-Far Problem via Wireless Powered Pinching-Antenna Networks
In: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (2025)
ISSN: 2162-2337
DOI: 10.1109/LWC.2025.3592881
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Zhou G., Papanikolaou VK., Ding Z., Schober R.:
Channel Estimation for mmWave Pinching-Antenna Systems
26th IEEE International Workshop on Signal Processing and Artificial Intelligence for Wireless Communications, SPAWC 2025 (Surrey, July 2025 - July 2025)
In: 2025 IEEE 26th International Workshop on Signal Processing and Artificial Intelligence for Wireless Communications (SPAWC) 2025
DOI: 10.1109/SPAWC66079.2025.11143413
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2024

Bozanis D., Evgenidis NG., Papanikolaou VK., Dowhuszko AA., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Proactive Resource Allocation for Aggregated VLC/RF Networks With Outdated CSI
In: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (2024), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2162-2337
DOI: 10.1109/LWC.2024.3352705
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Chen C., Das S., Videv S., Spark A., Babadi S., Krishnamoorthy A., Lee C., Grieder D., Hartnett K., Rudy P., Raring J., Najafi M., Papanikolaou VK., Schober R., Haas H.:
100 Gbps Indoor Access and 4.8 Gbps Outdoor Point-to-Point LiFi Transmission Systems Using Laser-Based Light Sources
In: Journal of Lightwave Technology (2024), p. 1-12
ISSN: 0733-8724
DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2024.3400192
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Evgenidis NG., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Over-the-Air Computing with Imperfect CSI: Design and Performance Optimization
In: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 23 (2024), p. 6093-6108
ISSN: 1536-1276
DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2023.3330092
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Giachoudis C., Khalighi MA., Zvanovec S., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Karagiannidis GK.:
Investigation of Suitable MAC Protocols for Optical Wireless Body-Area Networks
14th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing, CSNDSP 2024 (Rome, July 2024 - July 2024)
In: 2024 14th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP) 2024
DOI: 10.1109/CSNDSP60683.2024.10636608
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Giachoudis C., Rallis KG., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Khalighi MA., Schober R., Karagiannidis GK.:
On the Application of Slotted-ALOHA in Optical Wireless Body-Area Networks
7th International Balkan Conference on Communications and Networking, BalkanCom 2024 (Ljubljana, June 2024 - June 2024)
In: 2024 7th International Balkan Conference on Communications and Networking, BalkanCom 2024 2024
DOI: 10.1109/BalkanCom61808.2024.10557166
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Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Palitharathna KW., Diamantoulakis PD., Suraweera HA., Khalighi MA., Karagiannidis GK.:
Simultaneous Lightwave Information and Power Transfer in 6G Networks
In: IEEE Communications Magazine 62 (2024), p. 16-22
ISSN: 0163-6804
DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.002.2300290
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Shanin N., Ajam H., Papanikolaou VK., Cottatellucci L., Schober R.:
Accurate EH Modelling and Achievable Information Rate for SLIPT Systems with Multi-Junction Photovoltaic Receivers
In: IEEE Transactions on Communications (2024), p. 1-1
ISSN: 0090-6778
DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2024.3420694
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Tyrovolas D., Bozanis D., Tegos SA., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Liaskos CK., Schober R., Karagiannidis GK.:
Empowering Programmable Wireless Environments with Optical Anchor-based Positioning
In: IEEE Network (2024)
ISSN: 0890-8044
DOI: 10.1109/MNET.2024.3480849
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Tyrovolas D., Tegos SA., Papanikolaou VK., Xiao Y., Mekikis PV., Diamantoulakis PD., Ioannidis S., Liaskos CK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Zero-Energy Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (zeRIS)
In: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 23 (2024), p. 7013-7026
ISSN: 1536-1276
DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2023.3336956
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2023

Bozanis D., Evgenidis NG., Papanikolaou VK., Bouzinis PS., Tegos SA., Dowhuszko AA., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Indoor 3D Visible Light Positioning Analysis with Channel Estimation Errors
30th International Conference on Systems, Signals and Image Processing, IWSSIP 2023 (Ohrid, June 2023 - June 2023)
In: International Conference on Systems, Signals, and Image Processing 2023
DOI: 10.1109/IWSSIP58668.2023.10180234
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Mekikis PV., Bouzinis P., Mitsiou N., Tegos S., Papanikolaou VK., Tyrovolas D., Diamantoulakis P., Karagiannidis GK.:
Powering Inaccessible IoT Devices Through a WPT-enabled Sustainable UAV Network
2023 IEEE INFOCOM Conference on Computer Communications Workshops, INFOCOM WKSHPS 2023 (Hoboken, NJ, May 2023)
In: IEEE INFOCOM 2023 - Conference on Computer Communications Workshops, INFOCOM WKSHPS 2023 2023
DOI: 10.1109/INFOCOMWKSHPS57453.2023.10225986
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Mekikis PV., Bouzinis PS., Mitsiou NA., Tegos SA., Tyrovolas D., Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Enabling Wireless-Powered IoT through Incentive-based UAV Swarm Orchestration
In: IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (2023), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2644-125X
DOI: 10.1109/OJCOMS.2023.3323031
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Mitsiou NA., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Duong TQ., Karagiannidis GK.:
Digital Twin-Aided Orchestration of Mobile Edge Computing With Grant-Free Access
In: IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society 4 (2023), p. 841-853
ISSN: 2644-125X
DOI: 10.1109/OJCOMS.2023.3260165
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Papanikolaou VK.:
Design and Optimization of Optical Wireless Communication Systems (Dissertation, 2023)
DOI: 10.26262/heal.auth.ir.354931
BibTeX: Download
Papanikolaou VK., Mitsiou NA., Mekikis PV., Tegos SA., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
On the Design and Optimization of SLIPT Systems for Aerial Base Stations
2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops, ICC Workshops 2023 (Rome, ITA, May 2023 - June 2023)
In: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops: Sustainable Communications for Renaissance, ICC Workshops 2023 2023
DOI: 10.1109/ICCWorkshops57953.2023.10283700
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Rallis KG., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Tegos SA., Dowhuszko AA., Khalighi MA., Karagiannidis GK.:
Energy Efficient Cooperative Communications in Aggregated VLC/RF Networks with NOMA
In: IEEE Transactions on Communications (2023), p. 1-1
ISSN: 0090-6778
DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2023.3292486
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Rallis KG., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Dowhuszko AA., Diamantoulakis PD., Khalighi MA., Karagiannidis GK.:
RSMA Inspired User Cooperation in Hybrid VLC/RF Networks for Coverage Extension
2023 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, WCNC 2023 (Glasgow, March 2023 - March 2023)
In: IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, WCNC 2023
DOI: 10.1109/WCNC55385.2023.10118918
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Shanin N., Ajam H., Papanikolaou VK., Schmauß B., Cottatellucci L., Schober R.:
EH Modelling and Achievable Rate for FSO SWIPT Systems with Non-linear Photovoltaic Receivers
(2023), p. 5561-5567
ISSN: 2334-0983
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2305.03524
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Tyrovolas D., Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Xiao Y., Diamantoulakis PD., Ioannidis S., Liaskos C., Karagiannidis GK.:
Comparing SWIPT Techniques for Zero-Energy RIS
2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops, ICC Workshops 2023 (Rome, May 2023 - June 2023)
In: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops: Sustainable Communications for Renaissance, ICC Workshops 2023 2023
DOI: 10.1109/ICCWorkshops57953.2023.10283652
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Younus OI., Chaudhary N., Ghassemlooy Z., Alves LN., Zvanovec S., Pattas D., Papanikolaou VK.:
A unilateral 3D indoor positioning system employing optical camera communications
In: IET Optoelectronics 17 (2023), p. 110-119
ISSN: 1751-8768
DOI: 10.1049/ote2.12094
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2022

Bozanis D., Papanikolaou VK., Dowhuszko AA., Rallis KG., Diamantoulakis PD., Hamalainen J., Karagiannidis GK.:
Optimal Aggregation of RF and VLC Bands for Beyond 5G Mobile Services
18th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications, WiMob 2022 (Thessaloniki, October 2022 - October 2022)
In: International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications 2022
DOI: 10.1109/WiMob55322.2022.9941537
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Evgenidis NG., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Over-the-Air Computing under Adaptive Channel State Estimation
18th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications, WiMob 2022 (Thessaloniki, October 2022 - October 2022)
In: International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications 2022
DOI: 10.1109/WiMob55322.2022.9941709
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Mitsiou NA., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Energy-Aware Optimization of Zero-Energy Device Networks
In: IEEE Communications Letters 26 (2022), p. 858-862
ISSN: 1089-7798
DOI: 10.1109/LCOMM.2022.3149142
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Papanikolaou VK., Tegos SA., Bouzinis PS., Tyrovolas D., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
ATLAS: Internet of Things Platform for Precision Aquaculture
2022 Panhellenic Conference on Electronics and Telecommunications, PACET 2022 (Tripolis, December 2022 - December 2022)
In: 2022 Panhellenic Conference on Electronics and Telecommunications, PACET 2022 2022
DOI: 10.1109/PACET56979.2022.9976375
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Rallis KG., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Dowhuszko AA., Hamalainen J., Karagiannidis GK.:
Design of MAC-layer Protocols for Distributed NOMA-based VLC Networks
13th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing, CSNDSP 2022 (Porto, July 2022 - July 2022)
In: 2022 13th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing, CSNDSP 2022 2022
DOI: 10.1109/CSNDSP54353.2022.9907969
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2021

Boulogeorgos AAA., Trevlakis SE., Tegos SA., Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Machine Learning in Nano-Scale Biomedical Engineering
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications 7 (2021), p. 10-39
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2020.3035383
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Diamantoulakis PD., Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Optimization of ultra-dense wireless powered networks
In: Sensors 21 (2021), Article No.: 2390
ISSN: 1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s21072390
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Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
Hybrid Lightwave/RF Connectivity for 6G Wireless Networks
In: Yulei Wu, Sukhdeep Singh, Tarik Taleb, Abhishek Roy, Harpreet S. Dhillon, Madhan Raj Kanagarathinam, Aloknath De (ed.): 6G Mobile Wireless Networks, Cham: Springer, 2021, p. 169-186
ISBN: 9783030727765
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-72777-2_9
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Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Sandalidis HG., Mallik RK., Karagiannidis GK.:
On the Average Harvested Energy of Directive Lightwave Power Transfer (DLPT)
In: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters 10 (2021), p. 1508-1512
ISSN: 2162-2337
DOI: 10.1109/LWC.2021.3072946
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Papanikolaou VK., Mitsiou NA., Diamantoulakis PD., Goudos SK., Karagiannidis GK.:
On the Resource Allocation of Hierarchical NOMA for Fog-RAN with Energy Harvesting
10th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2021 (Thessaloniki, July 2021 - July 2021)
In: 2021 10th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2021 2021
DOI: 10.1109/MOCAST52088.2021.9493358
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Rallis KG., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Khalighi MA., Karagiannidis GK.:
Energy efficiency maximization in cooperative hybrid VLC/RF networks with NOMA
17th International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems, ISWCS 2021 (Berlin, September 2021 - September 2021)
In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems 2021
DOI: 10.1109/ISWCS49558.2021.9562202
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2020

Bouzinis PS., Vranas CK., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Goudos SK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Pareto-Optimal Resource Allocation in Wireless Powered Networks
9th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2020 (Bremen, September 2020 - September 2020)
In: 2020 9th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2020 2020
DOI: 10.1109/MOCAST49295.2020.9200276
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Goudos SK., Diamantoulakis PD., Boursianis AD., Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Joint User Association and Power Allocation Using Swarm Intelligence Algorithms in Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Networks
9th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2020 (Bremen, September 2020 - September 2020)
In: 2020 9th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2020 2020
DOI: 10.1109/MOCAST49295.2020.9200248
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Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Sofotasios PC., Muhaidat S., Karagiannidis GK.:
On Optimal Resource Allocation for Hybrid VLC/RF Networks with Common Backhaul
In: IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking 6 (2020), p. 352-365
ISSN: 2332-7731
DOI: 10.1109/TCCN.2019.2963879
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Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK., Mitsiou NA., Diamantoulakis PD.:
Closed-Form Analysis for NOMA with Randomly Deployed Users in Generalized Fading
In: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters 9 (2020), p. 1253-1257
ISSN: 2162-2337
DOI: 10.1109/LWC.2020.2987572
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2019

Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
User Grouping for Hybrid VLC/RF Networks with NOMA: A Coalitional Game Approach
In: IEEE Access 7 (2019), p. 103299-103309
ISSN: 2169-3536
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2930169
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Vavouris AK., Dervisi FD., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK., Goudos SK.:
An Energy Efficient Modulation Scheme for Body-Centric Terahertz (THz) Nanonetworks
In: Technologies 7 (2019), Article No.: 14
ISSN: 2227-7080
DOI: 10.3390/technologies7010014
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Vranas CK., Bouzinis PS., Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Karagiannidis GK.:
On the Gain of NOMA in Wireless Powered Networks with Circuit Power Consumption
In: IEEE Communications Letters 23 (2019), p. 1657-1660
ISSN: 1089-7798
DOI: 10.1109/LCOMM.2019.2925103
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2018

Papanikolaou VK., Diamantoulakis PD., Ding Z., Muhaidat S., Karagiannidis GK.:
Hybrid VLC/RF Networks with Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access
2018 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2018 (Abu Dhabi, December 2018 - December 2018)
In: Proceedings - IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2018
DOI: 10.1109/GLOCOM.2018.8647397
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Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
Channel modeling of in-vivo THz nanonetworks: State-of-the-art and research challenges
7th International Conference on Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare, MobiHealth 2017 (Vienna, November 2017 - November 2017)
In: Amir M. Rahmani, Nima TaheriNejad, Paolo Perego (ed.): Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST 2018
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-98551-0_6
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Papanikolaou VK., Ntouni GD., Boulogeorgos AAA., Karagiannidis GK.:
Error performance of power line communications in the presence of Nakagami-m background noise
In: Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies 29 (2018), Article No.: e3475
ISSN: 2161-3915
DOI: 10.1002/ett.3475
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Vavouris AK., Dervisi FD., Papanikolaou VK., Karagiannidis GK.:
An energy efficient modulation scheme for body-centric nano-communications in the THz band
7th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2018 (Thessaloniki, May 2018 - May 2018)
In: 2018 7th International Conference on Modern Circuits and Systems Technologies, MOCAST 2018 2018
DOI: 10.1109/MOCAST.2018.8376563
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