Yifan Yang (杨一帆)

About

I am a PhD candidate jointly studying at the University of Science and Technology of China and the City University of Hong Kong. I am deeply grateful to my advisors, Prof. Wei Gong and Prof. Yu Yang, for their generous guidance, encouragement, and support throughout my doctoral studies. Before that, I received my B.E. in Computer Science and Technology from USTC in 2021.

Research

My current research interests include diffusion models and reinforcement learning, with a particular focus on image/video generative models. My previous research focused on smart medical wearables, the Internet of Things, and ambient backscatter communication.

Welcome conversations about relevant research, internship, and industry opportunities!

Selected Publications

1. Y. Feng, Y. Yang, X. Deng, S. Wang, W. Xi, and W. Gong*, “High-Efficiency Cellular Backscatter with Ambient Traffic,” IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 2026.
2. Y. Yang, Z. Chang, J. Hu, M. Lai, S. Kim, W. Gong, and Y. Yang*, “OPSensing: Embracing Real-Time PPG Monitoring with Intraoral Wearables,” IEEE EMBC, 2025.
3. W. Gong*, L. Liu, and Y. Yang, “Universal Content-Agnostic Backscatter for OFDM WiFi,” IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2025.
4. Y. Yang, Y. Feng, W. Gong*, and Y. Yang, “Efficient LTE Backscatter with Uncontrolled Ambient Traffic,” IEEE INFOCOM, 2024.
5. X. Lu, Y. Yang, and W. Gong*, “Challenges of Ambient WiFi Backscatter Systems in Healthcare Applications,” Computer Networks, 2024.
6. Y. Yang and W. Gong*, “Universal WiFi Backscatter with Ambient Space-Time Streams,” IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2024.
7. Y. Yang, W. Gong*, and Y. Yang, “Ambient Backscatter with a Single Commodity AP,” IEEE/ACM IWQoS, 2023.
8. Y. Yang, L. Yuan, J. Zhao, and W. Gong*, “Content-Agnostic Backscatter from Thin Air,” ACM MobiSys, 2022.
9. Y. Yang and W. Gong*, “Universal Space-Time Stream Backscatter with Ambient WiFi,” IEEE PerCom, 2022.

* Corresponding author.

Education

Experience

Awards

• National Scholarship, 2024, 2022
• IEEE INFOCOM Student Travel Grant, 2024
• IEEE PerCom Student Participation Grant, 2022
• Outstanding Graduate, 2021
• School-Level Excellent Graduation Thesis Award (top 5%), 2021
• Huawei Scholarship, 2020
• Outstanding Student Scholarship, 2018–2019
• Yang Ya Alumni Scholarship, 2019
• Excellent Student Cadre, 2018
• Excellent League Member, 2018
• Outstanding Freshman Scholarship, 2017

Activities