Ram Dantu

• PhD, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, 1990.
  Major: Computer Engineering (GPA 4.0/4.0)
• MENG, Madras University, India, 1979.
  Major: University first rank, Applied Electronics Engineering
• BE, Madras Institute of Technology, Madras, India, 1977.
  Major: Electronics Engineering
• BS, Andhra University, India, 1974.
  Major: Physics

Dr. Dantu is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas (UNT) and the founding director of the Center for Information and Computer Security. He brings more than two decades of industry experience in the networking sector, having held director roles at Cisco Systems, Nortel, Alcatel, and Fujitsu, where he led advanced technology products from concept to delivery. He also played key roles in three startups: IPMobile, acquired by Cisco Systems; Netrake, acquired by AudioCodes; and Sipera, which he helped launch with a colleague and his students and which was later acquired by Avaya.

A prolific researcher/innovator, Dr. Dantu has published more than 300 papers and holds 20 patents, with five additional patents pending. Many of his patented innovations have been deployed and are actively used by major technology companies. His recent healthcare innovation was successfully tested with all the EMS personnel in the Cities of Frisco and Plano.

Over the past 20 years, he has served as lead principal investigator on multiple multimillion‑dollar awards from the NSF, NSA, and DoD, collaborating with institutions including Columbia University, Purdue University, the University of California, Davis, Texas A&M University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 2010 to 2012, he was a visiting professor at MIT.

Dr. Dantu’s research has earned numerous distinctions, including the 2021 Best Paper of the Decade (2010-2020) Award from IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems and several best paper awards at top-tier conferences such as BCCA, TPS, and HoTSoS. Most recently, he received a $3 million award as part of a broader initiative to modernize the DoW's hiring and upskilling processes, using advanced AI to assess employees' cybersecurity skills and recommend career pathways.

Research Interests

4G/5G networks; Voice and Video over IP (VoIP) Security, Next generation Network Security, Internet of Things, IoT Security,  Data Security, Blockchain and Applications

Research Labs

Center for Information and Computer Security
Network Security Lab (NSL)

Workshops

Past Workshops:
1st Workshop (IEEE GLOBECOM, Dallas, December, 2005)
2nd Workshop (CSIA, Washington, DC, June, 2005)
3rd Workshop (Fraunhofer Research Institute, Berlin, Germany, June,2006)
Principles, Systems and Applications of IP Telecommunications - July 19-20 2007

Please visit Faculty Info page and click "Publications" tab.

Professional Activities of Discipline

• Reviewer of IEEE TPDS, Oct. 2007.
• Reviewer of IEEE ICC, Oct. 2007.
• Panelist, NSF Cyber Trust, Washington, DC, Oct. 2007.
• Session Chair, NSF CRI PI meeting, Boston, June 2007.
• Demo of 9-1-1 services at IPT Comm, July 2007.
• Reviewer of IEEE COMSAC, Mar. 2007.
• Reviewer of IEEE Broadnets, Mar. 2007.
• Reviewer of IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2007.
• Guest Editor, IEEE Network, Special Issue on Securing Voice over IP, Sept. 2006.
• Technical Program Chair for 3rd Workshop on VoIP Security, West Berlin, June 2006.
• Panelist for NSF Workshop on Future Topics for Cyber Trust, Pittsburgh, Sept. 2006.
• Panelist for NSF Workshop on CISE Global Challenges, Utah, June 2006.
• Panelist for 1st IEEE International Workshop on VoIP Security and Management (VoIPMaSE), Vancouver, BC, Canada, Apr. 2006.
• Technical Program Chair for 2nd Workshop on VoIP Security, Washington, DC, June 2005.
• Reviewer of IEEE International Conference on VoIP Security and Network Management, VoIPMase, Vancouver, Apr. 2006.
• Reviewer and Session Chair for IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics, ISI 2005.
• Program Committee member for IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics, ISI 2005.
• Session Chair on Security and Privacy issues in Radiology, NSF Cyber Trust PI meeting, Sept. 2005 (invited by Cyber Trust Program Director).
• Technical Advisory Board Member in PACS Administrators in Radiology Certification Association, Dec. 2004 to date.
• Technical Advisory Board Member for SIPTrain for training and certification in VoIP, Dec. 2004 to date.
• Workshop Chair for IEEE Workshop on Challenges and Issues in VoIP Security, IEEE GLOBECOM, Dallas, Dec. 3, 2004.
• Session chair for the information security track in IEEE Conference on Information Technology (ITCC 2004), Apr. 2004.
• Reviewer for International Society Journal for Computers and Applications, Oct. 2004.
• Reviewer for Journal of Network and Computer Applications, Elsevier Publications, Oct. 2004.
• Reviewer for Journal of Telecommunications Systems, June 2004.
• Design team member for IETF Midcom working group, 2002.
• Reviewer for IEEE Workshop on IP Control and Management, Southern Methodist University, 2002.
• Design team member for IETF ForCES working group, 2001.
• Design team member for IETF Sigtran working group, 2000.
• University of Victoria, Canada, evaluated the promotion of a Professor, Oct. 1991.
• University of Victoria, Canada, evaluated candidates for Assistant Professor in Oct. 1991.
• Penn State University, evaluation of candidates for Assistant Professor, 1991.
• Reviewer of IEEE International Conference on Circuits and Systems, 1993.
• Reviewer for the IEEE Interventional Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1988.
• Reviewer for the IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 1988.
• Reviewer for the IEEE International Conference on Systems and Circuits, 1988.

Industry Work Experience

Netrake Corporation

Technical Director, Plano, Texas, July 2001 - 

Startup company developing innovative network security product for traversing VOIP traffic between enterprises and service providers. Responsible for the architecture, and redundancy design for 99.999 availability. Developed a new protocol for the redundancy of the SIP traffic as well as NAT and Firewalls. Lead the project from concept to realization. Devised a new technique for traversing VOIP traffic through enterprise Firewalls/NATS.

Ipmobile/Cisco Systems

Technology Director, Richardson, Tx., Dec. 1999- June 2001

Developing leading edge networking products for Wireless Internet. Comprehended CDMA/2G/3G/Internet technologies and designed a cost effective Wireless Router. Ipmobile was acquired by Cisco in September of 2000. Initiated this strategic product for seamless integration of IP and wireless technologies. Responsible from inception to product design. Put together all the pieces in the puzzle (multiple disciplines include RF, CDMA, 3G, 3GPP2, IP, MPLS, DiffServ, SS7, IN, and VoIP technologies).

Alcatel Network System Ltd

IP Competence Center, Principle Software Architect, Richardson, TX., June,1998- Nov. 1999

IP Routing/forwarding for Alcatel SONET/SS7-IP Products: Principle Software Architect for Alcatel SONET-IP Ring and SS7-IP Products. Study Phase2 Routing software (BGP, OSPF, RIP) for MPLS and QOS in ASICs. Designed new protocol for linking dynamic routing system and packet flow processor and analyzed the mechanisms for FIB/RIB table updates. Provided design for distributed IP routing in a SONET Ring, and IP packet level restoration in SONET Ring. Design of SS7-IP adaptation layer protocols (two patents pending). Contributed to IETF drafts on constraints based routing on MPLS (co-author) and Signaling Gateway protocol between media gateway and Media Gateway Controller.

Fujitsu Network Communications

Transport and Access Product Development, Principle System Designer, Richardson, TX., Dec. 1995 - May,1998

Hybrid STM-ATM-LAN services on the OC-3/12 SONET Ring Products: Team Leader and Principle System Designer for service (tributary) shelf in the hybrid ATM-SONET ring product. Responsible for the specification, detailed design for plug-in-units for LAN/ATM/FR and STM services. Design and integration of LANE/MPOA/MPLS and IP over SONET into current and new products. Represented Fujitsu in ATM Forum Standards.

Northern Telecom Ltd.

Magellan Passport Software Development, Ottawa, 1990-1995

ATM SVC Connection Control for Cornerstone Residential Broadband Networks: Team Leader for research, design and software development of connection control for residential broadband networks.

ATM Traffic Management for Magellan Networks (in use for multi media application): Team leader for research, design and implementation of Access, Network and Node specific traffic control mechanisms for multi media applications in ATM networks. 

Traffic Management for Release 1.0 Passport Frame-Cell-Switch (multimedia application): Responsible for overall research, design, and development. Work involves threshold interrupt handlers, queue polling mechanism, congestion status table and congestion broadcast mechanism.

Design and implementation of bandwidth management for Passport Frame Cell Switch: Verified the design using modeling and simulation for bandwidth enforcement algorithms for voice, video and data. 

Intelligent Dial Backup Network links for Data Packet Network, DPN-100: Acting dial backup links for topological changes or during node isolation in the network. This feature is currently used in several customer sites. Highly successful project and received very good feedback from customers. Team leader for the project (team of 10 people).

1. Redundancy Scheme for Network Processor Systems, Co-Inventor, US Patent, 7,272,746, September 18, 2007.
2. Method and system for providing services for wireless data calls, Principal Inventor, US Patent, 7,225,238, May 29, 2007.
3. Method and system of control signaling for a wireless access network, Principal Inventor, US Patent 7,173,925, February 6, 2007.
4. System and method for packet level restoration of IP traffic using overhead signaling in a fiber optic ring network, Principal Inventor, US Patent 7,167,443, January 23, 2007.
5. Method and system for providing supplementary services for a wireless access network, Principal Inventor, US Patent 7,164,913, January 16, 2007.
6. Quality indicator and method for frame selection in wireless network, Co-Inventor, US Patent, 7,079,512, July 18, 2006.
7. Wireless router and method for processing traffic in a wireless communications network, Principal Inventor, US Patent, 7,068,624, June 27, 2006.
8. Method and system for providing wireless-specific services for a wireless access network, Principal Inventor, US Patent, 7, 058, 033, June 6, 2006.
9. Method and system for configuring wireless routers and networks, Co-Inventor, US Patent, 7,031,266, April 18, 2006.
10. System and method for transporting in/ain signaling over an internet protocol (IP) network, Principal Inventor, US Patent, 7,006,433, February 28, 2006.
11. Method and system for managing wireless bandwidth resources,” Co-Inventor, US Patent, 6,957,071, October 18, 2005.
12. Method and system of integrated rate control for a traffic flow across wireline and wireless networks, Principal Inventor, US Patent, 6,904,286, June, 7, 2005.
13. System and Method for Packet Level Distributed Routing in Fiber Optic Rings”, Principal Inventor, US Patent 6,532,088, March 11, 2003.
14. System and Method for Packet Level Restoration of IP Traffic Using Overhead Signaling in a Fiber Optic Ring Network, European Patent, EP1083706, March 14, 2001.
15. System and Method for Packet Level Distributed Routing in Fiber Optic Rings, European Patent, EP1083696, March 14, 2001.
16. Method and Apparatus for Transport of SS7 Messages Over IP Network, European Patent, EP1089575, April 4, 2001.