Tharaka Samarasinghe

Ph.D. (Melbourne, Australia), B.Sc. Eng. (Moratuwa, Sri Lanka),
C. Eng. (IESL), SMIEEE.

Professor, Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (Web Page).
Head, Dept. of Medical Technology, Faculty of Medicine
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Email: tharakas@uom.lk
Tel: 94112640051 Ext: 3323

Research Interests

  • Wireless Communications
  • Information Theory
  • Intelligent Transportation Systems

Teaching

  • Undergraduate
    • Random Signals and Processes
    • Analog and Digital Communications
    • Digital Communications
  • Postgraduate
    • Information Theory
    • Wireless Communications
    • Wireless Networks
    • Digital Communications
 

About Me

 

Tharaka Samarasinghe holds a B.Sc. degree in Engineering from the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (2008), where he was honored as the most outstanding undergraduate of the university upon graduation. He began his career as a Radio Network Design, Planning, and Optimization Engineer at Mobitel Pvt. Ltd. before pursuing his Ph.D. at the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia, in 2009. He completed his Ph.D. in 2012 and subsequently joined Monash University as a Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering.

In January 2015, Tharaka returned to Sri Lanka and joined the University of Moratuwa as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering. He was promoted to the post of Professor in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering in January 2024. He also currently serves as the Head of the Department of Medical Technology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Moratuwa. From 2016 to 2023, Tharaka was privileged to be appointed an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Furthermore, during his sabbatical in 2022-2023, he worked as a Research Fellow at the School of Engineering, RMIT University, Australia.

Tharaka is a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Passed Finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), United Kingdom.

Work Experience

  • Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2015 January todate.
  • Head, Dept. of Medical Technology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Moratuwa, 2024 January todate.
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Australia, 2022-2023.
  • Honorary Fellow, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2016-2023.
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Australia, 2012-2014.
  • Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2010-2012.
  • Engineer, Radio Network Design, Planning and Optimization, Mobitel Pvt. Ltd, Sri Lanka, 2008-2009.

Other Work-Related Experience

  • Course Coordinator, M.Sc. in Telecommunications, Dept. of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa (2017-2021).
  • Curriculum Development
    • B.Sc. Eng. (Hons.), Dept. of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa (2020).
    • M.Sc. in Telecommunications, Dept. of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa (2018)
    • B.Sc. Eng. (Hons.), Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura(2016)
    • Pg. Dip., Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, IESL College of Engineering, (2015).
    • General Qualifying Examination for Associate Membership, IESL (2019).
    • National Diploma in Engineering Sciences, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Katunayaka, (2019)
    • B.Tech., Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering Technology, Faculty of Technology, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (2021).
  • Consultancy Services
    • Sri Lanka Police.
    • Special Task Force, Sri Lanka Police.
    • Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.
    • Department of National Museums, Sri Lanka.
  • Voluntary Services
    • Chairman, IEEE Communications Society - Sri Lanka Chapter (2019-2021).
    • Vice-Chairman, IEEE Communications Society - Sri Lanka Chapter (2022).
    • Senior Treasurer, Sports council, University of Moratuwa (2019-2022).
    • Treasurer, Association of Engineer teachers, University of Moratuwa (2019-2022).
    • Treasurer, IEEE Sri Lanka Section (2020).
 

Grants and Awards

  • Co-Investigator, Senate Research Council Grant SRC/LT/2015/7, University of Moratuwa (2015).
  • Principle Investigator, Senate Research Council Grant SRC/LT/2018/2, University of Moratuwa (2018).
  • Co-Investigator, AHEAD/RA3/RIC/MRT/ITS- Multidisciplinary Transport Development Project of the University of Moratuwa under World Bank Grant 6026-LK/8743-LK (2019).
  • President's Award for Scientific Publication, Government of Sri Lanka (2016).
  • Research Excellence with Distinction, University of Moratuwa (2016, 2018-2022).
  • Research Excellence, University of Moratuwa (2017).
  • National Research Council Merit Award, Government of Sri Lanka (2015, 2018).
  • Melbourne International Fee Remission and Research Scholarships, University of Melbourne (2009-2012).
  • Prof. Dayantha Wijesekara Award for the Most Outstanding graduant of the University of Moratuwa (2008).
  • University Colours, University of Moratuwa (2004-2007).
 

Journal Publications

  1. S Kandeepan, M Tripathi, K Wang, D Gossink, T Samarasinghe, C. Divarathne "Guided-Aloha for Secondary Access with Spectrum Prediction," IEEE Access 13, 2025.
  2. C. Sandeepa, E. Zeydan, T. Samarasinghe, M. Liyanage, "Federated Learning for 6G Networks: Navigating Privacy Benefits and Challenges," IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2025.
  3. V. Mithulavan, T. Samarasinghe, R. Valluvan, A. Karnan, N. Sathiparan, D. N. Subramaniam, "Investigation on the Effectiveness of Fourier Shape Analysis in Classifying Milled Aggregates," Construction and Building Materials, 2025.
  4. H. Hydher, D.N.K. Jayakody, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, "UAV Deployment in WSN System for Emergency/remote Area Applications," Computer Networks, 2025.
  5. G.P. Wijesiri, J. Haapola, T. Samarasinghe, "Performance Enhancement of C-V2X Mode 4 Utilizing Multiple Candidate Single-subframe Resources," IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2023.
  6. S Karunarathna, S Wijethilaka, P Ranaweera, KT Hemachandra, T Samarasinghe, M Liyanage "The Role of Network Slicing and Edge Computing in the Metaverse Realization", IEEE Access, 2023.
  7. G.P. Wijesiri, J. Haapola, T. Samarasinghe, "The Effect of Multiple Access Categories on the MAC Layer Performance of IEEE 802.11 p," IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2022
  8. S. Sumanthiran, D. Kudathanthirige, K. T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, G. Aruma Baduge, "Rank-1 Matrix Approximation Based Channel Estimation for Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Aided Multi-User MISO Communications," IEEE Communications Letters, 2021
  9. M. Wijewardena, T. Samarasinghe, K. T. Hemachandra, S. Atapattu, J. S. Evans, "Physical Layer Security for Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted Two-Way Communications," IEEE Communications Letters, 2021
  10. G.P. Wijesiri, J. Haapola, T. Samarasinghe, "A Discrete-Time Markov Chain Based Comparison of the MAC Layer Performance of C-V2X Mode 4 and IEEE 802.11p," IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2021
  11. H. Hydher, D.N.K. Jayakody, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, "Intelligent UAV deployment for a disaster-resilient wireless network," Sensors, 2020
  12. V. Jayasundara, H. Jayasekara, T. Samarasinghe, K. T. Hemachandra, "Device-Free User Authentication, Activity Classification and Tracking using Passive Wi-Fi Sensing: A Deep Learning Based Approach," IEEE Sensors Journal, 2020
  13. S. Abeywickrama, T. Samarasinghe, C. K. Ho, Y. Chau "Wireless Energy Beamforming Using Received Signal Strength Indicator Feedback," IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 2018
  14. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J.S. Evans, "Modeling and Analysis of Opportunistic Beamforming for Poisson Wireless Networks," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 2016
  15. M. Wang, T. Samarasinghe, J.S. Evans, "Optimizing User Selection Schemes in Vector Broadcast Channels," IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2015
  16. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J.S. Evans, "On the Outage Capacity of Opportunistic Beamforming with Random User Locations," IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2014
  17. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J.S. Evans, " On Optimal Downlink Coverage in Poisson Cellular Networks with Power Density Constraints," IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2014
  18. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, and J. Evans, "Optimal Selective Feedback Policies for Opportunistic Beamforming," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 2013
  19. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, and J. Evans, "The Feedback-Capacity Tradeoff for Opportunistic Beamforming under Optimal User Selection," Performance Evaluation, 2012 (invited paper)

Conference Publications

  1. S. Kandeepan, K. Wang, T. Samarasinghe, C. Divarathne, "Spatial Correlation in Shadow Fading for Wireless Communication," in Proc. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence For Internet of Things, Vellore, India, Nov. 2024.
  2. C. Divarathne, T. Samarasinghe, S. Kandeepan, K. Wang, "Priority Based Spectrum Allocation," in Proc. Asia Pacific Conference on Communications, Sydney, Australia, Nov. 2023.
  3. T. Wickramarachchi, D. Dias, T. Samarasinghe, N. Gokull, "Evaluation of DSRC/Wi-Fi Hybrid Communications for Intelligent Transport Systems," in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Macau, China, Oct. 2022.
  4. H. Hydher, D.N.K. Jayakody, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, "UAV Deployment for Data Collection in Energy Constrained WSN System," in Proc. IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops, Virtual Event, May 2022.
  5. R. De Silva, Y. Siriwardhana, T. Samarasinghe, M. Liyanage, M. Ylianttila, "Deployment Options of 5g Network Slicing for Smart Healthcare," in Proc. IEEE Annual Consumer Communications & Networking Conference, Virtual Event, Jan. 2022.
  6. G.P. Wijesiri, J. Haapola, T. Samarasinghe, "The Effect of Multiple Access Categories on the MAC Layer Performance of IEEE 802.11p," in Proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference, Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 2020.
  7. R. De Silva, Y. Siriwardhana, T. Samarasinghe, M. Ylianttila, M. Liyanage, "Local 5G Operator Architecture for Delay Critical Telehealth Applications," in Proc. IEEE 5G World Forum, Virtual Event, Sep. 2020.
  8. T. Nuradha, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, S. Atapattu, Physical-Layer Security for Untrusted UAV-Assisted Full-Duplex Wireless Networks, in Proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference Workshops, Waikoloa, USA, Dec. 2019.
  9. T. Nuradha, T. Samarasinghe, K.T. Hemachandra, A Novel Content Caching and Delivery Scheme for Millimeter Wave Device-to-Device Communications , in Proc. International Symposium on Wireless Personal Multimedia Communications, Lisbon, Portugal, Nov., 2019.
  10. I.J. Ranawaka, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, T. Nuradha, An Energy Efficient D2D Model with Guaranteed Quality of Service for Cloud Radio Access Networks , in Proc. International Symposium on Wireless Personal Multimedia Communications, Lisbon, Portugal, Nov., 2019..
  11. G.P. Wijesiri, J. Haapola, T. Samarasinghe, A Markov Perspective on C-V2X Mode 4, in Proc. IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Honolulu, USA, Sep. 2019.
  12. I. Ismath, T. Samarasinghe, D. Dias, M. Wimalarathna, W. Rasanga, N. Jayaweera, Y. Nugera, Emergency Vehicle Traversal using DSRC/WAVE based Vehicular Communication, in Proc. IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, Paris, France, Jun. 2019
  13. L. Jayasinghe, T. Samarasinghe, C. Yuen, J.C.N. Low, S.S. Ge, Temporal convolutional memory networks for remaining useful life estimation of industrial machinery, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology, Melbourne, Australia, Feb. 2019.
  14. W. Manamperi, T. Samarasinghe, D. Dias, Enhancing the Wi-Fi Direct Protocol for Data Communication in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Maui, USA, Nov. 2018.
  15. S. Abeywickrama, T. Samarasinghe, C. Yuen, R. Zhang, Cluster-based wireless energy transfer for low complex energy receivers, in Proc. International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks, Shanghai, China, May 2018.
  16. C. Singhabahu, T. Samarasinghe, S. Abeywickrama, C. Yuen, Wireless energy transfer to a pair of energy receivers using signal strength feedback, in Proc. International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks, Shanghai, China, May 2018.
  17. T. Illandara, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe On the coverage probability of cellular networks with underlaid clustered device-to-device networks using power control, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunications Systems, Bhubaneswar, India, Dec. 2017.
  18. S. Pallewatta, P.S. Lakmali, S. Wijewardana, P. Ranathunga, T. Samarasinghe, D. Dias, 802.11 p: Insights from the MAC and physical layers for a cooperate car following application, in Proc.International Conference on Intelligent Transport Systems, Helsinki, Finland, Nov. 2017
  19. S. Abeywickrama, T. Samarasinghe, C.K. Ho, Wireless energy beamforming using signal strength feedback, In proc. IEEE Global Communications Conference, Washington DC, USA, Dec. 2016.
  20. A. Balasundram, T. Samarasinghe, D. Dias Performance analysis of Wi-Fi direct for vehicular ad-hoc networks , in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunications Systems, Bangalore, India, Nov. 2016.
  21. M. Wang, T. Samarasinghe, J. S. Evans, Transmission rank selection for opportunistic beamforming with quality of service constraints, in Proc. International Conference on Communications, Sydney, Australia, Jun. 2014.
  22. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Maximizing the coverage-intensity product in random cellular networks, in Proc. Australian Communications Theory Workshop, Sydney, Australia, Feb. 2014.
  23. M. Wang, T. Samarasinghe, and J. S. Evans, Multi-cell opportunistic beamforming in interference-limited networks, in Proc. Australian Communications Theory Workshop, Sydney, Australia, Feb. 2014. (Winner of Best Student Paper Award).
  24. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Outage capacity of opportunistic beamforming with random user locations, in Proc. IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, Atlanta, USA, Dec. 2013.
  25. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Optimal SINR-based coverage in Poisson cellular networks with power density constraints, in Proc. IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Las Vegas, USA, Sept. 2013. (Winner of the Best Paper of the Track)
  26. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Optimal SNR-based coverage in Poisson cellular networks with power density constraints, in Proc. Australian Communications Theory Workshop, Adelaide, Australia, Jan. 2013.
  27. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Optimal Selective Feedback Policies for Opportunistic Beamforming under Peak Feedback Load Constraints, in Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, Boston, USA, Jul. 2012.
  28. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Vector Broadcast Channels: Optimality of Threshold Feedback Policies, in Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 2011.
  29. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, Vector Broadcast Channels: Optimal Threshold Selection Problem, in Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 2011.
  30. T. Samarasinghe, H. Inaltekin, J. S. Evans, The Feedback-Capacity Tradeoff for Opportunistic Beamforming, in Proc. International Conference on Communications, Kyoto, Japan, Jun. 2011.
  31. H. Inaltekin, T. Samarasinghe, and J. S. Evans, Rate Optimal Limited Feedback Policies for the MIMO Downlink, in Proc. International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks, Princeton, USA, May 2011 (selected as one of the five best papers of the conference).
  32. A.L.A.T.D. Ambegoda, W.T.S. De Silva, K.T. Hemachandra, T. Samarasinghe, A.T.L.K. Samarasinghe, Centralized Traffic Controlling System for Sri Lanka Railways, in Proc. International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Dec 2008.
 

Students

Ph.D.

  • Geeth P. Wijesiri

M.Phil.

M.Sc. (Research)

  • Wageesha Manamperi
  • B. Arunn

B.Sc. (Research)

  • Theshani Nuradha
  • Vinoj Jayasundara
  • Insaf Ismath
  • Hirunima Jayasekara
  • Thavishi Illandara
  • Chanaka Singhabahu
  • Samith Abeywickrama
Top