在剑桥的第一年：学会感恩，不断向前

终稿致谢，正式结束了在剑桥的第一年。承蒙大家的照顾，这一年我过得很好很好。我有幸遇到了很好的导师，结交了很棒的朋友，参与了很有前景的研究项目，也见识到了很多创业的机会。所谓站得越高，看得越远；选择越多，失去越多。有时也会因此而产生悲观情绪，手足无措，迷茫而彷徨。但幸运的是，我有一帮最好的兄弟姊妹，他/她们总是愿意带着我玩，带着我前进，带着我探索这个未知但光明的世界。

他/她们用身体力行，教导我这么一句话：Success comes with Hard work, Integrity, Persistence, and Talent (HIP-T)，成功源于努力，正直，坚持和天赋。

首先我要感谢我的导师，Ozgur Akan 院士，对我的殷勤指导和莫大信任，首先愿意录取、指导我这样一个出身平平的毛头小子，并无数次为我争取奖学金，让我有机会留在剑桥，继续完成我的学术理想。HIP-T这一人生哲学，是我们师门的百年传承，从Ian Akyildiz 院士发明了HIP-T，到我们数以千计的师门同仁共同践行HIP-T，我们看到了属于学术的梦想——从脚踏实地、坚持不懈、为人正直，作为一切的出发点。

我要感谢我的师兄昊凡、天孚、培基和李凯老师，谢谢你们愿意和我长期合作，带我进入了 Internet of Everything 这一蓬勃发展的领域。谢谢你们总是包容我的幼稚想法，为我提供无数的学术灵感，并一字一句地耐心修改我那糟糕的早期学术文本。感谢我的同门，作为只有九个学生的小团队，我们很团结，也很有爱。接下来的四年，让我们一起继续践行HIP-T吧！

我要感谢我在电子系的好朋友们，其中特别是我和培基、思哲、栩溢、石洋、一帆，共同组成了“基哥军师团”，给我在剑桥的日常生活带来了数不尽的欢声笑语，弥补了我在英国留学的日常空虚。当然还有好多师兄朋友们，没有你们的帮助和支持，我一定没办法坚持到最后。谢谢你们的友善、鼓励和友谊。我们在剑桥的生活，多么美丽。

我需要感谢我的书院 Girton College，虽然你是剑桥最偏僻的书院，虽然到 Girton 总是需要“办签证”，但是你真的为我带来了好多真诚且持久的友谊，让我认识了好多来自世界各地的朋友们。其中，我要特别感谢铭泽给我们带来了数不清的超有意思的“警察往事”；感谢 Hakan 教会了我如何分辨土耳其美女（顺带一说，你的眼光总是很好）；感谢 Sarim 你让我看到了第三世界的希望，你的国家有你们这样的年轻人，一定会越来越富强，我相信总有一天我们要再叙中巴情谊！Girton 的朋友们，虽然我们只有一年短暂的相处，虽然你们马上就要离开剑桥，但我相信，只要我们还在「向上向善」的道路上持续不断地修行，那么总有一天，我们一定还会相见。我多么期待那一天！

我要感谢我在国内的恩师、朋友们。谢谢你们作为我最坚强的后盾，和你们在一起，塑造了我人生早期的价值观和信仰，我多么地荣幸！谢谢徐老师，你教会了我什么是一位“真正的好老师”，总是给予学生最大程度的支持和信赖，有幸成为你的学生，我无比自豪；谢谢昭霖，你永远是我最好的兄弟，祝你申请到理想的博士学校，愿你永远保持当下的坦荡和正直，这是我见过最美好的品质。

我必须要感恩祖国，没有祖国的富强就没有今天的我。谢谢留基委专家的信任，谢谢剑桥信托基金，认可我过去五年的努力，并相信我未来五十年的潜力。谢谢你们为我的博士学习保驾护航，并为我提供了一纸价值千金的协议。我永远不会忘记，在我当下最需要这份支持的时候，是祖国帮助了我，给了我一个多么难得的机会让我实现自己的抱负。不论是六年前还是现在，我永远愿意真诚地这么说——为中华之崛起而读书。清澈的爱，只为中国。

我多么热爱闽南这片土地，这里有最勤劳的人民，有最热情的民俗，有最忠诚的信仰，有我爱的爸爸妈妈和家人们。我出生在一个最传统的闽南大家族，我的爷爷有11个兄弟姊妹。我从小见证了家族的兴起，父母辈们的精耕细作，我辈绝不让她衰败。谢谢你们毫无保留地供我读书，让我相信知识就是力量，信仰就是力量。当我站得越高，看得越远，走出去了，我才知道家乡是什么样。我不愿离开，但我也不愿妥协，我要改变，带着我的兄弟姊妹们一起改变——反思“闽南性”，拒绝“爹味”，捍卫“闽南女权”，守护“闽南语言”——兄弟姊妹们，你我共担当！

我是一个热爱写「致谢」的人，因为我热爱写作，热爱朋友，热爱家人，更热爱感恩。我的家风和教育让我相信世界是美好的。道路虽曲折，前程定光明。我不会忘记那位福州老先生（78英专）对我的教导：要学会感恩，因为我们的生活多么美好！他笑起来的容颜让我的灵魂都震撼，更引导我建立起了美好的世界观。

最后的最后，我要特别感谢一位美好的女孩，我们在一个美丽的仲夏相遇，我们相恋多年，彼此信任，共赴前程。你总是问我未来有没有你，其实，我人生里看到的每一寸世界，从福州到雷克雅未克，从伦敦到巴黎——所有的美好，都有你。

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Acknowledgements

This thesis would not have been possible without the help and support of so many individuals and institutions. Here, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude.

First and foremost, I must express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Özgür B. Akan, whose guidance and belief in me have been instrumental throughout this journey. Your invaluable advice, unwavering patience, and constant encouragement have shaped both my research and my academic future. I will always remember that success comes with Hard work, Integrity, Persistence, and Talent (HIP-T). I am also deeply thankful to my advisor, Dr. Kai Li from CMU Portugal, for your mentorship, which greatly broadened my perspectives and enriched my understanding of the field. Special thanks to Dr. Iman Tavakkolnia and Dr. Morag Hunter, whose support and insightful feedback were vital in shaping my MPhil studies at Cambridge.

I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Haofan Dong and Houtianfu Wang on Chapters 3 and 4 of this thesis. Working with you both has been an intellectually enriching experience, and I am grateful for your contributions and support in these works. Also, to my colleagues in the Internet of Everything (IoE) Group, I am grateful for your camaraderie and constant support. Shaojie Zhang, Hongbin Ni, Zherong Zhang, Zhengyang Zhang, Osman Tansel Baydas, and Ayse Sila Okcu—your thoughtful feedback and encouragement have been indispensable, making this journey so much more fulfilling. Let’s IoE together for the upcoming four years!

To my friends from the Electrical Engineering Division, I am deeply grateful for the companionship and support you have given me during my time at CAPE. Dr. Peiji Song, Sizhe Xing (FDU), Xuyi Hu, Dr. Yang Shi, Mowei Lu, Linnan Chen, Siwei Liu, Yifan Zhao (UoT), Ke Ma, Ziyu He, Menglin Song, Tongxu Liu, Jinfeng Zhang, Lekang Jiang, Heyang Long, Yizhi Wang, Peng Bao, Yizhou Jiang (THU), Zhiwei Xue (THU), Dr. Zexi Li (ZJU), Dr. Xiaoyang Tian, Danchen Li, Haomin Luo, Shan Jin, and Zhongyi Liang—thank you for your kindness, encouragement, and friendship. Each of you has made my journey here so much richer. Life is so beautiful!

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to my friends at Girton College, particularly Bofeng Xue, Hakan Emre Aktas, Mingze Li, Qien Cai, Xinghui Tao, Yexuan Ding, Haoyuan Jia, Mengcheng Zhang, Zhenyu Shi, and Sarim Gillani, whose friendship and kindness have made my time at Girton so much more meaningful. My heartfelt thanks go to my mentors in China, Dr. Zhezhuang Xu, Dr. Meng Yuan, Dr. Siyuan Zhan, Dr. Ronan Reilly, Dr. Chin Hong Wong, and Dr. Shibo He, whose guidance in my undergraduate years laid the foundation for my academic growth. Zhaolin Chen, Hongye Li, Xiaojing Wang, and Han Zong, as well as my friends in StarCollege, your unwavering belief in me has been a constant source of motivation.

I am also deeply grateful to the Cambridge Trust and the China Scholarship Council for their generous scholarships. Without their support, this dream would have remained just that—a dream. I am forever thankful for their belief in my huge potential.

A heartfelt thank you to my parents Huaxin Cai and Lianhong Xu, my little sister Xinyi Cai and my big family, whose unwavering support has empowered me to seize new chances and pursue my dreams. So what I always strive for is to make them proud of me. Lastly, to Linshi Li, the wonderful girl I met in a beautiful summer, who always believes in me a thousand times more than I do. I love you, forever.