I am an Assistant Professor at the HKCT Institute of Higher Education and a part-time Postdoctoral Fellow at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I completed my Ph.D. in Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, supervised by Prof. Jiannong Cao. I was a visiting research student at Kanazawa University, supervised by Prof. Ruidong Li.
My research focuses on trustworthy decentralized AI for applications in education, finance, and other domains where data and computing resources are distributed across devices and organizations. I study how these participants can collaborate on AI tasks while retaining control of their data and verifying the information and computation they exchange. My work brings together blockchain for verifiable coordination, edge computing for distributed learning and inference, and digital twins for connecting AI systems with physical environments. It spans three areas:
Blockchain Infrastructure and Security: Decentralized identity, cross-chain interoperability, and verifiable data sharing to support collaboration across organizations.
Edge Computing and AI: Federated learning and decentralized inference that enable devices to collaborate under data and resource constraints.
Digital Twin Networks: Trustworthy digital twin generation and cross-domain sharing that provide AI systems with verifiable representations of physical environments.
News
- 2026.09: I was promoted to Assistant Professor at HKCT Institute of Higher Education.
- 2026.09: I serve as the NGNI Representative on the IEEE ComSoc Student Competition Committee.
- 2026.09: I serve on the Technical Program Committees of IEEE AIoT 2026 and MetaCom 2026.
- 2026.08: Our paper When Ad Networks Misbehave: Understanding Risks of Semi-Drive-By Splash Ads is accepted at ACM CCS 2026.
- 2026.08: Our paper on PDF document integrity verification was presented at the ESTNI Workshop, IEEE FINE 2026.
- 2026.08: I served as Program Chair of IIDS ACBC 2026.
- 2026.07: Our paper On-Demand Snapshot Migration: Accelerating Container Migration in Low-Bandwidth Networks is accepted in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing.
- 2026.06: I serve as Workshop Co-Chair of IEEE AIoT 2026.
- 2026.04: Our poster Understanding Risks of Semi-Drive-By Splash Ads is accepted at IEEE S&P 2026.
Selected Publications [FullList]
J: journal; C: conference. * Corresponding author.
On-Demand Snapshot Migration: Accelerating Container Migration in Low-Bandwidth Networks
Zhiyuan Hu, Jiannong Cao, Zhaorui Zhang, Yinfeng Cao, and Lei Yang
- SEER predicts and transfers the files needed for container resumption to accelerate migration over low-bandwidth networks.
Accepted.
[SCIE · CCF A · JCR Q1 (2024)]
(Paper)
When Ad Networks Misbehave: Understanding Risks of Semi-Drive-By Splash Ads
Song Wu, Bo Wang, Yifan Zhang, Yinfeng Cao*, and Xueqiang Wang
- This work investigates semi-drive-by splash ads and their risks in mobile advertising networks.
Accepted.
[CCF A]
(Paper)
ChainTwin: Blockchain-based Trustless Digital Twin Generation and Cross-Domain Adoption
Yinfeng Cao, Jiannong Cao, Baoxia Du, Dongbin Bai, Mingjin Zhang, and Ruidong Li*
- ChainTwin supports verifiable digital twin generation and adoption across domains.
[SCIE · JCR Q1 (2024)]
(Paper)
Decentralized Digital Twin Networks
Yinfeng Cao, Jiannong Cao, Baoxia Du, and Ruidong Li*
- This work presents a decentralized architecture for sharing and managing digital twins.
[SCIE · JCR Q1 (2024)]
(Paper)
Yinfeng Cao, Jiannong Cao, Dongbin Bai, Long Wen*, Yang Liu, and Ruidong Li*
- MAP provides trustless cross-chain verification through a relay-chain architecture.
[CCF A]
Security in Edge Blockchains: Attacks and Countermeasures
Yinfeng Cao, Jiannong Cao, Yuqin Wang, Kaile Wang, and Xun Liu
- This survey examines attacks and countermeasures in edge blockchain systems.
(Paper)
Polychain: a generic blockchain as a service platform
Shan Jiang, Jiannong Cao, Juncen Zhu, and Yinfeng Cao
- PolyChain provides a modular blockchain-as-a-service platform for developing blockchain applications.
Best Paper Award.
(Paper)
Awards && Honors
- 2025 Best Paper Award, IEEE AIoT
- 2025 Best Presentation Runner-Up, PolyU Research Student Conference
- Best Paper Award Nominations, IEEE iMETA, 2023 and 2024
- 2021 Best Paper Award, BlockSys
- 2019 First Prize, Microsoft Imagine Cup, Blockchain Section
- 2019 Second Prize, Challenge Cup, Shaanxi
- 2018 Gold Award, China International College Students “Internet +” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
- 2019 Xidian University Innovation Scholarship
- 2018 Xidian-Haijing Foundation Innovation Scholarship
Experiences
- 2026.09 – Present, HKCT Institute of Higher Education.
- Assistant Professor, Institute of Cyberspace Technology
- 2025.11 – 2026.08, HKCT Institute of Higher Education.
- Lecturer, Institute of Cyberspace Technology
- 2025.10 – Present, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
- Postdoctoral Fellow (part-time), Department of Computing
- 2024 – 2025, Kanazawa University.
- Visiting Research Student
- Advisor: Prof. Ruidong Li
- 2020 – 2025, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
- Ph.D. in Computing
- Advisor: Prof. Jiannong Cao
- 2016 – 2020, Xidian University.
- B.Eng. in Information Security, Experimental Class in Cybersecurity
Talks
-
IIDS ACBC 2026, Hong Kong (Panel Moderator), Blockchain and Web 3.0 Research-Industry Development Trend, 22 Aug 2026
-
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2025 Symposium on Discipline Development of AI in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the 6th International Young Scholars Forum, Blockchain-based Digital Twins, 15 Nov 2025
-
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Ph.D. defense), Consistent Physical-to-Virtual Mapping in Digital Twins, Aug 2025
-
PolyU Research Student Conference (PRSC 2025), MAP the Blockchain World: A Trustless and Scalable Blockchain Interoperability Protocol for Cross-chain Applications, July 2025
Academic Services
- Professional Committees: Meeting Coordinator, IEEE ComSoc Technical Committee on Next Generation Networks and Internet (NGNI-TC), 2026, NGNI Representative, IEEE ComSoc Student Competition Committee, 2026
- Organizing Committee: Workshop Co-Chair, IEEE AIoT 2026, Publication Chair, IEEE FINE 2026, Program Chair, IIDS ACBC 2026, Workshop Chair, BERS 2026, Workshop Organizer, TNI-Meta 2026, MetaCom 2026, Workshop Organizer, TNI-AIoT 2026 (proposed)
- Technical Program Committee: IEEE AIoT 2026, MetaCom 2026, IEEE FINE 2026, ACM Web Conference, IEEE AIMS, IEEE iMETA
- Journal Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Network, Information Sciences, Digital Communications and Networks, Computer Networks, Computer Communications, Computers in Human Behavior Reports, Blockchain: Research and Applications, High-Confidence Computing, ZTE Communications
- Conference Reviewer: Services Conference Federation (SCF) 2026, IEEE CyberSciTech 2026, BigData 2026, ACM Web Conference, IEEE INFOCOM
- Other Conference Service: Program Committee / Session Chair, iMETA 2024, HealthCom 2024 and AIMS 2025
- Professional Membership: ACM, IEEE
- Professional Service: Secretary-General, PhD Branch, Hong Kong Association of Top Talent and Professionals, 2025, Secretary-General, Hong Kong Alumni Association of Xidian University, 2021