Chang Cai's Homepage

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Chang Cai
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR

Email: changcai@hku.hk
[Google Scholar] | [Linkedin] | [Github]

About me

I am a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Hong Kong. I received my Ph.D. degree in Information Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2025, supervised by Prof. Angela Yingjun Zhang. Before that, I received my B.Eng. degree from the Yingcai Honors College, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2021, advised by Prof. Xiaojun Yuan. My research focuses on signal processing and machine learning for wireless communications, with a particular emphasis on the convergence of model-based algorithms and data-driven learning toward white-box and explainable AI solutions for future wireless networks.

News

  • [02-2026] Our work on integerated message passing and generative learning for massive connectivity has been accepted by IEEE JSAC! [Paper]

  • [12-2025] I joined the Dept. of EEE (now ECE), HKU, as a Research Assistant Professor. A new journey began!

  • [09-2025] Our invited paper on score-based generative modeling for ISAC performance evaluation has been accepted by JCIN. [paper]

  • [07-2025] I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis! Heartfelt thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Angela Yingjun Zhang, and to my committee members for their guidance, encouragement, and unwavering support.

  • [12-2023] Honored to be recognized for my contribution as Managing Editor of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (2022–2023).

Selected Publications

  • Score-Based Generative Models, Diffusion Models

    • C. Cai, H. Jiang, X. Yuan, and Y. -J. A. Zhang, “Score-based turbo message passing for plug-and-play compressive imaging,” major revision in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 2025. [Paper] [Conference] [Code]

    • C. Cai, W. Jiang, X. Yuan, and Y. -J. A. Zhang, “Joint activity detection and channel estimation for massive connectivity: Where message passing meets score-based generative priors,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 44, pp. 3575-3590, 2026. [Paper] [Code]

    • L. Chen, C. Cai*, H. Yang, X. Yuan, and Y. -J. A. Zhang, “Scoring ISAC: Benchmarking integrated sensing and communications via score-based generative modeling,” Journal of Communications and Information Networks, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 224-245, Sept. 2025. [Invited paper]

  • Edge AI, Semantic and Task-Oriented Communications

    • C. Cai, X. Yuan, and Y. -J. A. Zhang, “End-to-end learning for task-oriented semantic communications over MIMO channels: An information-theoretic framework,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 1292-1307, April 2025. [Paper]

    • C. Cai, X. Yuan, and Y. -J. A. Zhang, “Multi-device task-oriented communication via maximal coding rate reduction,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 23, no. 12, pp. 18096-18110, Dec. 2024. [Paper] [Code]