Distinguished Lectures on 29-30 August: Warwick University and University College London

We have two interesting Distinguished Lectures coming up on 29 and 30 August. All are welcome to attend! There are no registration requirements. Please forward to anyone that you think might be interested.

Warwick University, 29 August, 2pm

First, furthering the seminars series by the prestigious speaker and IEEE VTS Distinguished Lecturer Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini, he will be talking on the topic of light propagation for underwater wireless communications on 29 August, at 2pm, at Warwick University.

A Handout for the seminar is here.

Title: Collimated light propagation: The next frontier in underwater wireless communication.

Abstract: Traditional underwater communication systems rely on acoustic modems due their reliability and long range. However their limited data rates, lead to the exploration of alternative techniques. In this talk, we briefly go over the potential offered by underwater wireless optical communication systems. We then summarizes some of the underwater channel challenges going from severe absorption and scattering that need to be surpassed before such kind of systems can be deployed in practice. We finally present some of the on-going research directions in the area of underwater wireless optical communication systems in order to (i) better characterize and model the underwater optical channel and (ii) design, develop, and test experimentally new suitable modulation and coding techniques suitable for this environment.

Biography: Mohamed-Slim Alouini was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, in 1998. He served as a faculty member in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, then in the Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar before joining King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia as a Professor of Electrical Engineering in 2009.

This lecture will be in room A401 in the Engineering Building.

University College London, 30 August, 11am

Second, the esteemed Distinguished Lecturer Prof. Geoffrey Li, GeorgiaTech, will be speaking on deep learning for physical layer communications. The lecture will be at 11am in the Barlow Room, 8th floor of Roberts Building (see here and here).

Title: Deep Learning in Physical Layer Communications.

Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that machine learning (DL) has great potentials to break the bottleneck of communication systems. This presentation introduces our recent work in DL in physical layer communications. DL can improve the performance of each individual (traditional) module in communication systems or optimize the whole transmitter or receiver. Therefore, we can categorize the applications of DL in physical layer communications into with and without block processing structures. For DL based communication systems with block structures, we present a couple of examples in channel estimation and signal detection. For those without block structures, we provide our recent endeavors in developing end-to-end learning communication systems. At the end of the talk, we discuss some potential research directions in the area.

Biography: Dr. Geoffrey Li is a Professor with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. He was with AT&T Labs – Research for five years before joining Georgia Tech in 2000. His general research interests include wireless communications and statistical signal processing. In these areas, he has published over 400 referred journal and conference papers in addition to over 40 granted patents. His publications have been cited by over 32,000 times and he has been listed as the World’s Most Influential Scientific Mind, also known as a Highly-Cited Researcher, by Thomson Reuters almost every year. He has been an IEEE Fellow since 2006. He received 2010 IEEE ComSoc Stephen O. Rice Prize Paper Award, 2013 IEEE VTS James Evans Avant Garde Award, 2014 IEEE VTS Jack Neubauer Memorial Award, 2017 IEEE ComSoc Award for Advances in Communication, and 2017 IEEE SPS Donald G. Fink Overview Paper Award. He also won the 2015 Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech.

Advertisement

Distinguished Lecturer Seminar: Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 2 July, 4pm, at UCL

An opportunity for VTS Members has arisen in the form a seminar series by the prestigious speaker and IEEE VTS Distinguished Lecturer Prof. Mohamed-Slim Alouini. The first of these seminars is on 2 July, at 4pm, at University College London.

The topic and additional details are as follows. A Handout for the seminar is here.

This seminar is free to attend, and no registration is required. Please forward to those who you think may be interested in attending.

Title: Collimated light propagation: The next frontier in underwater wireless communication

Abstract: Traditional underwater communication systems rely on acoustic modems due their reliability and long range. However their limited data rates, lead to the exploration of alternative techniques. In this talk, we briefly go over the potential offered by underwater wireless optical communication systems. We then summarizes some of the underwater channel challenges going from severe absorption and scattering that need to be surpassed before such kind of systems can be deployed in practice. We finally present some of the on-going research directions in the area of underwater wireless optical communication systems in order to (i) better characterize and model the underwater optical channel and (ii) design, develop, and test experimentally new suitable modulation and coding techniques suitable for this environment.

Biography: Mohamed-Slim Alouini was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, in 1998. He served as a faculty member in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, then in the Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar before joining King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia as a Professor of Electrical Engineering in 2009.

The seminar will be in the Roberts Building, G08, Sir David Davies Lecture Theatre: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/maps/sir-david-davies-lt

Note that an additional seminar on this topic will be added in the coming days once details are finalised, speaking at University of Warwick on 29 August. You will be kept updated.

Prof. Aylin Yener, Seminars at Imperial College London, Trinity College Dublin, and University of Edinburgh: “Foundations of Energy Harvesting and Energy Cooperating Communications”

Please note that Prof. Aylin Yener, from Pennsylvania State University, will also be lecturing at Imperial College London, Trinity College Dublin, and University of Edinburgh, through the duration of 3-6 July. Details are as follows:

• Imperial  College London, 3 July 2018, 11am-12pm
  (Seminar Room 909b, Level 9, EEE Building)
• Trinity College Dublin, 4 July 2018, 12pm-1pm
  (Large Conference Room (LCR), O’Reilly Institute)
• University of Edinburgh, 6 July 2018, 11.30am-12.30pm
  (Alexander Graham Bell Building, Seminar Room (Top Floor), King’s Buildings)

Note that these events are free to attend, and registration is not required.

Title: Foundations of Energy Harvesting and Energy Cooperating Communications

Abstract: Wireless communication networks composed of devices that can harvest energy from nature will lead to the green future of wireless, as energy harvesting offers the possibility of perpetual network operation without adverse effects on the environment. By developing effective and robust communication techniques to be used under energy harvesting conditions, some of the communication devices in a heterogeneous network can even be taken off the grid. Energy harvesting brings new considerations to system level design of wireless communication networks, leading to new insights. These include randomness and intermittency of available energy, as well as additional system issues to be concerned about such as energy storage capacity and processing complexity. Additionally, one can now envision such devices engaging in energy cooperation by powering one another to improve overall network performance. The goal of this talk is to furnish the audience with fundamental design principles of energy harvesting and energy cooperating wireless communication networks which is an emerging research area.

Biography: Aylin Yener is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, since 2010, where she joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2002. Since 2017, she is a Dean’s Fellow in the College of Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. From 2016-2018, she was a Visiting Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. From 2008 to 2009, she was a Visiting Associate Professor with the same department. Her research interests include information theory, communication theory, and network science, with recent emphasis on green communications and information security. She received the NSF CAREER award in 2003, the Best Paper Award in Communication Theory in the IEEE International Conference on Communications in 2010, the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) Outstanding Research Award in 2010, the IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in 2014, the PSEAS Premier Research Award in 2014, and the Leonard A. Doggett Award for Outstanding Writing in Electrical Engineering at Penn State in 2014. She is a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Communications Society (2018-2020) and the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (2017-2019). She is a fellow of the IEEE.

Dr. Yener is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Society (2015-2020), where she was previously the treasurer (2012-2014). She served as the student committee chair for the IEEE Information Theory Society 2007-2011, and was the co-founder of the Annual School of Information Theory in North America co-organizing the school in 2008, 2009, and 2010. She was a technical (co)-chair for various symposia/tracks at the IEEE ICC, PIMRC, VTC, WCNC, and Asilomar (2005-2014). She served as an editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS (2009 – 2012), an editor and an editorial advisory board member for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS (2001-2012), and a guest editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION FORENSICS AND SECURITY (2011) and the IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS (2015). Currently, she serves on the editorial board of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MOBILE COMPUTING and as a senior editor for the IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS ON COMMUNICATIONS.

Seminars Series at King’s College London

The IEEE UK and Ireland VTS Chapter is holding a Seminars Series at King’s College on 2 July 2018. The first Seminar will be given by Prof. Aylin Yener, from Pennslyvania State University, on the topic of “Foundations of Energy Harvesting and Energy Cooperating Communications”, starting at 11am. The second seminar will be given by Dr. Jonathan Scarlett from the National University of Singapore, on the topic of “Information-Theoretic Limits for Inference, Learning, and Optimization”, starting at noon.

These Seminars will be held in Room (S)1.04, King’s College London, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG.

Note that registration by the end of Friday this week is *required* at the following link.

Further details are as follows:

First seminar:

Title: Foundations of Energy Harvesting and Energy Cooperating Communications

Abstract: Wireless communication networks composed of devices that can harvest energy from nature will lead to the green future of wireless, as energy harvesting offers the possibility of perpetual network operation without adverse effects on the environment. By developing effective and robust communication techniques to be used under energy harvesting conditions, some of the communication devices in a heterogeneous network can even be taken off the grid. Energy harvesting brings new considerations to system level design of wireless communication networks, leading to new insights. These include randomness and intermittency of available energy, as well as additional system issues to be concerned about such as energy storage capacity and processing complexity. Additionally, one can now envision such devices engaging in energy cooperation by powering one another to improve overall network performance. The goal of this talk is to furnish the audience with fundamental design principles of energy harvesting and energy cooperating wireless communication networks which is an emerging research area.

Biography: Aylin Yener is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, since 2010, where she joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2002. Since 2017, she is a Dean’s Fellow in the College of Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. From 2016-2018, she was a Visiting Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. From 2008 to 2009, she was a Visiting Associate Professor with the same department. Her research interests include information theory, communication theory, and network science, with recent emphasis on green communications and information security. She received the NSF CAREER award in 2003, the Best Paper Award in Communication Theory in the IEEE International Conference on Communications in 2010, the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) Outstanding Research Award in 2010, the IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in 2014, the PSEAS Premier Research Award in 2014, and the Leonard A. Doggett Award for Outstanding Writing in Electrical Engineering at Penn State in 2014. She is a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Communications Society (2018-2020) and the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (2017-2019). She is a fellow of the IEEE.

Dr. Yener is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Society (2015-2020), where she was previously the treasurer (2012-2014). She served as the student committee chair for the IEEE Information Theory Society 2007-2011, and was the co-founder of the Annual School of Information Theory in North America co-organizing the school in 2008, 2009, and 2010. She was a technical (co)-chair for various symposia/tracks at the IEEE ICC, PIMRC, VTC, WCNC, and Asilomar (2005-2014). She served as an editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS (2009 – 2012), an editor and an editorial advisory board member for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS (2001-2012), and a guest editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION FORENSICS AND SECURITY (2011) and the IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS (2015). Currently, she serves on the editorial board of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MOBILE COMPUTING and as a senior editor for the IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS ON COMMUNICATIONS.

Second seminar

Title: Information-Theoretic Limits for Inference, Learning, and Optimization

Abstract: The field of information theory was introduced as a means for understanding the fundamental limits of data compression and transmission, and has shaped the design of practical communication systems for decades. In this talk, I will discuss the emerging viewpoint that information theory is not only a theory of communication, but a far-reaching theory of data that is applicable to seemingly unrelated statistical problems such as estimation, prediction, and optimization. This perspective leads to principled approaches for certifying the near-optimality of practical algorithms, as well as understanding where further improvements are possible. I will provide an introduction to some of the main ideas and insights offered by this perspective, and present examples in the problems of group testing, graphical model selection, sparse regression, and black-box function optimization.

Biography: Jonathan Scarlett received the B.Eng.~degree in electrical engineering and the B.Sci. degree in computer science from the University of Melbourne, Australia, both in 2010. From October 2011 to August 2014, he was a Ph.D. student in the Signal Processing and Communications Group at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. From September 2014 to September 2017, he was a post-doctoral researcher with the Laboratory for Information and Inference Systems at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He is now an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Department of Mathematics, National University of Singapore. His research interests are in the areas of information theory, machine learning, signal processing, and high-dimensional statistics.

IEEE 5G Summit Glasgow, 14 May 2018, University of Strathclyde

The IEEE UK and Ireland VTS Chapter is supporting the IEEE 5G Summit Glasgow, taking place on 14 May at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

This event will be at the leading edge of a 5G technologies, providing coverage of some of the most groundbreaking technical aspects and capabilities of 5G, and some particular usage scenarios such as IoT and enhancing rural connectivity.

The address of the event is: Technology & Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, 99 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD, UK

Map

All are, of course, invited to participate. Because of the costs involved in running this event, registration for participation is required, priced at £40. Registration is available at the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ieee-5g-summit-glasgow-tickets-44940624618

The Agenda, which is currently developing, is available here.

Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Fan Bai of General Motors Research & Development, USA: “Towards Building an Internet of Vehicles” – 14 December 2017, 2pm, at King’s College London Strand Campus

*CANCELLED*

We are honoured to welcome Dr. Fan Bai, Senior Researcher at General Motors Company Research & Development, to give a VTS Distinguished Lecture at King’s College London on 14 December at 2pm, in room K3.11. This room is located in the King’s College London King’s Building, located at Strand, London WC2R 2LS. IEEE VTS members and others are welcome to attend (for free!), however, attendance will be allowed only based on prior (free) registration—noting that the number of places is limited and there are security requirements at the building. You can register at this link. Registration closes at the end of 1 December UTC.

Please feel free to forward this email to others, for possible participation.

The Title and Abstract of the talk, and Mr. Bai’s biography, are as follows:

Title:
Towards Building an Internet of Vehicles.

Abstract:
Recent developments in the automotive industry point to a new emerging domain of connected vehicles, in which vehicles equipped with wireless radios can communicate a wide range of information to each other as well as the Internet infrastructure, including traffic updates, safety notification and infotainment content.

The first half of the talk will focus on how to develop a hybrid network architecture for vehicular networks which combines both the existing cellular infrastructure as well as new vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capabilities. Compared to either a purely centralized cellular-based approach or a purely distributed V2V approach, our proposed hybrid network architecture will improve cost, capacity and robustness.

The second half of the talk will elaborate one particular example of vehicular applications – collaborative automotive sensing, which could be supported by vehicular networks. In collaborative automotive sensing, hundreds of embedded automotive sensors in each vehicle, coupled with online maps and other databases as well as crowd-sourced information from other cars, can jointly assess vehicular surrounding environments and driving contexts, and be used to enhance system performance and provide assistance to vehicle drivers and passengers.

Biography:
Dr. Fan Bai is a Staff Researcher in the Electrical & Control Systems Lab., Research & Development and Planning, General Motors Corporation, since Sep., 2005. Before joining General Motors research lab, he received the B.S. degree in automation engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 1999, and the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering, from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 2005. His current research is focused on the discovery of fundamental principles and the analysis and design of protocols/systems for next-generation vehicular networks, for safety, telematics and infotainment applications.

He received Charles L. McCuen Special Achievement Award from General Motors Corporation in recognition of his accomplishment in area of vehicle-to-vehicle communications for drive assistance & safety. He was featured as “ITS People” in 2014 by IEEE ITS Magazine for his technical contributions to vehicular networks and intelligent transportation systems. He serves as Technical Program Co-Chairs for IEEE WiVec 2007, IEEE MoVeNet 2008, ACM VANET 2011 and ACM VANET 2012, among other leading roles in academic and industry technical conferences. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transaction on Vehicular Technology and IEEE Transaction on Mobile Computing, and he also serves as guest editors for IEEE Wireless Communication Magazine, IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine and Elsevier AdHoc Networks Journal.

He is a Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE, and a member of the Sigma Xi scientific community.

Seminar by Prof. Roberto Verdone of the University of Bologna, Italy: “UAV-Aided Mobile Radio Networks” – 21 November 2017 at King’s College London Bush House

The esteemed Prof. Roberto Verdone will be talking at King’s College London on Tuesday 21 November, between 12pm and 1pm, in room BH 5.01. This room is located in the King’s College London Bush House Building (ex. BBC World Service), located at 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG. IEEE VTS members and others are welcome to attend, however, there is a registration system and attendance will be allowed ONLY BASED ON PRIOR REGISTRATION. You can register at the following link. Note that registration closes at the end of 14 November UTC.

The Abstract of the talk, and Prof. Verdone’s biography, are as follows:

Abstract:
The talk will focus on the usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to support service provision in mobile radio networks. The issues of optimal placement, trajectory design and radio resource assignment for fleets of UAVs flying over a terrestrial network, serving UEs when they cannot be served by the terrestrial base stations, are discussed. The talk will mix theoretical and practical aspects of the problems addressed.

Biography:
Roberto Verdone is Full Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Bologna, where he is affiliated to the Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering Department (DEI). He got his Master and PhD degrees from the University of Bologna in 1991 and 1995, respectively. On April 1st, 1996, he joined CNR (the National Research Council) as a researcher. In 1999 he became Senior researcher of CNR. Then, in 2001, he got his position as Full Professor at the University of Bologna, where he founded a research group named Radio Networks, affiliated to WiLab, the Wireless Communications Laboratory. Currently, he teaches a course named Radio Networks within the international Master degree in Telecommunications Engineering of the University of Bologna, and two courses taken by students of other Engineering degrees: one named Vehicular Communications, one Project Management and Soft Skills. His research activity is concerned with both infrastructure-based radio networks (Cellular and Mobile Radio Systems, Wireless Local Area Networks) and infrastructure-less radio networks (Ad Hoc and Wireless Sensor Networks, Vehicular Networks, the Internet of Things). Main topics investigated in the last ten years are Radio Resource Management for cellular systems, MAC and routing aspects of wireless sensor networks, and network architectures for the Internet of Things. In particular, he is currently active in the field of the integration of the IoT (Internet of Things) in 5G networks, and of UAV-aided networks. He is part of the Networld2020 Expert Group. In such role, in 2015 he was co-editor of a White Paper on “Experimental facilities for 5G in Europe”. He published more than 150 research papers, mostly on IEEE journals or conferences. In 2016 he co-founded IDESIO, an innovative startup offering IoT services through wireless technologies and tools for data analytics and web representation through maps.

3rd Biennial International Conference on Powertrain Modelling and Control: Testing, Mapping and Calibration

The IEEE VTS UK and Ireland Chapter is supporting the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Powertrain Modelling and Control (PMC 2016, www.pmc2016.net), taking place in Loughborough on the 7-9 September 2016.

Your attendance and participation is encouraged. Note that registration (by 20 August) is required; details on registration (and fees) are here: www.pmc2016.net/registration-and-fees.html

5G NORMA Summer School on 5G Mobile Communications

On behalf of the 5G-PPP 5G NORMA EU Project (5g-ppp.eu/5g-norma), we are pleased to invite you to attend the 5G NORMA 2016 Summer School that will be held at King’s College London, in London, UK from June 20 – 22, 2016. The Summer School is tailored towards engineers and researchers active or interested in virtualized and programmable future mobile networks. The first day is tailored more towards attendees from industry, whereas the last two days are more suitable for Post Doctoral researchers, PhD and Master students. All together, the event is deemed highly suitable for participants from the mobile industry and other organizations (verticals) interested in the area of 5G networks and how this emerging technology can shape their business.

Registration and further information pertaining to the 2016 5G NORMA Summer School is available via the following web link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/5g-norma-summer-school-tickets-22728565752

Registration using the above link is REQUIRED, although there is no fee for registering and attending the event.

More information on this Summer School can be obtained from the flyer and agenda at this link.

The event will be held in room S -2.18 (note, that is minus 2), the Arthur and Paula Lucas Lecture Theatre of the Strand Building of the King’s College London Strand Campus. This is building “B” in the following link:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/assets/PDF/campus-maps/Stranddetail.pdf

Access instructions to the lecture theatre in which the Summer School will be held are at this link.

Note that this Summer School is supported by the IEEE VTS UK and Ireland Chapter, and the IEEE ComSoc UK and Ireland Chapter.

Mid-June Distinguished Lecture Tour: Prof. Andy Molisch, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (taking place at Bristol University, King’s College London, University of York, University of Edinburgh)

We are delighted to announce that Prof. Andy Molisch, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, will be giving a Distinguished Lecture tour to a number of universities in mid-June, supported by the UK and Ireland Chapter of the VTS. The locations/dates and travel information for his lectures are as follows:

• Bristol University: Wednesday, June 17, 3pm (early information available here)
  • Note, this lecture will be held in the “Queen’s Building”, Room 1.15. Travel/location information is available here and (a close-up, printable campus map) here.
• King’s College London: Friday, June 19, 2pm
  • Note, this lecture will be held in the “King’s Building” of King’s College London Strand Campus, Room K3.11. Travel/location information is available here (see building “A” in the lower-most map on this link) and here. Note, the best entrance to use for the King’s College Strand Campus is the one on the South side of the Strand, some 70 m West of the junction with Surrey Street. Internal maps of the Strand Campus are available here. Note that K3.11 is on the third floor. Rooms in King’s ancient and esteemed King’s Building are notoriously difficult to find – please pay careful attention to the maps and the access to the third floor and K3.11 from the second floor.
• University of York: Monday, June 22, 1pm
• This lecture will be held in room P/L002 of the Physics/Electronics building. Travel/location information is available here. Further, there will be refreshments available to registered attendees from 12.45pm in the concourse area of the Physics/Electronics Exhibition Centre. This is outside room PT007.
• University of Edinburgh: Tuesday, June 23, 1pm
• The lecture will be held in the Kings Buildings campus, James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB), Lecture Theatre C. For travel to the Kings Buildings via car or taxi: Enter gate 4 on Mayfield Road. Parking is available in front of the AGB Building, or follow the road from gate 4 to the left and then take the first right to parking (in front on the main entrance to the JCMB). Lecture Theatre C can be reached from both the 2nd and 3rd floor of the JCMB Building. Further location information for the JCMB is available here and here.

Prof. Molisch will be giving the following talks on this tour:

1) Femto-caching and device-to-device collaboration for wireless video networks (at King’s College London and the University of York)

Abstract: The ongoing explosive increase in the demand for video content in wireless networks requires new architectures to increase capacity without excessive costs. The talk will present a new architecture for solving this problem, exploiting a special feature of video viewing, namely asynchronous reuse. The approach is based on (i) distributed caching of the content in femto-basestations with small or non-existing backhaul capacity but with considerable storage space, called helper nodes, and/or (ii) usage of the wireless terminals themselves as caching helpers, which can distribute video through device-to-device communications. The talk will discuss the fundamental principles, scaling laws for the throughput, as well as practical implementation considerations. The new architecture can improve video throughput by one to two orders-of-magnitude.

2) Channel models and algorithms for massive MIMO (at Bristol University and the University of Edinburgh)

Abstract: Massive MIMO has drawn great attention in the past years, as it promises a dramatic increase in the capacity of multi-user systems, while at the same time simplifying receiver algorithms. However, there are also significant practical challenger, like the cost related to a massive number of RF chains, so that ingenious new algorithms are required for retaining performance while keeping complexity under control. Many of the algorithms are analyzed with very simplified channel models, and it is not immediately obvious whether performance can be retained in more realistic settings. The current talk will first give an overview of channel measurements and modeling specifically for the massive MIMO scenarios. We will then describe a simplified algorithm, called JSDM, that is based on RF preprocessing, and analyze how realistic propagation conditions impact its performance, and how it can be modified to adapt to such conditions.

His biography is as follows:

Andreas F. Molisch is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Communication Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His current research interests are the measurement and modeling of mobile radio channels, ultra-wideband communications and localization, cooperative communications,multiple-input–multiple-output systems, wireless systems for healthcare, and novel cellular architectures. He has published 4 books, 16 book chapters, 170 journal papers, 250 conference papers, as well as 80 patents, and 70 standards contributions.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE, Fellow of the AAAS, Fellow of the IET, an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, and a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous awards, most recently the Donald Fink Prize of the IEEE, and the Eric Sumner Award of the IEEE.

We look forward to your attendance to these lectures! Note that attendance will be free of charge. More detail will be announced in the near future, including aspects such as travel information, and possible (free) registration requirements, among others.