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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for January
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Real-Time Feedback Control of a Mesoscopic Superposition
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Kurt Jacobs, University of Massachusetts Boston
Talk Title: Real-Time Feedback Control of a Mesoscopic Superposition
Abstract: I will talk about how to use continuous real-time feedback to track, control, and protect a mesoscopic superposition of two spatially separated wave-packets. The feedback protocol is enabled by an approximate state-estimator, and requires two continuous measurements, performed simultaneously. Both measurements can be implemented for nanomechanical and superconducting resonators with readily available circuit elements.
Biography: Kurt Jacobs obtained his PhD from Imperial College in 1998. He held postdoctoral research positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Griffith University, and LSU, before joining the faculty in the Physics Department at UMass Boston in 2006, where he is presently an Assistant Professor. He has worked on quantum measurement theory, feedback control in mesoscopic systems, the quantum-to-classical transition, and the relationship between information, control, and thermodynamics.
Host: Todd Brun, tbrun@usc.edu, EEB 502, X03503
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 539
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Utility Optimal Scheduling in Networks: Small Delay and No Underflow
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Longbo Huang, USC
Talk Title: Utility Optimal Scheduling in Networks: Small Delay and No Underflow
Abstract: The recently developed Lyapunov optimization technique (commonly known as Backpressure / Max-Weight) is a powerful tool for solving a large class of stochastic network optimization problems. In this talk, we extend the theory in two directions: (i) We prove that dramatically improved delay is achievable with a simple Last-In-First Out (LIFO)-Backpressure rule, (ii) We generalize to "processing networks" where processing actions combine commodities of different queues to produce outputs, which involves a challenging "no underflow" constraint.
In the first part of the talk, we show that the LIFO-Backpressure algorithm can achieve utility within epsilon of optimality (for any epsilon>0), with O([log(1/epsilon)]^2) average delay. This dramatically improves upon the previous O(1/epsilon) delay bounds, and results in 95-98% delay reduction in practical implementations. Remarkably, LIFO-Backpressure achieves this performance by simply changing the queueing discipline of the original Backpressure algorithm. It is also the first algorithm that achieves such poly-logarithmic delay performance without knowing or learning any implicit network parameters.
In the second part of the talk, we consider processing networks that are generalizations of the traditional data networks, where commodities in one or more queues can be combined to produce new commodities that are delivered to other parts of the network. These networks can be used to model problems such as data fusion, stream processing and manufacturing, etc. Scheduling algorithms in such networks must ensure that the queues always have enough contents to support the actions, i.e., no underflow happens. We develop the Perturbed Max-Weight algorithm (PMW) for general processsing networks with random arrivals and activation costs. We show that by carefully perturbing the weights used in the usual Max-Weight algorithm, PMW simultaneously prevents queue underflows and optimizes network utility.
Biography: Longbo Huang received the B.E. degree from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China in June 2003, and the M.S. degree from Columbia University, New York City, in December 2004, both in Electrical Engineering. He is currently working toward his Ph.D. degree at the University of Southern California. His research interests are in the areas of Queueing Theory, Stochastic Network Optimization and Network Pricing.
Host: Alex Dimakis, dimakis@usc.edu, EEB 532, x09264
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Optimization Over Time: Multi-Armed Bandit and Quickest Detection
Thu, Jan 13, 2011 @ 09:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Qing Zhao, UC Davis
Talk Title: Optimization Over Time: Multi-Armed Bandit and Quickest Detection
Abstract: To quote Peter Whittle: "Optimization-over-time is the optimization of decisions to be made for the running of a dynamic system." In this talk, we focus on two broad classes of problems under this subject: multi-armed bandit and quickest detection. While both problems have been studied since early 1930's, we show that emerging applications such as dynamic spectrum access and smart grid of the energy distribution network call for new formulations and new solutions to these classical problems. At the same time, these emerging applications give rise to important classes of practical problems for which much stronger results can be obtained than what can be offered by the original mathematical theory.
Biography: Qing Zhao received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2001 from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. In August 2004, she joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Davis where she is currently an Associate Professor. Her research interests are in the general area of stochastic optimization and decision theory in dynamic systems and communication networks. Qing Zhao holds the title of UC Davis Chancellor's Fellow. She received the 2000 Young Author Best Paper Award from IEEE Signal Processing Society and the 2008 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the UC Davis College of Engineering. She is also a co-author of two student paper awards at IEEE ICASSP 2006 and IEEE Asilomar Conference 2006.
http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~qzhao/
Host: Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu, EEB 540, x04667
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Efficient Solution of Large Overdetermined Systems of Equations by a Monte Carlo Method
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Yunsong Huang , Ph.D. student
Talk Title: Efficient Solution of Large Overdetermined Systems of Equations by a Monte Carlo Method
Abstract: Large overdetermined system of linear equations, expressed as A x = b, arises from applications such as seismic imaging. The rows of the matrix A can be randomly encoded and lumped up, resulting in a matrix with much fewer number of rows, thereby allowing a more efficient solution. This manipulation step can be embedded in least-squares iterative solution of the original system of equations. At each iteration, an independently encoded and lumped matrix is in effect, guiding the update of x, in the least-squares sense. Overall, this approach results in significant savings in computational cost. Experiments in seismic imaging validate the merits of the proposed method.
Biography: Yunsong Huang received a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Earth Science and Engineering Program at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). His research interests include seismic imaging and signal processing.
Host: Prof. B. Keith Jenkins
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - EEB 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
2011 Ming Hsieh Institute Ph.D. Scholar Finalist Competition
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 @ 12:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Each finalist will present a 12-minute talk about their research, Ming Hsieh Institute
Talk Title: MHI Ph.D. Scholar Finalist Presentation
Abstract: You are all invited to an exciting event being held for the first time in our department: talks by nine stellar Ph.D. students competing to become 2011 Ming Hsieh Institute Ph.D. Scholars. The Ph.D. Scholar Program is a venture of the newly-founded Ming Hsieh Institute, that aims to support senior Ph.D. students interested in pursuing an academic career. These finalists have been selected from nominations submitted by faculty. At the event each finalist will present a 12-minute talk about their research. It is anticipated that five MHI Scholars will be selected from this pool, based on an evaluation of their talks by a faculty panel.
All Electrical Engineering students and faculty are invited. Light refreshments will be served.
Please find below the list of finalists and the titles of their talks.
â¢Firooz Aflatouni- "Electronically Assisted Phase Control of Semiconductor Lasers"
â¢Chiranjib Choudhuri -"On the Capacity and State estimation of Networks"
â¢Prasanta Ghosh - "A computational framework for exploring the role of speech production in speech recognition"
â¢Longbo Huang -"Improving the Lyapunov Network Optimization Technique"
â¢Chih-ping Li - "Delay and Power-Optimal Control in Multi-Class Queueing Systems"
â¢Jason Sanders "Megawatts in Nanoseconds: Engineering New Pulsed Power Systems that Enable Scientific Discovery"
â¢Samir Sharma - "Accelerated Water-Fat MRI"
â¢Chuan Wang - "High-Performance Separated Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors for Macroelectronic Integrated Circuit and Display Electronic applications"
â¢Omer Yilmaz - "Advanced Nonlinear Optical Signal Processing Techniques for High Speed, Reconfigurable Optical Fiber Networks"
Host: Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Co-Director - Ming Hsieh Institute
Location: Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall (of Philosophy) (MHP) - 106
Audiences: Department Only
Contact: Danielle Hamra
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Munushian Seminar -CANCELED
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Julie Brown, Senior Vice President, Universal Display Corporation
Talk Title: âLighting the way with Organic Lighting Emitting Devicesâ
Abstract: Organic lighting emitting diodes or OLEDs are now catching the attention of the consumer. OLED smart phones can be found in every store, and are offered by all the major carriers. Fabulous early entry small area OLED TVs are now available and offer truly spectacular visual experiences with large area prototypes being exhibited at leading tradeshows. While the early focus of OLED development was for flat panel display applications, through the use of phosphorescent OLEDs, energy efficient solid state lighting is now also being realized. Lighting is now at a cross roads. Incandescent lamps are being banned world wide because of their environmental impact, while compact fluorescent lamps have limited visual appeal, as well as safety concerns for residential lighting due to their mercury content. Both inorganic LEDs and OLEDs provide safe and efficient replacements for these older lighting technologies, and can complement each other in how they are used. Here we will focus on the global interest in solid state lighting and recent rapid progress in OLED lighting panel prototypes and discuss the next set of research, development and commercialization challenges to insure future impact.
Biography: Dr. Brown is Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Universal Display Corporation (UDC). UDC is an entrepreneurial company pursuing the research, development and commercialization of organic light emitting device (OLEDs) technology into two key growth markets, namely flat panel displays and solid state lighting. UDCâs key position in the industry, along with their academic research teams at USC and U of M, is as pioneers of phosphorescent OLEDs to enable âgreenâ energy efficient OLED solutions for these markets. Under her leadership, UDC is also pursuing the creation of new product concepts based on flexible OLED displays and light sources.
Prior to joining UDC in 1998, she was a Research Manager at Hughes Research Laboratories where she was involved in the pilot line production of high speed Indium Phosphide-based integrated circuits for insertion into advanced airborne radar and satellite communication systems. Dr. Brown received her B. S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University (1983) and then worked at Raytheon Company (1983-1984) and AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984-1986) before returning to graduate school. Dr. Brown received an M.S. (1988) and Ph.D. (1991) in Electrical Eng./Electrophysics at the University of Southern California under the advisement of Professor Stephen R. Forrest.
Dr. Brown was nominated to IEEE Fellow in 2007 and inducted into the New Jersey High Tech Hall of Fame in 2007. She is actively involved in the Society of Information Display and over the past years been involved in a number of other professional societies. She has authored or co-authored numerous publications and patents in the fields of high speed compound semiconductor devices, microelectro-
mechanical systems (MEMs) and organic light emitting devices (OLEDs).
Host: EE-Electrophysics
Location: Donald P. & Katherine B. Loker Hydrocarbon Institute (LHI) -
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Feedback Role in Interference Networks
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Changho Suh, University of California at Berkeley
Talk Title: Feedback Role in Interference Networks
Abstract: Traditionally, it is believed that feedback has had little impact on increasing capacity. This is mainly due to Shannon's original result on feedback capacity, where he showed that feedback cannot increase the capacity in point-to-point communication links. Hence the use of feedback has been so far limited to improving the reliability of communication, usually in the form of ARQ.
In this talk, I will present a promising role of feedback in networks. What we have shown is that when there are two interfering point-to-point links, not only can feedback increase capacity of each link, but it can in fact provide an unbounded increase in capacity as the signal-to-noise ratio of the links increases. In the process of deriving this conclusion, we characterize the feedback capacity of the two-user Gaussian interference channel to within 2 bits, an open problem for more than 30 years.
Furthermore, I will show the potential impact of feedback on practical systems that take feedback cost into account. Specifically, I will present an interesting scenario in the context of multiple (more than 3) interfering point-to-point links, where 1 bit of feedback can provide a capacity increase of an arbitrarily large number of bits.
Biography: Changho Suh received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Since 2006, he has been with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the University of California at Berkeley, where he is pursuing the Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Prof. David Tse. Prior to that, he had been with the Telecommunication R&D Center, Samsung Electronics.
He is a recipient of the Best Student Paper Award of the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory 2009 and the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award in 2010. He awarded several fellowships: the Vodafone U.S. Foundation Fellowship in 2006 and 2007; Kwanjeong Educational Foundation Fellowship in 2009; and Korea Government Fellowship from 1996 to 2002.
Host: Alex Dimakis, dimakis@usc.edu, EEB 532, x09264
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Sensing Compressed Signal, Codes on Graphs and Reliability of Memories
Fri, Jan 21, 2011 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Arya Mazumdar, University of Maryland, College Park
Talk Title: Sensing Compressed Signal, Codes on Graphs and Reliability of Memories
Abstract: Almost all areas of Electrical Engineering are rich sources of problems concerned with discrete mathematical structures. In this talk, we describe an array of such problems dealing with issues of communication, signal processing and storage. To highlight the methods being used, we describe in more detail our work on codes for flash memory and the rank modulation scheme. We reduce this problem to a set of combinatorial questions for the Kendall tau metric space defined on the set of permutations of n elements.
Our results are related to the areas of error-correcting codes (codes on graphs, constrained codes and codes for high-density magnetic recording), data reliability (flash memories), and compressed sensing. We also point out that similar combinatorial and probabilistic methods offer promise in such areas as group testing in Biology and data security.
Biography: Arya Mazumdar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. He received the B.E. degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and the M.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering (Information Systems) respectively from Jadavpur University, India, and Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), India. During the summers of 2008 and 2010, he visited the Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, and IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, as a research intern. His research interests include Information and Coding Theory, Communications, Networking, Signal Processing, Combinatorics and Probability.
Mr. Mazumdar won the Student Paper Award in the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, 2010. He is a recipient of the ECE Fellowship award in University of Maryland. He was awarded scholarships from Ministry of Human Resource and Development and National Council for Educational Research and Training in India during his graduate and undergraduate studies respectively.
Host: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu, EEB 528, x04683
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Optimum Joint Detection and Estimation: Application to MIMO Radar
Tue, Jan 25, 2011 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: George Moustakides, University of Patras
Talk Title: Optimum Joint Detection and Estimation: Application to MIMO Radar
Abstract: We consider the joint detection and parameter estimation problem. By combining the Baysian formulation for estimation with suitable constraints on the detection subproblem we develop optimum one- and two-step test for the joint detection/estimation case. The proposed combined strategies have the very desirable characteristic to allow for the trade-off between detection power and estimation efficiency. Our theoretical developments are then applied to the problem of MIMO radar where we detect a target but also estimate its location. Simulations demonstrate that by using the jointly optimum schemes, we can experience significant improvement in estimation quality with small sacrifice in detection power.
Biography: George V. Moustakides received the diploma in Electrical & Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1979; the MSc in Systems Engineering from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1980, and the PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, Princeton NJ, in 1983. From 1983 to 1986 he was with INRIA, France and from 1987 to 1990 with the Computer Technology Institute of Patras, Greece. In 1991 he joined the Computer Engineering and Informatics department, University of Patras, Greece as Associate Professor and became Professor in 1996. Since 2007 he is with the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Patras. During the period 2001-2004 he also held a senior researcher position with INRIA, France.
Host: Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu, EEB 540, x04667
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Bringing Network Coding Closer to Practice
Wed, Jan 26, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Christina Fragouli, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland
Talk Title: Bringing Network Coding Closer to Practice
Abstract: The paradigm of network coding allows intermediate nodes in a network to not only forward but also combine their incoming information flows. This modern application of coding to the theory and practice of communication networks raises novel and exciting research problems, and is promising to have an impact in diverse areas of network communications that include multicasting, network monitoring, resource sharing, network security, among other areas.
However, one of the main challenges is to realize the benefits of network coding functionalities with implementable computational complexity. We illustrate through two examples how algorithmic and combinatorial tools can be applied to make progress on this challenging question.
One of the challenges in the deployment of network coding is the fact that network nodes may need to perform operations over relatively large finite fields. We propose instead to use vector network coding, where nodes process and combine binary packets by multiplying them with binary coding matrices, as opposed to scalar coefficients over a field. We introduce an algebraic framework for vector network coding, and provide a polynomial time algorithm for the design of coding matrices, that aims to minimize the size of the employed matrices, and thus reduce the encoding complexity. Our algorithm reduces the problem of finding small size matrices to the problem of finding a small degree coprime factor of an algebraic polynomial, and leads to solutions not possible with using scalar network coding.
We then consider a specific application. Our scenario is that a group of wireless nodes want to exchange a secret key, such that no eavesdropper can guess the key. Using network coding techniques, we develop a protocol that enables the group of nodes to agree on secret bits at a rate depending on the properties of the wireless network that interconnects them. Our protocol uses simple, polynomial-time operations and does not require any changes to the physical or MAC-layer of network devices. We formally prove and experimentally demonstrate that our protocol can generate information-theoretically secret keys in a realistic setting.
Biography: Christina Fragouli is a tenure track Professor in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland. She received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, in 1996, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998 and 2000, respectively. She has worked at the Information Sciences Center, AT&T Labs, Florham Park New Jersey, and the National University of Athens. She also visited Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, and DIMACS, Rutgers University. From 2006 to 2007, she was an FNS Professor in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland.
Her research interests are in network information flow theory and algorithms, network coding, wireless sensor networks, and connections between communications, networking and computer science. She received the Fulbright Fellowship for her graduate studies, the Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award 2000-2001, UCLA, Electrical Engineering Department, the Zonta award 2008 in Switzerland, and the Young Investigator ERC grant award in 2009. She served as an editor for IEEE Communications Letters, and is currently serving as an editor for IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing and Elsevier Computer Communications.
Host: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu, EEB 528, x04683
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Distinguished Lecturer Series
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 @ 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Anna Gilbert, University of Michigan
Talk Title: Sparse Approximations: Algorithms and Analysis
Abstract: The past 10 years have seen a confluence of research in sparse approximation amongst computer science, mathematics, and electrical engineering. Sparse approximation encompasses a large number of mathematical, algorithmic, and signal processing problems which all attempt to balance the size of a (linear) representation of data and the fidelity of that representation. I will discuss several of the basic algorithmic problems and their solutions, including compressive sensing and sublinear algorithms for sparse signal recovery. Also, I will address two application areas, analog-to-digital conversion and biological group testing, in which sparse approximation problems appear and for which we have novel hardware and experimental designs.
Biography: Anna Gilbert received an S.B. degree from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, both in mathematics. In 1997, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and AT&T Labs-Research. From 1998 to 2004, she was a member of technical staff at AT&T Labs-Research in Florham Park, NJ. Since then she has been with the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, where she is now a Professor. She has received several awards, including a Sloan Research Fellowship (2006), an NSF CAREER award (2006), the National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiatives in Research (2008), the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Douglas Engelbart Best Paper award (2008), and the EURASIP Signal Processing Best Paper award (2010).
Her research interests include analysis, probability, networking, and algorithms. She is especially interested in randomized algorithms with applications to harmonic analysis, signal and image processing, networking, and massive datasets.
Host: Alex Dimakis
More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/dls/Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/dls/
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Polarization Attributes of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Fibers
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Avi Zadok, Bar-Ilan University
Talk Title: Polarization Attributes of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Fibers
Abstract: Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is a nonlinear optical interaction between a pump wave, and a typically weaker, counter-propagating signal wave. The threshold power of SBS is the lowest of all nonlinear propagation effect in silica optical fibers. The local SBS interaction, at a given point along an optical fiber, is maximal when the state of polarization (SOP) of the pump is aligned with that of the signal, and it vanishes if the two SOPs are orthogonal. In standard single mode fibers, the overall SBS signal amplification (or attenuation) depends on the birefringence properties of the fiber, as well as on the input SOPs of both the pump and the seed signal waves. As SBS is studied intensively for applications such as fiber lasers, distributed sensing and slow light, a thorough examination of its polarization properties is of large relevance.
In this talk, the SBS amplification of an arbitrarily polarized input signal in a randomly birefringent fiber is examined, as well as the role of SBS in the evolution of the signal SOP. The analysis includes Stokes and anti-Stokes waves. A propagation equation for the signal SOP is formulated and analyzed, in Jones and Stokes spaces. In particular, it is found that the output SOP of an SBS amplified Stokes wave in a standard, single mode fiber is drawn towards the complex conjugate of the input pump SOP. On the other hand, the output SOP of the residual, attenuated anti-Stokes signal is repelled from the same SOP. These findings are supported by simulations and experiments. The results are applicable to random SOP synthesis, coherent detection of fiber sensors, advanced modulation formats and implementations of optical filters. Finally, the role of polarization in SBS-based 'slow light' setups is addressed.
Biography: Avi Zadok received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University in 2007. In between 2007-2009 he was a post-doc fellow with the group of Prof. Amnon Yariv at the Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology. In 2009 he was appointed as a senior lecturer at the School of Engineering, Bar-Ilan University. His research interests include silicon-photonic devices, fiber-optic communication and sensors, microwave photonics and nonlinear optics.
Host: Prof. Alan Willner, willner@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 349
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Kris Merkel, President/CEO of S2 Corporation
Talk Title: Sustainable Ultra-Wideband Radio Frequency Signal Analysis Using Spatial-Spectral Holography
Abstract: I will cover the basics of the interaction of coherent light with cryogenically cooled rare earth doped crystal absorbers, and how this science has evolved as a basis for an emerging technology known as spatial-spectral (S2) holography. I will also comment on performing R&D in a commercial small business setting that has been funded primarily by the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.
The core S2 technology has its roots in the coherent interaction of light with matter, and can combines frequency resolution with angular phase resolution similar to spatial holography. Signal processing functions of spectral analysis, direction finding, correlative signal processing and true time delay will be discussed. The general technical approach to an ultra wideband RF receiver is based on recording and subsequent readout of optical energy that is modulated to represents RF frequencies via conversion by an electro-optical phase modulator (EOPM). The modulated light is absorbed by the holographic crystal. The S2 sensor performs physical phase sensitive Fourier transforms and multiplication of Fourier transforms. These transforms are stored in atomic upper states, and then can be probed or readout by a secondary light source.
A current hardware configuration can support 100% time-continuous coverage for 20 GHz instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) measurements with ~400 kHz resolution bandwidth (RBW), and a full 20 GHz bandwidth readout every 0.5 ms. A spur free dynamic range of 50 dB is observed for these measurements. Other approaches can provide variations on these specifications.
Biography: Dr. Kris Merkel is the President/CEO of S2 Corporation. Dr. Merkel has focused his 15 years of experience on the development and application of S2 technology relative to radar, laser radar, electronic surveillance and true time delay beam-forming systems. Dr. Merkel has overseen the successful execution of several contracts and grant with milestones met within cost. He received his Bachelor of Physics from Georgetown University (1994) and his Masters (1996) and Ph.D (1998) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. Dr. Merkel is a recognized world leader in the development of S2 systems, and is an inventor on 10 patents and patents pending. Dr. Merkel has unique capabilities related to a combination of project management and technical expertise for systems development efforts. He has over 25 publications in referred journals and conference proceedings.
Host: Prof. Hossein Hashemi and Firooz Aflatouni
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Hossein Hashemi
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Making Run-time Reconfigurable Hardware more Useful
Fri, Jan 28, 2011 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jim Torresen, University of Oslo
Talk Title: Making Run-time Reconfigurable Hardware more Useful
Abstract: Before the introduction of multitasking operating systems around 1985, processors would run one program at a time. The program would be uploaded at startup and run until finished. There would be no swapping to other programs during execution of a given program. With todayâs multitasking operating systems, it would often be the exception not performing multitasking for software. This is in contrast to hardware which normally is static at run-time even though reconfigurable hardware is programmable at run-time.
This talk will introduce and describe how we are applying FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) technology for designing high performance run-time reconfigurable computing architectures. This is research undertaken through the project named Context Switching Reconfigurable Hardware forCommunication Systems (COSRECOS), funded by the Research Council of Norway for 2009 â 2013.
The overall goal of the project is to contribute in making run-time reconfigurable systems more feasible in general. This includes introducing architectures for reducing reconfiguration time as well as undertaking tool development. Case studies by applications in network and communication systems will be a part of the project. The talk includes how we plan to address the challenge of changing hardware configurations while a system is in operation as well as giving an overview of promising initial results so far.
Biography: Jim Torresen received his M.Sc. and Dr.ing. (Ph.D) degree in computer architecture and design from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Trondheim in 1991 and 1996, respectively. He has been employed as a senior hardware designer at NERA Telecommunications (1996-1998) and at Navia Aviation (1998-1999).
Since 1999, he has been a professor at the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo (associate professor 1999-2005). Jim Torresen has been a visiting researcher at Kyoto University, Japan for one year (1993-1994), four months at Electrotechnical laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan (1997 and 2000) and is now a visiting professor at Cornell University.
His research interests at the moment include bio-inspired computing, machine learning, reconfigurable hardware, robotics and applying this to complex real-world applications. Several novel methods have been proposed. He has published a number of scientific papers in international journals, books and conference proceedings. 10 tutorials and several invited
talks have been given at international conferences. He is in the program committee of more than ten different international conferences as well as a regular reviewer of a number of international journals. He has also acted as an evaluator for proposals in EU FP7.
Host: Professor Viktor K. Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Software Defined Radio, Cognitive Radio, Cognitive Networks: Current Research Efforts and Future Trends
Mon, Jan 31, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Lizdabel Morales-Tirado, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Talk Title: Software Defined Radio, Cognitive Radio, Cognitive Networks: Current Research Efforts and Future Trends
Abstract: Wireless networks have been well studied and optimized with traditional radio resource management techniques, but still there is room for improvement. Cognitive radio technology can bring significant network improvements by providing awareness to the surrounding radio environment, exploiting previous network knowledge and optimizing the use of resources using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques. Cognitive radio can also co-exist with legacy equipment thus acting as a bridge among heterogeneous communication systems. In this seminar, an introduction to the concepts of software defined radio, cognitive radio and cognitive networks is presented. An approach for applying cognition in wireless networks is described. Current research efforts in the area and future trends in the area are discussed.
Biography: Dr. Lizdabel Morales‐Tirado received her Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus in 1996. She received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1998 and her Doctor in Philosophy in Electrical Engineering in the January 2010 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).
She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez (UPRM) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She teaches courses in communications, and is conducting research in the areas of wireless communications, cognitive radio and cognitive networks. Her newly formed research group, the Intelligent Wireless and Networked Communications Laboratory (iWiNC), currently is composed of one graduate student and eleven undergraduate students.
Dr. Morales is a GEM Fellow, a Virginia Space Grant Consortium Fellow and a John Lee Pratt Fellow. She is also co‐founder of Divergent Engineering Inc., an engineering consulting company in Puerto Rico. Prior to attending Virginia Tech, Dr. Morales was an instructor at the Interamerican University in San Germán, Puerto Rico. She also worked as a Systems Engineer for Lucent Technologies from 1999 to 2001; and at Motorola's iDEN group from 1995 until 1999.
Host: Professor Timothy M. Pinkston
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
