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Events for January 12, 2011
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IEEE S-PAC Signups Online
Wed, Jan 12, 2011
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity
IEEE S-PAC Signups are now online! Go to http://www-scf.usc.edu/~ieee/spac/ to sign up.
Participating companies include Intel, Qualcomm, Boeing, Space-X, Sandia National Laboratories, Deloitte, and GE Aviation.Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
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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
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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
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AME Dept. Seminar
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Elisa Franco , Graduate Student
Talk Title: Programming Molecular Networks
Abstract: How do living organisms process information and implement their responses to external stimuli? Even in the simplest cells, sensing, computation and actuation are structurally embedded in the biochemistry of complex molecular networks, and we need to develop new paradigms to explain and engineer such structures. Quoting Richard Feynman, what we cannot create, we do not understand: by programming and building simple molecular networks from the bottom-up, scientists have an opportunity to gain insight into the design principles of more complicated, naturally occurring circuits.
In this talk, I will describe how DNA and RNA can be used as simple building blocks to construct molecular circuits encoding complex functionalities, because their interactions can be predicted and specified with high confidence. In particular, we have used nucleic acids to investigate two challenges: synchronization and scalability of biochemical networks. I will describe how the activity of two synthetic genes can be matched, by using their outputs to create positive or negative feedback loops. Scaling up our perspective, to synchronize the operations of a larger number of circuits we may need "timing" devices: for instance, digital clock generators coordinate the state transitions of millions of silicon circuits. I will describe how a tunable synthetic oscillator can be used to time the conformation of a DNA nano-mechanical device called "DNA tweezers," evaluating several modes of connection. Because the biochemical interconnections are created by stoichiometric binding of our oscillator components and its "load" components, we observed a remarkable deterioration of the oscillator behavior as we increased its load concentration. To reduce this undesired retroactivity we engineered an "insulator circuit", the molecular equivalent of an operational amplifier, which improves the modularity and scalability of the system. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental attempt to use a synthetic biochemical oscillator to drive several types of downstream processes, in a plug-and-play fashion.
Biography: Elisa Franco is currently a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, in the Department of Control and Dynamical Systems. She got her Laurea degree in Power Systems Engineering from the University of Trieste, Italy, where she also earned a PhD in Automatic Control. Her current research interests are in the field of synthetic and systems biology.
Host: Prof. Eva Kanso
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/1-12-11-franco.shtmlLocation: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/1-12-11-franco.shtml
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Overseas Programs Info Session (London & Rome)
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Workshops & Infosessions
Please join us to learn more about this summer's Viterbi Overseas Programs: London & Rome.
We will discuss details associated with both of the programs and answer your questions before you apply about the program, housing, cultural excursions, classes and more.
More details and the applications for the programs are available at http://viterbi.usc.edu/overseasLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: Undergrad
Contact: Viterbi Student Services
