Logo: University of Southern California

Events Calendar



Select a calendar:



Filter August Events by Event Type:



Events for August 19, 2010

  • Mobility Assisted Routing for Hybrid Ad Hoc Networks

    Thu, Aug 19, 2010 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Xiaojun Wu, Associate Professor
    School of Software Engineering & Department of Computer Science and Technology
    Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Xi'an, ChinaHosted by Prof. Raghu RaghavendraAbstract:
    Abstract: In hybrid ad hoc networks, most nodes are stationary, while only a few nodes move at a fast speed.
    By exploiting the mobility assistance, the network performance, such as route quality and lifetime, can be
    largely improved. Specially, a few fast moving nodes (FNs) collect last encounter information while they are
    moving within the network. Whenever they encounter stationary nodes (SNs), they diffuse their last
    encounter information to SNs. Based on the temporal-spatial correlation, both FNs and SNs can compute the
    distance with other nodes, therefore the last encounter information can guide route search. Accordingly, we
    develop one mobility assisted routing scheme for so-called hybrid ad hoc networks. The analytical model is
    also addressed. Simulation results demonstrate that the route search cost is decreased significantly, and is
    linear with the distance between source and destination nodes. Simulation results also illustrate the validation
    of the analytical model. Moreover, our other related work will be briefly introduced, such as messenger
    nodes based routing, mobility assisted clustering, mobility assisted service discovery, and mobility assisted
    distributed certification.
    Biography:
    Dr. Xiaojun Wu is an associate professor in the School of Software Engineering at Xi'an Jiaotong University
    (XJTU), Xi'an, China, where he is also an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and
    Technology. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering, the M.S. degree in computer science, and
    the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from XJTU in 1990, 1999, and 2002, respectively. His research
    interests include broadband mobile wireless Internet, next-generation wireless communication systems,
    pervasive computing (or ubiquitous networking), web science and service science. He is author (or coauthor)
    of more than 40 publications. He joined XJTU in July 2005 following a postdoctoral fellowship at Tsinghua
    University (THU), Beijing, China from July 2003 through June 2005. From July 1990 through October 1995,
    he was an engineer and programmer in the Tenth Research Institute of Ministry of Post and Telecom, Xi'an,
    China. He received the Outstanding Ph.D. Grad Award of XJTU in 2002 and the Excellent Ph.D. Degree
    Dissertation Award of XJTU in 2004.

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Annie Yu

    Add to Google CalendarDownload ICS File for OutlookDownload iCal File
  • Computational Creativity from a Model of Music Cognition

    Thu, Aug 19, 2010 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    University Calendar


    USC VSoE ISE SeminarWHAT: Computational Creativity from a Model of Music CognitionWHO: Geraint Wiggins, Professor of Computational Creativity, Department of Computing, Goldsmiths' CollegeWHEN: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 3:30PM - 4:50PMWHERE: EEB 248Abstract: This talk is about computational modeling of a process of musical composition, based on a cognitive model of human behaviour. The idea is to try to study not only the requirements for a computer system which is capable of musical composition, but also to relate it to human behaviour during the same process, so that it may, perhaps, work in the same way as a human composer, but also so that it may, more likely, help us understand how human composers work. We take a purist approach to our modeling: we are aiming, ultimately, at a computer system which we can claim to be creative. Therefore, we must address in advance the criticism that usually arises in these circumstances: "a computer can't be creative because it can only do what it has explicitly been programmed to do". This argument does not hold,because, with the advent of machine learning, it is no longer true that a computer is limited to what its programmer explicitly tells it, especially in a relatively unsupervised learning task like composition (as compared with the usually-supervised task of learning, say, the piano). Thus, a creative system based on unsupervised machine learning can, in principle, be given credit for creative output, much as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is deemed the creator of The Magic Flute, and not Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father, teacher and de facto agent. Because music is a very complex phenomenon, we focus on a relatively simple aspect, which is relatively easy to isolate from the many other aspects of music: tonal melody. In order to compose music, one normally needs to learn about it by hearing it, so we begin with a perceptual model, which has proven capable of simulating relevant aspects of human listening behaviour better than any other in the literature. We also consider the application of this model to a different task, musical phras segmentation, because doing so adds weight to its status as a good, if preliminary, model of human cognition. We then consider using this model to generate tonal melodies, and show how one might go about evaluating the resulting model of composition scientifically. We place the discussion in the context of current models of creative cognition.Biography: Geraint A. Wiggins has an MA from the University of Cambridge, in Mathematics and Computer Sciences, and PhDs from the University of Edinburgh, in Artificial Intelligence and in Musical Composition. He works in the Department of Computing and directs the Centre for Cognition, Computation and Culture at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he holds the Chair of Computational Creativity and leads the Intelligent Sound and MusicSystems (ISMS) research group. His research interests cover a wide range, centred around computational cognitive modeling of creative behaviour, particularly in the context of music, the aim being to understand better how human creativity arises, both in evolutionary and mechanistic terms, and to begin to understand how it works, on an individual basis. Geraint has published and co-published several practical and theoretical papers on computational creativity, and was responsible for the instigation of one of the workshop series (under the aegis of the AISB convention) which eventually merged to form the International Conference on Computational Creativity. He recently co-edited (with Irène Deliège) the first ever collection of papers dedicated to the cognitive psychology of musical creativity, Musical Creativity: Current Research in Theory and Practice (Psychology Press). He is an Associate Editor of Musicae Scientiae, the journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, and a Consulting Editor of Music Perception, its North American counterpart. From 2000-2004, he was chair of AISB, the UK learned society for Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.Host: Prof. Elaine Chew

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Georgia Lum

    Add to Google CalendarDownload ICS File for OutlookDownload iCal File
  • Spark! 5th Annual Visions and Voices Multimedia Showcase

    Thu, Aug 19, 2010 @ 05:30 PM - 07:30 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Receptions & Special Events


    Pre-show DJ set by Faust & Shortee.

    Admission is free. Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. See below for details.

    Reception to follow.

    Don’t miss Visions and Voices’s annual kickoff event, an arts extravaganza featuring music, dance, performance art and spoken word. This dynamic program will include an electrifying dance performance by Luminario Ballet, the dazzling vocals of acclaimed a cappella group Sonos, the virtuosic sounds of electric violinist Peter Lee Johnson, a hilarious and evocative performance by writer/performer D’Lo, captivating and powerful poetry by award-winning spoken-word artist Javon Johnson and a welcome by Elizabeth Garrett, USC Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

    Attendees will also receive free Visions and Voices T-shirts and bags upon event entry! Seating and giveaways are limited. To get a seat, pick up a wristband at the event check-in starting at 4:30 p.m. on Trousdale Parkway in front of Bovard Auditorium. Wristbands will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Location: George Finley Bovard Administration Building (ADM) - Bovard Auditorium

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Daria Yudacufski

    Add to Google CalendarDownload ICS File for OutlookDownload iCal File