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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for August

  • Exploiting Cooperative Diversity in Slotted ALOHA Random Access Networks

    Fri, Aug 01, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Y.-W. Peter Hong
    National Tsing Hua University, TaiwanAbstract:
    In a cooperative system, each user exploits spatial diversity by transmitting their packets through multiple
    relaying paths provided by their cooperative partners. Most works in the literature on cooperative
    communications focus on the physical layer aspects such as coding, modulation, transceiver signal processing
    etc. In this talk, we will discuss the advantages of user cooperation from a MAC layer perspective and devise
    queueing strategies to exploit the cooperative diversity gains in a random access network. Specifically, we
    propose two queueing strategies for the cooperative system and study their respective stability regions. We
    show that both schemes outperform the case with no cooperation, especially when one user has a better channel
    than the other. We then extend our system to networks that consist of multiple cooperating pairs and study the
    stability of the finite-user cooperative system. By treating each cooperative pair as a transmission entity, we
    derive inner bounds for the finite-user stability region and propose a ranking system to characterize the entities'
    relative tendency of being stable (or unstable).Biography:
    Y.-W. Peter Hong received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University, Taipei,
    Taiwan, in 1999, and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 2005.
    In 2005, he joined the Institute of Communications Engineering/Department of Electrical Engineering in
    National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, where he is currently an Assistant Professor. His research is
    focused on cooperative communications, distributed signal processing for sensor networks, and PHY-MAC
    cross-layer designs for next generation wireless networks. He received the best paper award among unclassified
    papers in MILCOM 2005 and the best paper award for young authors from the IEEE IT/COM Society
    Taipei/Tainan chapter in 2005. He is a co-editor (along with A. Swami, Q. Zhao and L. Tong) of the book
    entitled "Wireless Sensor Networks: Signal Processing and Communications Perspectives" (John-Wiley, 2007).Host: Professor C.-C. Jay Kuo

    Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Talyia Veal

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  • Utilizing Topological Codes for Fault-Tolerant Universal Quantum Computing

    Fri, Aug 01, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    SPEAKER: Jim Harrington
    Los Alamos National LaboratoryABSTRACT: Kitaev's surface codes have the attractive property of requiring only local stabilizer measurements, while all logical error operators stretch between boundaries (or form non-trivial loops, in the case of a torus). This gives rise to an exponential suppression in logical errors as a function of code size, under an independent error model. I will present a history of the ideas connecting these surface codes to cluster states, which led to Raussendorf's suggested architecture of a single two-dimensional array of qubits for fault-tolerant universal quantum computation, with an estimated error threshold above 0.7%. I also plan to present very preliminary analysis on the quantum memory threshold for one of the topological color codes introduced by Bombin and Martin-Delgado.BIOGRAPHY: Jim Harrington studied quantum error correction in John Preskill's group at Caltech and received his Ph.D. in 2004. Jim came to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellow to work primarily on security proofs and protocols for quantum key distribution. He is now a Technical Staff Member at LANL and continues to work on a variety of topics in quantum information security and quantum coding theory.HOST: Prof. Todd Brun, tbrun@usc.edu

    Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos

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  • The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, China

    Thu, Aug 14, 2008 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Professor Jean-Pierre Bardet, a civil engineer who studies earthquakes, has just returned from a trip to China's Sichuan region to study the earthquake damage caused by a magnitude 8 temblor on May 12, 2008. He will present his observations at a public lecture and Powerpoint presentation open to the entire USC campus community. Professor Bardet was a member of an official U.S. delegation invited by the Chinese Earthquake Authority to survey the damage caused by this powerful earthquake. The quake caused more that 70,000 casualties and produced massive landslides and pervasive surface fault ruptures.

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jennifer Cantwell

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  • Safety Management For Aviation Maintenance - Aug.18-22, 2008

    Mon, Aug 18, 2008

    Aviation Safety and Security Program

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Course Number: MAINT 09-1
    For more information and to register for Aviation Safety and Security Program courses, please visit http://viterbi.usc.edu/aviation.

    Audiences: Registered Audiences Only

    Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs

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  • Seminar by Uzi Efron

    Tue, Aug 19, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Studies and Development Effort of a Low Vision Goggle:
    Recent Progress on Optical Design, Device Design, and Image Enhancement; and, Recent Improvements in Iris RecognitionAbstractA mobile, head-mounted low-vision aid is critically needed for the vision impaired. We will report on a
    research effort of a Low Vision Goggle (LVG) based on a unique Image Transceiver Device (ITD),
    combining both functions of imaging and display in a single chip. The LVG's function is to capture the
    ambient scene, generate an enhanced imagery of the Region of Interest (ROI) and project the
    enhanced imagery onto the healthy part of the retina. An incorporated Eye Tracker is used in order to
    determine the ROI as well as in directing the Imagery to the preferred region of the patient's retina
    (PRL). Another important function of the LVG is in providing a direct, see-through capability. The
    unique ITD device allows a compact design of the Low Vision Goggle (LVG) with its recent design
    based on a CMOS-LCOS micro-display. The device design effort includes the CMOS chip as well as
    the FPGA system controller. In addition to the ITD Chip development, the research effort also covers
    the optical design of the LVG as well as the development of a low vision model and studies of image enhancement algorithms for the visually impaired. Our recent progress on iris recognition will also be described.Host: B. Keith Jenkins, x04149, jenkins@sipi.usc.edu

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - B18

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Gloria Halfacre

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  • Legal Aspects of Aviation Safety - Aug.25-26, 2008

    Mon, Aug 25, 2008

    Aviation Safety and Security Program

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Course Number: LEGAL 09-1
    For more information and to register for Aviation Safety and Security Program courses, please visit http://viterbi.usc.edu/aviation.

    Audiences: Registered Audiences Only

    Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs

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  • BME 533 Seminar Series

    Mon, Aug 25, 2008 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Michael Khoo, PhD, Professor & Chair of Biomedical Engineering, USC:
    "Overview of Biomedical Engineering at USC"
    Bartlett Mel, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, USC:
    “PhD Laboratory Rotationsâ€Â

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: BME Graduate Students/Sponsoring Departments

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Role of the Technical Witness in Litigation - Aug. 27-28, 2008

    Wed, Aug 27, 2008

    Aviation Safety and Security Program

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Course Number: TWW 09-1
    For more information and to register for Aviation Safety and Security Program courses, please visit http://viterbi.usc.edu/aviation.

    Audiences: Registered Attendees Only

    Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs

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  • DARCYS LAW---150 years old (1856--2006)

    Wed, Aug 27, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Prof. Jacob Bear,
    Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
    Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
    Haifa, IsraelAbstractThe objective of this presentation is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Darcy's Law (1856), and to use this opportunity for stock-taking: what have we—researchers and practitioners who use this law in various disciplines--achieved since Darcy's introduction of this law, and where should we go now, in view of the needs to solve problems.We'll start with a few words about Henry Darcy, his life and his scientific and professional contributions; we'll talk about his law, and its extension beyond the original experimentally-based law, and we'll mention other forms of the motion equations for cases for which Darcy's law is not valid. We'll review extensions of Darcy's motion equation to multiple phases. We'll review approaches leading to the porous medium envisioned as a continuum, and the principles underlying the description of flow and transport phenomena by well-posed mathematical models.Finally, we'll try to indicate knowledge gaps, as indicated by the need to solve problems of practical interest.

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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