ECE Faculty

Research: Recently awarded NSF proposal (SGER) on communication theory in biological systems. My Precious Students Interference Avoidance Opportunistic Communications Spectrum Server (see also R. Yates' page) Contentious Spectrum Management Genetic Algorithms and Spectrum Sharing (DySpan'05) Ultra-Blogging: I've been toying with the idea of doing research on the implications of the fact that soon, everything will be recorded and very little will be private. Think of Microsoft's My Life Bits but with the ability to share and search over the Internet. As a simple example of what's coming, the following candid photo was taken in Brazil at MWCN'01. I had no idea the photo existed until a Google search on my name turned it up (the site has since disappeared -- how fleeting fame! :) ). However, imagine if zillions of these sorts of candid moments (including audio) could be uploaded wirelessly, correlated, indexed and searched by a Super-Google over the web. Assuming symmetry of access and information accountability (with the possibility of information hiding by loggers -- or e-chroniclers), I'm not sure that loss of public privacy is such a bad idea. But it does give one pause to think that every public (and many an ostensibly private) moment could be subject to public scrutiny. Nonetheless, I see this not as "Big Brother" but more as "Everything In The Light Of Day" a la Rodney King where the watched can watch the watchers. Steve Mann at the University of Toronto has coined the rather neat term sousveillance for this sort of system (as opposed to SURveillance). Here is a (weak) talk I gave at Google, trying to plumb the depths of their knowledge and interest on this topic as part of my 2006-2007 sabbatical research love-fest. Clearly there was interest, but Googlers are rather closed-mouthed. I must also admit that this whole "light of day" thing is a double-edged sword: they recorded this talk and I suspect that it might be a bit embarrassing in its relative lack of content! Public Service I recently submitted an NSF proposal which was declined, but I thought the reviews were especially helpful. As it is with these things, we often feel the reviewer might possibly have missed the point (see comment about characterizing moving foliage on trees being infeasible -- I AGREE, but if so, that still tells you something about the channel estimation problem :) ). However, objectively speaking, the reviewer might also be pointing out that *I* missed the point -- the practicality of the approach might be nil for most real-world systems -- but still offered helpful suggestions, I thought. Anyone who wants to run with (or deride) the idea is welcome to do so. I'm thinking I'll post all proposals and subsequent reviews here as a public service (maybe particularly helpful to new faculty if only as an example of what not to do if you want to get funded :) ). How Well Can We Know a MIMO Channel? Reviews of bounced proposal Just TOO COOL! Here's one of my FAVORITE Nova segments on an up and coming M.I.T. engineer named James McLurkin. Yes, an engineer can truly have it all!

Nature Magazine Cover Story Cosmic Communications Caroline Angelo's cartoon National Science Foundation Discoveries feature story Press Coverage

Administrativia: Graduate Assistantships and Research Projects Protocol for Student Paper Draft Submissions  Ph.D. Orals Signup Sheet

Spectrum Policy Outreach:  FCC Technological Advisory Council Meeting Talk (09/18/2002) (PDF)   (PS)  FCC TAC Meeting Archival Summary  The Economics, Technology And Policy Of Unlicensed Spectrum Workshop Organized by the Quello Center at Michigan State Cognitive Radio talk (5/18/2005)

Talks & Papers

David Tse's recent paper on ad-hoc network throughput.

WINLAB IAB Meetings

Assorted Talk Slides from the Dimacs Seminar Series on Computational Information Theory

RFID Overview by Gregory Wright

Random Journal Papers

• Cosmic Communications : Nature Letter 431, pp.47--49, September 2, 2004. Supplementary Information .
• (Interference Avoidance paper storm)
• State-Based Paging/Registration: A Greedy Approach,  IEEE Transactions on VehicularTechnology,  January 1999, 48(1), pp.166-173.
• Highly Mobile Users and Paging: optimal polling strategies IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, November 1998, 47(4), pp.1251-1257.
• Location Uncertainty in Mobile Networks: a theoretical framework , IEEE Communications Magazine, 35(2), February (1997).
• Ensemble Polling Strategies for Increased Paging Capacity, ACM Journal of Wireless Networks 3(2), pp.159--167 (1997).
• Genetic Algorithms Applied to Cellular Call Admission Problem: Local Policies , IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 46(1), February (1997).
• Analysis of a Mobile Assisted Adaptive Location Management Strategy, ACM Mobile Networks and Applications (MONET) 1(2) pp.105--112 (1996).
• Genetic Algorithms and Call Admission to Telecommunications Networks, Computers and Operations Research 23(5), pp.485--499 (1996).
• Minimizing the Average Cost of Paging and Registration: a timer-based method, ACM Journal of Wireless Networks 2(2), pp.109--116 (1996)
• Minimizing the Average Cost of Paging Under Delay Constraints, ACM Journal of Wireless Networks, 1(2), pp.211--219 (1995).
• Scheduling Arrivals to Queues for Minimum Average Blocking: the S(n)/M/C/C System, Computers and Operations Research, 22(8), pp.793-806, (1995)
• A Dielectric-Free Superconducting Coaxial Cable  ,  IEEE Trans. MTT 38(2):166-177 (1990) with Mike Ganz. [ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITES!! The main idea is to levitate the center conductor and thereby avoid using a lossy dielectric support. Conceived during the euphoria after the discovery of high TC superconductors. Current densities of high TC materials are still too low for this to be feasible, but it was fun to dream :) ]
• Rapid Optimal Scheduling for Time-Multiplex Switches Using A Cellular Automaton, IEEE Trans. Comm. 37(5):500-509 (1989) [ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES !! Basic idea is to allow a set of autonomous simple and simply connected computers rapidly calculate "diagonals", also called "systems of distinct representatives", for a given offered traffic matrix.]
• Mean Internodal Distance in Multihop Store & Forward Networks , IEEE Trans. Comm. 40(8):1310-1318 (1992).  This paper (and the next one) was in response to the "network of the week" craze (that was driving me crazy).  The basic idea is that random networks do very well  in terms of connectivity and in terms of having low mean distance (hops) between nodes -- a measure of how efficient a network is.
• Low Mean Internodal Distance Networks Topologies and Simulated Annealing , IEEE Trans. Comm. 40(8):1319-1326 (1992).
• The Performance of Random and Optimal Scheduling in a Time-Multiplex Switch , IEEE Trans. Comm. 35(8):813-317 (1987).  My very first paper EVER! Written with Mike Hluchyj, currently CTO and founder of SONUS Networks.

COURSES TAUGHT

• Principles of Communications (332:322)
• Wireless PCS (332:426)
• Communications Engineering (332:421)
• Systems Analysis (332:501)
• Probability and Stochastic Processes (332:541),
• Communications Theory (332:545) ,
• Information Theory (332:542)
• Communications Networks I (332:543) (winlab alternate) Communications Networks I (332:543)
• Communications Theory (332:545)
• Archive of NSBE SPECIAL PROBLEMS EMAIL (332:???)

Bragging About Family and Friends

Randal went on to an even more spectacular academic career (Rhodes Scholar, MBA and Ph.D. from M.I.T.) and was clearly the best candidate The Apprentice had ever seen. In fact, I found it puzzling how much hand wringing was done over which of the two final candidates to hire -- there really was no other choice. Perhaps they manufactured a bit of theater?

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