A Ph.D. Student Forum on Deeply Embedded Real-Time Computing

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation

Chairs: Xue Liu (McGill), Tarek Abdelzaher (UIUC)

On December 3rd,

In conjunction with:

 

RTSS 2007

Dec 3-6

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Deadline is extended until November 9th!

 

NSF is offering forum authors an RTSS registration waiver, 3 nights hotel, and need-based student travel assistance.

Details follow.

 

 

Call for Contributions

 

Ph.D. students are invited to submit 2-page contributions by October 1st describing a novel idea in deeply embedded cyber-physical computing. The goal is to encourage constructive debate on emerging research topics. Authors of accepted contributions will be expected to travel to RTSS and make a presentation on their topic at the forum. There is no forum registration fee for authors. Award certificates will be given for the most innovative application, the most interesting interdisciplinary research problem, the best system architecture, and the best demo.

 

Eligible authors may apply for need-based NSF travel grants to defray transportation and airfare expenses. NSF offers travel assistance for up to $400 per student.

 

In addition, authors of all accepted forum contributions (regardless of financial need) will receive an RTSS registration fee waiver and 3 night free (pre-paid) accommodation at the conference hotel or equivalent. All applicants should be current Ph.D. students at a recognized US institution of higher education.

 

 

Description

 

There are fundamental reasons why large networks of embedded sensors and actuators are likely to proliferate in the foreseeable future. Moore’s law continues to provide smaller and cheaper devices. The need for information integration causes these devices to be increasingly inter-networked. Finally, the increasing volume and speed of such networked devices (unlike human information processing capacity which remains the same) make direct human interaction progressively less feasible, implying increased network autonomy. Increased autonomy generates need for independent means of network interaction with the physical environment (such as sensing and actuation) that does not rely on human mediation. Such interaction will occur at a progressively larger (network) scale and will be subject to real-time constraints and physical laws of nature.

 

Distributed, autonomous sensor and actuator networks offer a new frontier for computer science research that may well cause the next society-transforming leap since the introduction of personal computers and the formation of the Internet. This frontier lies at the intersection of the logical and physical realms, where computing systems become more seamlessly integrated with the environment and less external to the physical world. Elements of the computing system are subjected not only to requirements of logical correctness but also to physical constraints of time, space and natural resources such as energy. We call such systems deeply embedded. Several important challenges are posed in deeply embedded systems, which span most areas of computer science. Namely, a new fundamental systems theory is needed that integrates computation, communication, and control to address the hybrid nature of cyber-physical systems. Hard systems composition challenges must be overcome in the design of large-scale cyber-physical systems. The tight coupling between communication and computing (e.g., due to in-network computation) calls for new models and paradigms for deeply embedded computation. Appropriate programming languages and distributed middleware tools must be developed around the emerging models and theory. Communication protocols must be redesigned to facilitate integration of myriads of physical data sources, actuators, and computing elements into the network. Information theory must be extended to address future embedded communication networks characterized by wireless nodes, mobility, and ability to perform computation and storage. Data mining and machine learning techniques are needed to better understand massive information flows from the physical world, detect interesting data patterns, and act increasingly without human assistance. Security must be ensured. Correct operation must be enforced in the presence of real-time and real-space constraints. Symbiotic interactions may be developed and exploited between the physical and digital ecosystems.

 

To promote successful discovery on the above research topics, the National Science Foundation will sponsor a Ph.D. student forum, in conjunction with IEEE RTSS 2007, to discuss innovative research challenges and application ideas in deeply embedded real-time computing systems. The goal of the forum is to encourage student involvement in new research directions and offer a channel to discuss and reward the most innovative student ideas in an exciting emerging research field.

 

How to Apply

 

Essays are solicited for the Ph.D. student forum, each describing (i) a proposed novel application that becomes possible thanks to integration of computing, communication, and interaction with the physical world, (ii) a set of interdisciplinary research problems that arise in the context of this application, and (iii) a proposed initial system architecture that addresses some of these research problems. Each essay must be authored by a Ph.D. student. An essay is limited to two 2-column, single-spaced pages in 10pt font.  It should be submitted as a PDF attachment by e-mail (to user name: zaher; domain name: cs at uiuc at edu). For proper filtering, the subject line must be “RTSS FORUM SUBMISSION” (in uppercase letters). Essays will be reviewed on competitive basis. Acceptance decisions will be made by October 28th. All accepted authors will receive an RTSS registration waiver and 3 free (pre-paid) nights at the conference hotel or equivalent. The body of the applicant’s e-mail should also contain the following form filled out in pure text:

 

 

 

Student Name:

Department:

School:

Address:

e-mail:

Expected Graduation Date:

Name of Advisor:

 

Applying for financial support (see eligibility criteria below) ? (YES/NO)

 

If yes, write a paragraph describing why you meet the eligibility criteria:

 

 

 

 

 

Eligibility for Need-based Financial Support

 

To qualify for need-based support, the following rules will be observed:

 

  • The applicant must be a current student at a recognized US institution of higher education.
  • The applicant’s field of study must be related to the topic of the forum.
  • Students who are well-funded and have ample means of covering their travel should not apply.
  • Preference is given to under-represented minorities in Engineering Education and in the broad field of Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
  • Need-based travel grants are given preferably to individuals who otherwise would not attend. Specifically, authors of accepted papers who typically will attend anyway are discouraged from applying for need-based support unless they have special circumstances.
  • Students from under-represented states and institutions are specifically encouraged to apply.

 

 

Important Dates

 

Submission deadline:             October 1st November 9th

Acceptance notification:          October 28th or 48 hours after submission (whichever is later)

Final manuscript:                    November 16th

RTSS and Forum                   December 3rd – 6th