ALBERT

Description: The following is included in this newsletter: IEEE Young Professionals, Lahore Section Win World Class Award "Hall of Fame 2015"; Distinguished Lecturer Tour of Nei Kato in China, May 2015; Distinguished Lecturer Tour of Tom Hou to Beijing and Nanjing, China; European Wireless 2015 in Budapest; Novel In-Band Full-Duplex Communication Prototype for 5G Systems, Finland, May 2015

Description: Wireless vehicular networks offer the promise of connectivity to vehicles that could provide a myriad of safety and driving-enhancing services to drivers and passengers. With wireless technology available in each car, it is expected that huge amounts of information will be exchanged between vehicles or between vehicles and roadside infrastructure. Due to defective sensors, software viruses, or even malicious intent, legitimate vehicles might inject untrustworthy information into the network. Besides relying on the public key infrastructure, this article proposes a social network approach to study trustworthy information sharing in a vehicular network. We first cover recent research progress in measuring direct trust and modeling indirect trust in online social networks, and then discuss how to apply them to vehicular social networks despite several pressing research challenges.

Description: Presents the front cover for this issue of the publication.

Description: The mobile crowdsourcing network (MCN) is a promising network architecture that applies the principles of crowdsourcing to perform tasks with human involvement and powerful mobile devices. However, it also raises some critical security and privacy issues that impede the application of MCNs. In this article, in order to better understand these critical security and privacy challenges, we first propose a general architecture for a mobile crowdsourcing network comprising both crowdsourcing sensing and crowdsourcing computing. After that, we set forth several critical security and privacy challenges that essentially capture the characteristics of MCNs. We also formulate some research problems leading to possible research directions. We expect this work will bring more attention to further investigation on security and privacy solutions for mobile crowdsourcing networks.

Description: Presents the ComSoc conference calendar of events.

Description: Energy harvesting technologies have gained widespread attention for their perpetual energy supply for sensor nodes. However, the energy resources are still insufficient while the harvesting module is added on the node. To prolong the network lifetime and meet the demand of a green wireless network, a dynamic gradient-aware hierarchical packet forwarding mechanism is designed. According to the relative positions of nodes, gradient-aware clusters are established. Consequently, considering the energy conversion efficiency and relative distance, cluster heads are selected reasonably. Furthermore, by exploiting the available energy and the number of cluster members, packets can be forwarded to the sink in an energy-efficient manner. Results show that the network lifetime can be noticeably improved.

Description: Recently, there has been substantial research interest in the subject of simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) due to its cross-disciplinary appeal and its wide-ranging application potential, which motivates this overview. More explicitly, we provide a brief survey of the state of the art and introduce several practical transceiver architectures that may facilitate its implementation. Moreover, the most important link-level as well as system-level design aspects are elaborated on, along with a variety of potential solutions and research ideas. We envision that the dual interpretation of RF signals creates new opportunities as well as challenges requiring substantial research, innovation and engineering efforts.

Description: The emerging trends of 2014 have continued to dominate the developments in the first half of 2015: 1. The packet optical transport system (P-OTS) concept supports the service provider goal to build a common network infrastructure by integrating Ethernet, IP/MPLS, and DWDM 2. There has been intensifying focus and attention on network functions virtualization (NFV) and softwaredefined networking (SDN) to provide service providers with the tools for more effective operation and management of communications networks in general, and optical communications networks in particular.

Description: In June 2015, the ComSoc Board of Governors approved a revision of ComSoc Constitution. The IEEE approved the revision in July 2015, and ComSoc Membership approval is currently pending.

Description: Discusses the ramifications from a privacy and network security point of view given today's systems that offer access to huge amounts of data and database systems. These information and data sharing interactions capture varied aspects of our lives, such as our shopping behavior, our mental and physical health, our likes and dislikes, political and religious opinions, products we shop for, how we drive our cars, how much energy we use, and even more nebulous things such as our hopes and aspirations. Credit card companies record every purchase we make, with the time and place of purchase; companies like Amazon and Netflix not only record our purchases but also our interest in things we merely peruse on their websites. Loyalty cards and digital profiles of our purchases even in brick-and mortar stores such as Target and Walmart and our local supermarkets create a record of all our purchases, easily being able to infer our shopping patterns.

Description: In various disciplines, information about the same phenomenon can be acquired from different types of detectors, at different conditions, in multiple experiments or subjects, among others. We use the term “modality” for each such acquisition framework. Due to the rich characteristics of natural phenomena, it is rare that a single modality provides complete knowledge of the phenomenon of interest. The increasing availability of several modalities reporting on the same system introduces new degrees of freedom, which raise questions beyond those related to exploiting each modality separately. As we argue, many of these questions, or “challenges,” are common to multiple domains. This paper deals with two key issues: “why we need data fusion” and “how we perform it.” The first issue is motivated by numerous examples in science and technology, followed by a mathematical framework that showcases some of the benefits that data fusion provides. In order to address the second issue, “diversity” is introduced as a key concept, and a number of data-driven solutions based on matrix and tensor decompositions are discussed, emphasizing how they account for diversity across the data sets. The aim of this paper is to provide the reader, regardless of his or her community of origin, with a taste of the vastness of the field, the prospects, and the opportunities that it holds.

Description: Multimodal data are ubiquitous in engineering, communications, robotics, computer vision, or more generally speaking in industry and the sciences. All disciplines have developed their respective sets of analytic tools to fuse the information that is available in all measured modalities. In this paper, we provide a review of classical as well as recent machine learning methods (specifically factor models) for fusing information from functional neuroimaging techniques such as: LFP, EEG, MEG, fNIRS, and fMRI. Early and late fusion scenarios are distinguished, and appropriate factor models for the respective scenarios are presented along with example applications from selected multimodal neuroimaging studies. Further emphasis is given to the interpretability of the resulting model parameters, in particular by highlighting how factor models relate to physical models needed for source localization. The methods we discuss allow for the extraction of information from neural data, which ultimately contributes to 1) better neuroscientific understanding; 2) enhance diagnostic performance; and 3) discover neural signals of interest that correlate maximally with a given cognitive paradigm. While we clearly study the multimodal functional neuroimaging challenge, the discussed machine learning techniques have a wide applicability, i.e., in general data fusion, and may thus be informative to the general interested reader.

Description: Presents the President's message for this issue of the publication.

Description: As cloud-assisted WBSNs have become increasingly popular in healthcare applications, security and privacy threats deserve much more attention. In this article, focusing on data privacy and data completeness issues, we propose a VPAA scheme for cloud-assisted WBSNs. Through both simulation and prototype implementation, we confirm that VPAA is energy-efficient and effective in protecting data privacy and completeness.

Description: We review several node architectures for optical slot switching ring networks, which can be used in metropolitan or datacenter applications, and compare them for their networking aspects. The dimensioning, quality of service, latency, and protection issues are discussed for the different approaches. The main devices, i.e. fast wavelength-tunable laser, burst-mode coherent receiver (which is required to enable high data rate transmission at 100 Gb/s and above), and a slot blocker for improved wavelength usage efficiency are described, and available technologies for each key building block are reviewed.

Description: Data center interconnection with elastic optical networks is a promising scenario to meet the high burstiness and high-bandwidth requirements of services. Many data center services require lower delay and higher availability with end-to-end guaranteed QoS, which involves both application and transport network resources. However, in the current mode of operation, the control of elastic optical networks and data centers is separately deployed. Enabling even limited interworking among these separated control systems requires the adoption of complex and inelastic interfaces among the various networks, and this solution is not efficient enough to provide the required QoS. In this article, we present a novel cross stratum optimization (CSO) architecture in elastic data center optical interconnection. The proposed architecture can allow global optimization and control across elastic optical transport network and data center application stratum heterogeneous resources to meet the QoS requirement with the objective of optical as a service (OaaS). The functional modules of CSO architecture, including the core elements of application and transport controllers, are described in detail. The cooperation procedure in CSO-based service provisioning and cross stratum service resilience modes is investigated. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture is also experimentally demonstrated on our OaaS testbed with four OpenFlow-enabled elastic optical nodes, and compared to MFA, ALB, and CSO-DGLB service provisioning schemes in terms of path setup/release/adjustment latency, blocking probability, and resource occupation rate. Numerical results are given and analyzed based on the testbed. Some future discussion and exploration issues are presented in the conclusion.

Description: Unlike most general wireless users enjoying broadband access to the Internet and so on, a number of mission-critical applications such as PPDR are using narrowband systems that are only capable of transmitting voice and low-rate data. Broadband wireless networks with greater reliability are increasingly demanded by these applications including the emerging Smart Grid. With this vision, the IEEE 802.16 Working Group completed two standard amendments recently, IEEE Std 802.16n-2013 and IEEE Std 802.16.1a-2013. 802.16 network reliability is significantly increased by technical developments dealing with failures of network infrastructure stations, radio path and backhaul connectivity, and so on. This article serves to analyze the envisaged typical use cases of greater reliable broadband wireless networks, outline the main technical developments of the two standards, and introduce a recently developed practical system for PPDR applications in Japan.

Description: The continuously increasing consumption of power to access the Internet has been a major concern for network operators and equipment vendors. Passive optical network (PON) systems are widely seen as the future of broadband access. In 2010, ITU-T standardized a protocol-based PON energy efficiency mechanism that is comprised of two main modes, the doze mode and the cyclic sleep mode, which promise to save significant amounts of energy. However, the use of these two standardized alternative modes requires extra signaling and wastes energy. In this article we present the watchful sleep mode, a new mode that unifies the doze and cyclic sleep modes into a single power management mode. The new mode eliminates the extra control signaling and maximizes the amount of energy saved by keeping only the necessary hardware ON. Recently, the watchful sleep mode has been included in the ITU-T G.984 (G-PON) and ITUT G.987 (XG-PON) recommendations. It is expected to be operated as the only power management mode in future PON systems.

Description: Over the last decade, energy harvesting has emerged as a promising approach to enable self-sufficient and self-sustaining operation for devices in energy-constrained networks by scavenging energy from the ambient environment to power up devices.

Description: The city of Trento, the educational, scientific, financial and political centre of Northern Italy, served as the ideal launching point for the first IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) Summer School. With a population of more than 100,000 residing in this noted university city, Trento is recognized throughout the country for its high quality of life, prosperous business opportunities, advanced research centers and renowned international cultural institutions. It also boasts a rich heritage of cultural and social lifestyles; enriched international conferences, meetings and exhibitions; traditional costume festivals and market fares; historical events; and global festivals highlighted with theatre, music and dance.

Description: Energy harvesting technology has become a promising solution to enhance the energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in future wireless systems. In future wireless systems, most of the data throughput will come from delay-sensitive applications. To ensure a good experience for an end user, we target the optimization of the delay performance of an EH wireless system with finite energy storage. As such, it is necessary to adapt the resource allocation to the channel fading information, data queue length, and energy queue length information. The channel fading information provides the channel quality, the data queue length information provides the dynamic urgency of the transmitted data flows, and the energy queue length information provides the information on how much available energy is left in the energy buffer. Such a problem is quite challenging because it belongs to an infinite dimensional stochastic optimization. In this article, we review the existing works on the resource allocation problem in EH wireless systems. We also propose a low-complexity delay-sensitive resource control scheme and discuss valuable design insights.

Description: The concept of energy harvesting cooperative networks is an emerging technology that has very high potential for a large variety of applications. However, energy transfer capability may lead to unprecedented security challenges. In this article, we study energy security issues and the solutions in energy harvesting networks. We first identify typical energy related attacks and then propose defense solutions against these attacks. We also carry out security analysis and performance analysis to evaluate our proposed solutions. Simulation results have shown that the proposed defense solutions are effective and efficient.

Description: Information-centric networking (ICN) is an emerging networking paradigm that places content identifiers rather than host identifiers at the core of the mechanisms and protocols used to deliver content to end users. Such a paradigm allows routers enhanced with content-awareness to play a direct role in the routing and resolution of content requests from users, without any knowledge of the specific locations of hosted content. However, to facilitate good network traffic engineering and satisfactory user QoS, content routers need to exchange advanced network knowledge to assist them with their resolution decisions. In order to maintain the location-independency tenet of ICNs, such knowledge (known as context information) needs to be independent of the locations of servers. To this end, we propose CAINE — Context-Aware Information-centric Network Ecosystem — which enables context-based operations to be intrinsically supported by the underlying ICN routing and resolution functions. Our approach has been designed to maintain the location-independence philosophy of ICNs by associating context information directly to content rather than to the physical entities such as servers and network elements in the content ecosystem, while ensuring scalability. Through simulation, we show that based on such location-independent context information, CAINE is able to facilitate traffic engineering in the network, while not posing a significant control signalling burden on the network.

Description: The growing popularity of cloud and multimedia services is dramatically increasing the traffic volume that each data center needs to handle. This is driving the demand for highly scalable, flexible, and energy-efficient networks inside data centers, in particular for the edge tier, which requires a large number of interconnects and consumes the dominant part of the overall power. Optical fiber communication is widely recognized as the highest energy- and cost-efficient technique to offer ultra-large capacity for telecommunication networks. It has also been considered as a promising transmission technology for future data center applications. Taking into account the characteristics of the traffic generated by the servers, such as locality, multicast, dynamicity, and burstiness, the emphasis of the research on data center networks has to be put on architectures that leverage optical transport to the greatest possible extent. However, no feasible solution based on optical switching is available so far for handling the data center traffic at the edge tier. Therefore, apart from conventional optical switching, we investigate a completely different paradigm, passive optical interconnects, and aim to explore the possibility for optical interconnects at the top of the rack. In this article, we present three major types of passive optical interconnects and carry out a performance assessment with respect to the ability to host data center traffic, scalability, optical power budget, complexity of the required interface, cost, and energy consumption. Our results have verified that the investigated passive optical interconnects can achieve a significant reduction of power consumption and maintain cost at a similar level compared to its electronic counterpart. Furthermore, several research directions on passive optical interconnects have been pointed out for future green data centers.

Description: This article presents results from the integration of a noncontact physiological radar monitoring system (PRMS) with a type I polysomnography (PSG) system to perform sleep monitoring. The PRMS system consists of two continuous-wave Doppler radars operating at the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band of 2.45 GHz. The system can acquire data, perform digital processing, and output appropriate conventional analog outputs with a latency of approximately 130 ms, which can be recorded and displayed by a gold standard sleep monitoring system along with other standard sensor measurements. Radar data was also used to successfully detect paradoxical motion that was simulated using linear movers and to categorize normal breathing, apnea, and hypopnea in sleeping subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Description: A quantitative and explicit validation of the performance and safety of microwave systems and devices that have electromagnetic interaction with the human body is critical in the technological development process. Although a numerical model of the system environment can be ideally simulated, it cannot reflect the realistic environment that is vulnerable to various electrical, mechanical, and environmental interferences. Hence, the presence of the human body is the best measurement environment for these systems. However, newly designed devices/ systems that rely on the human body electromagnetic field interactions require multiple tests/measurements under a controlled environment. This environment is needed to validate the performance in all the possible scenarios of operation and make sure of the safety of those devices and systems. For example, a breast imaging system needs to be evaluated by detecting tumors in multiple locations, and it is unthinkable to do that on a real patient; hence, breast phantoms are needed to obtain an optimum system design and algorithms before moving to human clinical trials. Moreover, some experiments, such as the specific absorption rate (SAR) and hyperthermia, cannot be done on human beings due to the need to monitor the variation of the power intensity and temperature inside tissues. Employing live human participants for testing devices exposes the entire test procedure to several inherent uncertainties, such as respiratory movement, cardiovascular vibration, and variable skin humidity in addition, of course, to the safety concern of the new devices. Also, the application of the devices and systems on human subjects or human-related materials is a serious ethical issue where the researchers must receive an ethical clearance from the proper authorities, and it can be difficult to reasonably estimate and investigate the level of risks from various scientific, physical, and psychological aspects beforehand. Thus, the utilization of ar- ificial tissue-emulating (ATE) phantoms is highly beneficial for testing a device or system.

Description: Space information networks were proposed to broaden the observation area and realize continuous information acquisition using satellites and high altitude platform stations. Space information networks are able to enhance detection and transmission capabilities compared to the current single Earth observation satellite. Although lots of technical work has been done concerning the space network architecture and protocols, the security issues have not been investigated well. In this article, we focus on the security problems in space information networks from four perspectives, that is, secure handoff, secure transmission control, key management, and secure routing. Existing works, together with their challenges and open problems, are discussed, and our proposed scheme is introduced. Overall, this article aims to help readers understand the motivation, problem formulation, and solutions regarding security issues on space information networks.

Description: This article addresses the use of REMs to support interference management optimization in heterogeneous networks composed of cells of different sizes and including both cellular and non-cellular (e.g. WiFi) technologies. After presenting a general architecture for including REM databases in different network entities, the article analyzes the achievable benefits in relation to specific interference management techniques, including a discussion on practical considerations such as information exchange requirements, REM ownership, and security aspects. Finally, several research directions derived from the proposed framework are identified.

Description: Presents the index of advertisers in this issue of the publication.

Description: Knowledge of end-to-end network distances is essential to many service-oriented applications such as distributed content delivery and overlay network multicast, in which the clients have the flexibility to select their servers from among a set of available ones based on network distance. However, due to the high cost of global measurements in large-scale networks, it is infeasible to actively probe end-to-end network distances for all pairs. In order to address this issue, network distance prediction has been proposed by measuring a few pairs and then predicting the other ones without direct measurements, or splicing the path segments between each pair via observation. It is considered important to improve network performance, and enables service- oriented applications over large-scale networks. In this article, we first illustrate the basic ideas behind network distance prediction, and then categorize the current research work based on different criteria. We illustrate how different protocols work, and discuss their merits and drawbacks. Finally, we summarize our findings, and point out potential issues and future directions for further research.

Description: The advanced fifth generation (5G) infrastructure is expected to become the ???nervous system??? of the digital society, digital economy, and silver economy. New service paradigms such as ???immersive experience??? and ???anything as a service??? (XaaS) everywhere are envisioned as among the primary drivers for global adoption and market uptake of new 5G technology components. Above all, 5G networks will support mission-critical machine communications and massive machine type of traffic. As a result, the key performance metrics that 5G is expected to improve are in terms of, but not limited to, latency, reliability, capacity, and spectrum and network agility. This calls for a complete rethinking of all functional domains, including access stratum (AS), non-access stratum (NAS), and transport network layer (TNL), in terms of protocols and procedures. New emerging technologies, such as software defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), mobile edge computing (MEC), and high-performance computing (HPC), provide momentum for new design principles toward software (service) defined 5G networks, targeting a software defined air interface (SDAI) for available bands (spectrum); sliced "networks on demand" for multiple industries, especially for vertical markets (new architecture); and flexibility and spectral efficiency for mobile broadband and machine type communications (new air interface).

Description: In this article, we present a real-time full duplex radio system for 5G wireless networks. Full duplex radios are capable of opening new possibilities in contexts of high traffic demand where there are limited radio resources. A critical issue, however, in implementing full duplex radios in real wireless environments is being able to cancel self-interference. To overcome the selfinterference challenge, we prototype our design on a software-defined radio platform. This design combines a dual-polarization antenna-based analog part with a digital self-interference canceler that operates in real time. Prototype test results confirm that the proposed full duplex system achieves about 1.9 times higher throughput than a half duplex system. This article concludes with a discussion of implementation challenges that remain for researchers seeking the most viable solution for full duplex communications.

Description: The Internet of Things (IoT) is the result of many different enabling technologies such as embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, cloud computing, big-data, etc., which are used to gather, process, infer, and transmit data. Combining all these technologies requires a research effort to address all the challenges of these technologies, especially for sensing and delivering information from the physical world to cloud-hosted services. In this article we outline the most important issues related to standardization efforts, mobility of objects, networking and gateway access, and QoS support. In particular, we describe a novel IoT network architecture that integrates software defined networking (SDN) and data distribution service (DDS) middleware. The proposed architecture will improve service delivery of IoT systems and will bring flexibility to the network.

Description: As one of the fastest growing technologies, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications are expected to provide ubiquitous connectivity. M2M devices can be used for a wide range of emerging applications that have various communications requirements. While M2M communications have been developed for many years, major challenges still remain with their efficient implementation from the perspective of low energy consumption and wide coverage. To address these challenges, low power wide area (LPWA) technology is investigated as one of the potential candidate solutions. In this article, we first introduce some typical LPWA M2M application scenarios. Given their requirements, we highlight key techniques and standards that are explicitly designed for LPWA M2M communications. Finally, we present an LPWA prototype system to evaluate its performance and demonstrate its potential in bridging a technological gap for future Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications.

Description: The introduction of smart electricity meters with cellular radio interfaces has placed an additional load on wireless cellular networks. Currently, these meters are designed for low duty cycle billing and occasional system check, which generates low-rate sporadic traffic. As the number of distributed energy resources increases, household power will become more variable and thus unpredictable from the viewpoint of the distribution system operator (DSO). Therefore, it is expected that in the near future there will be an increase in the number of wide area measurement system (WAMS) devices with phasor measurement unit (PMU)-like capabilities in the distribution grid, thus allowing utilities to monitor the low voltage grid quality while providing information required for tighter grid control. From a communication standpoint, the traffic profile will change drastically toward higher data volumes and higher rates per device. In this paper we characterize the current traffic generated by smart electricity meters, and we discuss the potential traffic requirements resulting from the introduction of enhanced smart meters, i.e. meters with PMUlike capabilities. Our study shows how GSM/ GPRS and LTE cellular system performance behaves with current generation and next generation smart meter traffic, where it is clearly seen that the PMU data will seriously challenge these wireless systems. We conclude by highlighting the possible solutions for upgrading the cellular standards, in order to cope with the upcoming smart metering traffic.

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Description: In this article, the author reflects upon both the both the brilliance and limits of Moore's Law on its 50th anniversary.

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Description: Recent information-theoretic results on a class of broadcast channels with layered decoding and/or layered secrecy are reviewed. In this class of models, a transmitter sends multiple messages to a set of legitimate receivers in the presence of a set of eavesdroppers, whose channels can be ordered based on the quality of received signals. Receivers with better channel quality are required to decode more messages, and eavesdroppers with worse channel quality are required to be kept ignorant of more messages. The design of achievable schemes and the characterization of the corresponding secrecy capacity regions are presented. Comparison of the designs for different models is discussed. Applications of these information-theoretic models to the study of secure communication over fading wiretap channels and secret sharing are also presented to illustrate potential applications of these models.

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Description: The Internet of Things (IoT) will feature pervasive sensing and control capabilities via a massive deployment of machine-type communication (MTC) devices. The limited hardware, low-complexity, and severe energy constraints of MTC devices present unique communication and security challenges. As a result, robust physical-layer security methods that can supplement or even replace lightweight cryptographic protocols are appealing solutions. In this paper, we present an overview of low-complexity physical-layer security schemes that are suitable for the IoT. A local IoT deployment is modeled as a composition of multiple sensor and data subnetworks, with uplink communications from sensors to controllers, and downlink communications from controllers to actuators. The state of the art in physical-layer security for sensor networks is reviewed, followed by an overview of communication network security techniques. We then pinpoint the most energy-efficient and low-complexity security techniques that are best suited for IoT sensing applications. This is followed by a discussion of candidate low-complexity schemes for communication security, such as on–off switching and space-time block codes. The paper concludes by discussing open research issues and avenues for further work, especially the need for a theoretically well-founded and holistic approach for incorporating complexity constraints in physical-layer security designs.

Description: When the control functions of various types of power electronics systems are examined, a significant degree of common functionality emerges, irrespective of the target application. It is possible to define hierarchical control architectures for these systems using common interface definitions between control system divisions or layers. Such definitions enable the use of common designs for multiple applications and the use of commercially available electronics and communications modules allowing cost reduction in power electronics applications. This paper presents various partitioning strategies of a hierarchical control architecture for use in high power electronics control systems and defines various parameters/functions that need to be handled within each layer, and those that need to be communicated between the layers. Each layer has characteristic processing and communication speed requirements, irrespective of the final applications.

Description: Three motors that were developed for icebreakers epitomize the history of electric propulsion motor development in Japan. Direct current (dc) motors were developed for Fuji , commissioned in 1965, and Shirase I , commissioned in 1982, and induction motors were developed for Shirase II , commissioned in 2009. Three separate groups in Japan are actively developing superconducting motors for marine propulsion. The Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology group developed the world’s first axial-gap coreless high-temperature superconducting motor (HTS) with a 100-kW output for a liquid neon thermosiphon cooled superconducting machine over a period from 2004 to 2007. The IHI Corporation group has developed four types of axial-type HTS motors since 2004. Using a cooling system based on liquid nitrogen, they achieved the world’s highest output at 365 kW in 2007. The Kawasaki Heavy Industries group has been developing radial-type HTS motors since 2007. In 2010, the group developed a 1-MW motor that achieved an output of 450 kW. In 2013, the group also developed a 3-MW motor that achieved an output of 3 MW. Furthermore, the group has developed key hardware technologies for a 20-MW motor.

Description: Presents the 2015 author/subject index for this publication.

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Description: Selection of power and propulsion system architecture is one of the most far-reaching and irreversible decisions made by the designer of a modern ship. However, most texts and design handbooks pay little attention to the implications of this design decision nor is sufficient attention paid to the attributes of the various alternatives available to the ship designer/owner. Integrated power systems, made possible over the past three decades by the advances in modern high-power power electronics, provide many benefits to the ship owner, including reduced operating costs, arrangement flexibility, superior reliability and survivability, and support for advanced weapons on sensors warships. This paper will outline the architecture options available to today’s ship designer and will discuss the design implications and pitfalls inherent in the power system architecture selection, paying particular attention to the unique aspects of integrated power systems.

Description: Both the brain and digital computers process information, but they do this in completely different ways. Neurons in the brain transmit information not through bits, but through spikes. Spikes are short voltage increases that are generated near the cell body of a neuron, with average spike rates below 10 Hz. These spikes are transmitted via fine axonal fibers and synapses to about 10 000 other neurons. Neurons also differ in another fundamental aspect from processors in a digital computer: they produce spikes according to stochastic rather than deterministic rules. This article discusses recent progress in understanding how complex computations can be carried out with such stochastically spiking neurons. Other recent developments suggest that spike-based neural networks can be emulated by neuromorphic hardware at a fraction of the energy consumed by current digital computing hardware. Can both developments be merged to provide a blueprint for substantially more energy-efficient computing devices? Explores these issues and examines the viability of such a merger.

Description: This paper presents an overview of the development and present state of the art of hybrid propulsion drive systems as applied to high-performance naval combatants. Motivations for implementing hybrid electric drive architectures are reviewed including potential benefits in term of fuel savings/reduced emissions and additional power generation capacity. Both back-fit into existing propulsion and power generation architectures as well as forward-fit are discussed. Issues associated with coupling the mechanical drive train and electric power generation system together are reviewed.

Description: Electric propulsion has emerged as one of the most efficient propulsion arrangements for several vessel types over the last decades. Even though examples can be found in the history at the end of 19th century, and further into the 20th century, the modern use of electric propulsion started in the 1980s along with the development of semiconductor switching devices to be used in high power drives (dc drives and later ac-to-ac drives). This development opened up for full rpm control of propellers and thrusters, and thereby enabling a simplification of the mechanical structure. However, the main reason for using electric propulsion in commercial ship applications is the potential for fuel savings compared to equivalent mechanical alternatives, except for icebreakers where the performance of an electric powered propeller is superior to a combustion engine powered propeller. The fuel saving potential lies within the fact that the applicable vessels have a highly varying operation profile and are seldom run at full power. This favors the power plant principle in which electric power can be produced at any time with optimum running of prime movers, e.g., diesel engines, by turning on and off units depending on the power demand for propulsion and other vessel loads. Icebreakers were among the first vessels to take advantage of this technology later followed by cruise vessel, and the offshore drilling vessels operating with dynamic positioning (DP). The converter technology was rapidly developing and soon the dc drives were replaced with ac drives. In the same period electric propulsion emerged as basic standard for large cruise liners, and DP operated drilling vessels, but also found its way into other segments as shuttle tankers, ferries, and other special vessels. At the same time podded propulsion were introduced, where the electric motor was mounted directly on the propeller shaft in a submerged 360 $^{circ}$ steerable pod, adding better efficiency, improved maneuvering, and reduced installation space/cost to the benefits of electric propulsion. The future trends are now focusing on further optimization of efficiency by allowing multiple energy sources, independent operation of individual power producers, and energy storage for various applications, such as power back up, peak shaving, or emission free operation (short voyages).

Description: Modern technology combined with the desire to minimize the size and weight of a ship's power system are leading to renewed interest in more electric or all-electric ships. An important characteristic of the emerging ship power system is an increasing level of load variability, with some future pulsed loads requiring peak power in excess of the available steady-state power. This inevitably leads to the need for some additional energy storage beyond that inherent in the fuel. With the current and evolving technology, it appears that storage will be in the form of batteries, rotating machines, and capacitors. All of these are in use on ships today and all have enjoyed significant technological improvements over the last decade. Moreover, all are expected to be further enhanced by today's materials research. A key benefit of storage is that, when it can be justified for a given load, it can have additional beneficial uses such as ride-through capability to restart a gas turbine if there is an unanticipated power loss; alternatively, storage can be used to stabilize the power grid when switching large loads. Knowing when to stage gas turbine utilization versus energy storage is a key subject in this article. The clear need for storage has raised the opportunity to design a comprehensive storage system, sometimes called an energy magazine, that can combine intermittent generation as well as any or all of the other storage technologies to provide a smaller, lighter and better performing system than would individual storage solutions for each potential application.

Description: Electric propulsion of ships has experienced steady expansion for several decades. Since the early 20th century, icebreakers have employed the flexibility and easy control of direct current (dc) motors to provide for ship operations that split ice with back and forth motion of the ship. More recently, cruise ships have employed diesel-electric propulsion systems to take advantage of the flexibility of diesel, as opposed to steam engines, and because the electric plant can also be used for hotel loads. Research vessels, ferries, tankers, and special purpose vessels have also taken advantage of increased flexibility and fuel efficiency with electric propulsion. Today, the U.S. Navy is building an “all electric” destroyer to be named “Zumwalt,” which employs two induction motors for propulsion. There are several different classes of motors that might be considered for use in ship propulsion, ranging from dc (commutator) motors through conventional induction and synchronous motors to permanent magnet synchronous machines, doubly fed machines and superconducting alternating current (ac) and acyclic homopolar machines. This review paper describes features of some of the major classes of motor that might be used in ship propulsion.

Description: This contribution starts with a review of the state of the art of existing high-voltage shore connection (HVSC) systems in terms of principles, rules, publications, technologies, and relevant installations. Then, tutorial sections present the main technical aspects of HVSC systems as ship-to-shore interface, shore equipment (transformers, converters, etc.), onboard devices (cubicles, shore switchboard, etc.), operating sequences, and feasibility aspects, for both commercial and military applications. Finally, some technical challenges are presented, concerning intentional/unintentional bonding, interactions between HVSC bonding and cathodic protection systems, bonding opportunity, and electrical safety aspects related to bonding issues in case of large earth fault currents in port facilities.

Description: Provides a listing of the editors, board members, and current staff for this issue of the publication.

Description: While electric propulsion for warships has existed for nearly a century, it has only been since the end of the Cold War that modern integrated power systems have been developed and implemented on U.S. Navy warships. The principal enablers have been the products of research and development for rotating machines (generators and propulsion motors), power electronics (power conversion and motor drives), energy storage, and controls. The U.S. Navy has implemented this advanced technology incrementally. Notably, DDG 1000 with its integrated propulsion system and CVN 78 with its electromagnetic aircraft launch system will soon join the fleet and mark another important advance to the electric warship. In the future, the integration of electric weapons such as railguns, high power radars, and lasers will result in the final achievement of the electric warship.

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Description: The concept of an all-electric ship, while offering unprecedented advantages from the point of view of efficiency and flexibility of operation, has introduced new challenges in terms of stability and power flow control. The advent of a full power electronics power system has raised new questions from the point of view of system dynamics, particularly when dealing with the new medium-voltage direct current distribution. The overall goal of guaranteeing a secure operation of the power system has brought researchers to consider two main approaches: reducing the dynamics of the large load to operate in a range of dynamics compatible with traditional generation systems, or making the generator set smarter through its power electronics interface. This paper compares these approaches to stable operation, focusing on the latter considered more in line with the progress of technology and in general more appealing.

Description: Presents the front cover for this issue of the publication.

Description: Examines the development of marine vehicle power systems from an historical perspective. from the earliest forms of power systems to the current development of all electric ship technologies.

Description: Presents the 2015 author/subject index for this publication.

Description: The articles in this special issue focus on brain-computer interfacing. The papers are dedicated to this growing and diversifying research enterprise, and features important review articles as well as some important current examples of research in this area. The field of brain-computer interface (BCI) research began to develop about 25 years ago and transformed from initially isolated demonstrations by a few groups into a large scientific enterprise that is currently producing hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and several dedicated conferences and workshops each year. This level of productivity is reflective of the large and continually growing enthusiasm by the scientific community, funding agencies, and the public.

Description: Electrification has been one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history. In spite of the fantastic progress in all areas of electrotechnology, a large section of humanity has limited access to electricity, and some do not have any access to it at all. Fifteen years into the 21st century, it is hard to imagine that more than 1.2 billion people around the world have never been touched by the electric grid and another 3 billion people have intermittent or limited grid connectivity. Life and economic activity in large areas of the developing world remain unchanged, as access to reliable electricity is key to participate in and enjoy the benefits of modern conveniences.

Description: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been explored in the field of neuroengineering to investigate how the brain can use these systems to control external devices. We review the principles and approaches we have taken to develop a sensorimotor rhythm electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI). The methods include developing BCI systems incorporating the control of physical devices to increase user engagement, improving BCI systems by inversely mapping scalp-recorded EEG signals to the cortical source domain, integrating BCI with noninvasive neuromodulation strategies to improve learning, and incorporating mind-body awareness training to enhance BCI learning and performance. The challenges and merits of these strategies are discussed, together with recent findings. Our work indicates that the sensorimotor-rhythm-based noninvasive BCI has the potential to provide communication and control capabilities as an alternative to physiological motor pathways.

Description: Provides a listing of the editors, board members, and current staff for this issue of the publication.

Description: Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are successfully used in scientific, therapeutic and other applications. Remaining challenges are among others a low signal-to-noise ratio of neural signals, lack of robustness for decoders in the presence of inter-trial and inter-subject variability, time constraints on the calibration phase and the use of BCIs outside a controlled lab environment. Recent advances in BCI research addressed these issues by novel combinations of complementary analysis as well as recording techniques, so called hybrid BCIs . In this paper, we review a number of data fusion techniques for BCI along with hybrid methods for BCI that have recently emerged. Our focus will be on sensorimotor rhythm-based BCIs. We will give an overview of the three main lines of research in this area, integration of complementary features of neural activation, integration of multiple previous sessions and of multiple subjects, and show how these techniques can be used to enhance modern BCI systems.

Description: One of the major limitations of brain–computer interfaces (BCI) is their long calibration time, which limits their use in practice, both by patients and healthy users alike. Such long calibration times are due to the large between-user variability and thus to the need to collect numerous training electroencephalography (EEG) trials for the machine learning algorithms used in BCI design. In this paper, we first survey existing approaches to reduce or suppress calibration time, these approaches being notably based on regularization, user-to-user transfer, semi-supervised learning and a priori physiological information. We then propose new tools to reduce BCI calibration time. In particular, we propose to generate artificial EEG trials from the few EEG trials initially available, in order to augment the training set size. These artificial EEG trials are obtained by relevant combinations and distortions of the original trials available. We propose three different methods to do so. We also propose a new, fast and simple approach to perform user-to-user transfer for BCI. Finally, we study and compare offline different approaches, both old and new ones, on the data of 50 users from three different BCI data sets. This enables us to identify guidelines about how to reduce or suppress calibration time for BCI.

Description: This paper presents an important step forward towards increasing the independence of people with severe motor disabilities, by using brain–computer interfaces to harness the power of the Internet of Things. We analyze the stability of brain signals as end-users with motor disabilities progress from performing simple standard on-screen training tasks to interacting with real devices in the real world. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the concept of shared control—which interprets the user's commands in context—empowers users to perform rather complex tasks without a high workload. We present the results of nine end-users with motor disabilities who were able to complete navigation tasks with a telepresence robot successfully in a remote environment (in some cases in a different country) that they had never previously visited. Moreover, these end-users achieved similar levels of performance to a control group of 10 healthy users who were already familiar with the environment.

Description: In their early days, brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) were only considered as control channel for end users with severe motor impairments such as people in the locked-in state. But, thanks to the multidisciplinary progress achieved over the last decade, the range of BCI applications has been substantially enlarged. Indeed, today BCI technology cannot only translate brain signals directly into control signals, but also can combine such kind of artificial output with a natural muscle-based output. Thus, the integration of multiple biological signals for real-time interaction holds the promise to enhance a much larger population than originally thought end users with preserved residual functions who could benefit from new generations of assistive technologies. A BCI system that combines a BCI with other physiological or technical signals is known as hybrid BCI (hBCI). In this work, we review the work of a large scale integrated project funded by the European commission which was dedicated to develop practical hybrid BCIs and introduce them in various fields of applications. This article presents an hBCI framework, which was used in studies with nonimpaired as well as end users with motor impairments.

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Description: Current rehabilitation therapies for stroke rely on physical practice (PP) by the patients. Motor imagery (MI), the imagination of movements without physical action, presents an alternate neurorehabilitation for stroke patients without relying on residue movements. However, MI is an endogenous mental process that is not physically observable. Recently, advances in brain–computer interface (BCI) technology have enabled the objective detection of MI that spearheaded this alternate neurorehabilitation for stroke. In this review, we present two strategies of using BCI for neurorehabilitation after stroke: detecting MI to trigger a feedback, and detecting MI with a robot to provide concomitant MI and PP. We also present three randomized control trials that employed these two strategies for upper limb rehabilitation. A total of 125 chronic stroke patients were screened over six years. The BCI screening revealed that 103 (82%) patients can use electroencephalogram-based BCI, and 75 (60%) performed well with accuracies above 70%. A total of 67 patients were recruited to complete one of the three RCTs ranging from two to six weeks of which 26 patients, who underwent BCI neurorehabilitation that employed these two strategies, had significant motor improvement of 4.5 measured by Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment of the upper extremity. Hence, the results demonstrate clinical efficacy of using BCI as an alternate neurorehabilitation for stroke.

Description: Presents information on future special issues and sections sections of the Proceedings of the IEEE.

Description: For individuals with high spinal cord injury (SCI), restoring missing grasping function is a high priority. Neuroprostheses based on functional electrical stimulation (FES) can partly compensate the loss of upper extremity function in people suffering from tetraplegia. With noninvasive, multichannel neuroprostheses a pinch and power grasp can be accomplished for everyday use. Hybrid systems combining FES with active orthoses hold promise for restoring a completely lost arm function. Novel control interfaces are needed to make full use of the many degrees of freedom of complex hybrid neuroprostheses. Motor imagery (MI)-based brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) are an emerging technology that may serve as a valuable adjunct to traditional control interfaces for neuroprosthetic control. Shared control and context-specific autonomy are most effective for reducing the users' workload. The modularity of upper extremity neuroprostheses as well as their associated control interfaces enable customization of the systems to adapt to the impairment and needs of each individual end user. This work provides an overview of the application of noninvasive hybrid BCI-controlled upper extremity neuroprostheses in individuals with high SCI with a strong focus on the results from the European Integrated Project Tools for Brain-Computer Interaction and will describe the challenges and promises for the future.

Description: In 1992 Frederik Nebeker of the History Center interviewed Thelma Estrin (1924???2014), first female IEEE vice president and one of the first female Life Fellows. She was noted for her pioneering contributions in the 1960s and 1970s to brain research and biomedical computing. Here Estrin discusses the impact of a strong mother; being one of the first women to pursue an electrical engineering education and profession; her application of computer systems to neuroscientific research; and her efforts to improve society as an administrator. The transcript of this candid interview, in which Estrin recalls many of the people who discriminated against her because of her gender or profession, can be read at http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Thelma_Estrin_(1992).

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Description: Presents the back cover for this issue of the publication.

Description: Provides an overview of the technical articles and features presented in this issue.

Description: This paper presents a comprehensive study on the state-of-the-art and emerging wind energy technologies from the electrical engineering perspective. In an attempt to decrease cost of energy, increase the wind energy conversion efficiency, reliability, power density, and comply with the stringent grid codes, the electric generators and power electronic converters have emerged in a rigorous manner. From the market based survey, the most successful generator-converter configurations are addressed along with few promising topologies available in the literature. The back-to-back connected converters, passive generator-side converters, converters for multiphase generators, and converters without intermediate dc-link are investigated for high-power wind energy conversion systems (WECS), and presented in low and medium voltage category. The onshore and offshore wind farm configurations are analyzed with respect to the series/parallel connection of wind turbine ac/dc output terminals, and high voltage ac/dc transmission. The fault-ride through compliance methods used in the induction and synchronous generator based WECS are also discussed. The past, present and future trends in megawatt WECS are reviewed in terms of mechanical and electrical technologies, integration to power systems, and control theory. The important survey results, and technical merits and demerits of various WECS electrical systems are summarized by tables. The list of current and future wind turbines are also provided along with technical details.

Description: This paper begins with a brief overview of how digital rights management (DRM) technologies are being used to limit consumer rights. Next we show how this code is combined with a legal component, including the use of contractual agreements, to further narrow user rights. Providing a summary of the legal history, we build up to the current legal environment surrounding DRM in the United States, showing the need for DRM policy and coding changes to better balance the interests of copyright holders and the public.

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Description: Leaky waves have been among the most active areas of research in microwave engineering over the second half of the 20th century. They have been shown to dominate the near-field of several open wave-guiding structures, of great interest to tailor their radiation, guidance and filtering properties. The elegant theoretical analyses and deep physical insights in this area, developed in an era in which computational resources were limited, represent a fundamental scientific legacy that is still extremely relevant in today's engineering society and beyond. In this regard, the relevance of leaky-wave concepts has been increasingly recognized in recent times over a broader scientific community, including optics and physics societies. In this paper, after revisiting the fundamental concepts of leaky-wave theory, we discuss and connect different relevant research activities in which leaky-wave concepts have been applied, with the goal of facilitating multidisciplinary interactions on these topics. In addition to the canonical microwave applications of leaky waves, particular attention is devoted to a few areas of interest in modern optics, such as directive optical antennas, extraordinary optical transmission, and embedded scattering eigenvalues, in which leaky waves play a fundamental role.

Description: Information security has emerged as an important system and application metric. Classical security solutions use algorithmic mechanisms that address a small subset of emerging security requirements, often at high-energy and performance overhead. Further, emerging side-channel and physical attacks can compromise classical security solutions. Hardware security solutions overcome many of these limitations with less energy and performance overhead. Nanoelectronics-based hardware security preserves these advantages while enabling conceptually new security primitives and applications. This tutorial paper shows how one can develop hardware security primitives by exploiting the unique characteristics such as complex device and system models, bidirectional operation, and nonvolatility of emerging nanoelectronic devices. This paper then explains the security capabilities of several emerging nanoelectronic devices: memristors, resistive random-access memory, contact-resistive random-access memory, phase change memories, spin torque-transfer random-access memory, orthogonal spin transfer random access memory, graphene, carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowire field-effect transistors, and nanoelectronic mechanical switches. Further, the paper describes hardware security primitives for authentication, key generation, data encryption, device identification, digital forensics, tamper detection, and thwarting reverse engineering. Finally, the paper summarizes the outstanding challenges in using emerging nanoelectronic devices for security.

Description: The ongoing paradigm shift from classical centralized wireless technologies toward distributed large-scale networks such as the Internet of Things has introduced new security challenges that cannot be fully handled via traditional cryptgraphic means. In such emerging wireless environments, devices have limited capabilities and are not controlled by a central control center; thus, the implementation of computationally expensive cryptographic techniques can be challenging. Motivated by these considerations, substantial recent research has been investigating the use of the physical layer as a means to develop low-complexity and effective wireless security mechanisms. Such techniques are grouped under the umbrella of physical layer security . These techniques range from information-theoretic security, which exploits channel advantages to thwart eavesdropping, to physical layer fingerprinting techniques that exploit physical layer features for device identification. In this context, providing state-of-the-art tutorials on the various approaches to physical layer security is of considerable interest. This Feature Topic gathers together such tutorial-style and overview articles that provide an in-depth overview of the broad spectrum of security opportunities brought forward by physical layer security.

Description: Including: (1) IEEE ComSoc Iraq Chapter Activities Continue Despite the Severity of the Situation Inside Iraq (2) Effectiveness of ComSoc DLT Program and Workshops in New Zealand (3) Tutorial Sessions on Quantum and Optical Wireless Communications and Exhibition at IEEE TENCON 2014, Bangkok, Thailand

Description: Physical layer key generation that exploits reciprocity and randomness of wireless fading channels has attracted considerable research attention in recent years. Although theoretical study has shown its potential to generate information- theoretic secure keys, great challenges remain when transforming the theory into practice. This article provides an overview of the physical layer key generation process and discusses its practical challenges. Different passive and active attacks are analyzed and evaluated through numerical study. A new key generation scheme using random probing signals, and combining user generated randomness and channel randomness, is introduced as a countermeasure against active attacks. The numerical results show that the proposed scheme achieves higher security strength than existing schemes using constant probing signals under active attacks. Future research topics on physical layer key generation are discussed.

Description: There has recently been significant interest in applying the principles of information-theoretical security and signal processing to secure physical layer systems. Although the community has made progress in understanding how the physical layer can support confidentiality and authentication, it is important to realize that there are many important issues that must be addressed if physical layer security is ever to be adopted by real and practical security systems. In this article, I briefly review several different flavors of physical layer security (at least for wireless systems), and then identify aspects (a.k.a. weaknesses) where the foundation for physical layer security needs to be strengthened. I then highlight that the opportunities for applying physical layer security to real systems will be quite rich if the community can overcome these challenges. In the course of the article, I note new directions for the community to investigate, with the objective of keeping physical layer security research targeted at having a practical impact on real systems.

Description: This month???s President???s Page is devoted to the IEEE Green Information and Communications Technology (ICT) initiative. By its very nature, Green ICT is a theme, not only of interest but also offering numerous opportunities, for virtually every IEEE Society and Council. Through this initiative, ComSoc seeks an IEEE-wide outreach to achieve even greater recognition for IEEE???s mission of advancing technology for humanity.

Description: Wireless energy harvesting (WEH) is becoming one of the key techniques in energy harvesting in wireless networks. On the other hand, interference alignment (IA) is a promising solution for interference management in wireless networks. Although plenty of effort has been conducted on WEH and IA, these two important areas have been addressed separately in most of the existing literature. In this article we provide an overview of WEH in IA networks, and present a unified framework to jointly study WEH and IA. To simultaneously optimize both information transmission (IT) and WEH performance in IA networks, we propose a power splitting optimization (PSO) algorithm. In addition, we study the power allocation problem in the proposed PSO algorithm. Simulation results are presented to compare the performance of the proposed schemes for WEH in IA networks. Some interesting research challenges are also presented for the WEH in IA networks.