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The Open Channel IEEE Hampton Roads Section Newsletter The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Volume 5 – No. 2

http://www.ieee.org/hrs

February 2008

High-performance Wireless Communications in Space Systems Speaker: Min Song, Ph.D. Associate Professor Director, Wireless Communication and Networking Lab Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Old Dominion University http://www.odu.edu/networking Date/Time: Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 6:30 PM Location: Aberdeen Barn http://www.aberdeenbarnvabeach.com/ 5805 Northampton Blvd. 757.464.1580 Virginia Beach, VA 23455 Cost: Members and guests $20; Students $10 Future space systems, such as spacecrafts and unmanned aircrafts, will require large-scale wireless communications for data collection, fusing and integration. This can be achieved by employing various wireless networking technologies, including wireless personal area networks (WPAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless mesh networks (WMN), and wireless sensor networks (WSN), to form a self-organization and self-healing communication network. The heterogeneousness of nodes and largescale of communications, however, bring nontrivial challenges to the research community. Among them, for example, are interference, security, and quality of service. The Wireless Communications and Networking research team at Old Dominion University (http://www.odu.edu/networking) has conducted significant research in space wireless communications. This talk will present several on-going research projects related to high-performance wireless communications in space systems. Biographical Sketch: Dr. Min Song is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Old Dominion University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Toledo in 2001. His research interests include protocols design and performance analysis of mobile ad hoc networks and wireless sensor networks, computer networks security, wireless communications, packet switch architecture, and distributed data mining. Dr. Song is the recipient of NSF CAREER Award. He received early Tenure and Promotion in June 2007. He is the Founder and Director of Wireless Communications and Networking Laboratory. Dr. Song is Inside The Open Channel an IEEE Senior Member. From the Chair Page 2 Since joining Old Dominion University in summer 2002, Dr. Song has published Directions to ODU Page 3 more than 60 international journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers, EWeek Activities Page 3 received $1.4 million external research funding, supervised 2 Ph.D. students and 9 Region 3 Award Recipients Page 3 Master students, severed as a TPC Chair, Session Chair, TPC member, and Uncle Albert’s Fun Corner Page 4 Reviewer in more than 30 international conferences, and an Editor or Guest Editor of four international journals. He is currently supervising the research of 6 Ph.D. IEEE SoutheastCon 2008 Page 4 students and 8 Master students. Brain Teaser Challenge Page 5 Solution Reservations: Please forward RSVP to James Bolitho at [email protected] or William LaBelle [+1 757 421 8695, +1 757 619 9050]. Brain Teaser Challenge Page 6 Please make checks out to IEEE. Career Opportunities Page 7 Checks: Checks should be made out to IEEE and brought to the meeting.

Upcoming Events

Your reservation(s) may also be made online at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=151566. Directions: See page 3

Feb 6 Feb 15-16 Feb 17-23 Feb 21 Feb 23

IEEE HR LEOS meeting ODU Open House Engineering Week HR Section meeting PEC 2008 Engineer of the

2008 IEEE Executive Committee Hampton Roads Section CHAIR: Kurt Clemente [email protected] VICE-CHAIR: James Bolitho [email protected] SECRETARY: Giuliano Casale [email protected] TREASURER: Jim Childers [email protected] OPEN CHANNEL EDITOR: William LaBelle +1 757.619.9050 [email protected] MEMBERSHIP: William LaBelle +1 757.619.9050 [email protected] PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Michael McBeth [email protected] STUDENT ACTIVITIES: Dr. Roland Mielke [email protected] EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES: VACANT AWARDS: Dan Ulinski [email protected] WEB PAGE: http:/www.ieee.org/hrs WEB MASTER: William Clayton [email protected] IEEE THE OPEN CHANNEL is published monthly during the academic year (September through November, January through May) by the Hampton Roads Section (HR) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE). IEEE THE OPEN CHANNEL is sent each month to members of the IEEE in Hampton Roads. Annual subscription is included in the IEEE membership dues. The opinions expressed, as well as the technical accuracy of authors or speakers published in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and speakers. Therefore no endorsement by the IEEE, its officers, or its members is made or implied. All materials for IEEE THE OPEN CHANNEL are due by the 22th day of the month proceeding the issue month. Address all correspondence to:

William LaBelle

6224 Glenrose Drive Suffolk, VA 23435 Voice: +1 757.619.9050 E-MAIL: [email protected] IEEE The Open Channel, Copyright 2008

The Open Channel – January 2008

From the Chair IEEE-USE Legislative Update IEEE Hampton Roads continues our 2008 technical presentation series with a presentation on large-scale wireless communication in space systems. Min Song, Ph.D. from Old Dominion University will provide an overview of wireless personal area networks, local area networks, mesh networks, and sensor networks in space systems application. The meeting will be held at the Aberdeen Barn restaurant in Virginia Beach. Reservations are required to accommodate seating. Please RSVP to [email protected]. Complete details are in this newsletter and online at http://www.ieee.org/hrs. On February 6th, the IEEE-HR LEOS chapter will host a meeting at Old Dominion University. Professor Silvano Donati of the University of Pavia (Italy) will present a talk entitled "Coupling dynamics in semiconductor lasers and applications to selfmixing interferometry and chaotic cryptography". The meeting will be held in Constant Hall, room 1037. For more information, contact Dr. Amin Dharamsi at [email protected], Engineer’s week is this month, February 17-23, and culminates with the annual Peninsula Engineering Council’s awards banquet. We plan to again this year fill a table with IEEE attendees. If you would like to attend, Bill LaBelle is our PEC representative and has tickets for sale. Please let us know you plan to attend, so that we can be sure to reserve the proper number of seats. Upcoming meetings: • Virginia Peninsula Engineering Council awards banquet (Point Plaza Conference Hotel) February 23 • IEEE SoutheastCon 2008 (Hunstville, AL) April 3-6 • IEEE Sections Congress 2008 (Quebec City, Canada) September 19-26 I hope the 2008 technical program provides interesting topics for our section. We have commitments from speakers for the spring program, but welcome new presentation ideas for the fall. As always, if you have a suggested speaker or might want to present something yourself, please speak with me or any IEEE officer about this. I look forward to seeing you at Aberdeen Barn! Regards, Kurt J. Clemente, PE 2008 Chair IEEE Hampton Roads [email protected]

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Aberdeen Barn: Directions from Norfolk: 1. I-64 West to Northampton Blvd (exit 282) 2. At exit 282, US 13 North/SR 166 take RIGHT ramp. 3. Turn RIGHT into Aberdeen Barn parking lot (0.8 miles)

Directions from Williamsburg: 1. Take I-64 East to Northampton Blvd (exit 282) 2. At exit 282 take ramp onto US 13 North/SR 166. 3. Turn RIGHT into Aberdeen Barn parking lot (1.1 miles)

Eweek Activities – William LaBelle [[email protected]] It’s that time of year were we, as an engineering community, honor the achievements of colleagues. We also spend time encouraging our youth to at least consider a future based in through many annual competitions, school visitations, etc. The 56th annual celebration of National Engineers Week will be observed February 17-23, 2008. The Co-chairs for Engineers Week 2008 are the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE) and IBM Corporation. More information on E-week may be found at www.eweek.org. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

February 9, MATHCOUNTS Peninsula February 15, Engineers' Week Open House Old Dominion University February 16, Engineers' Week Open House Competitions Old Dominion University February 16, MATHCOUNTS Tidewater February 20, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day February 20 and 21, NASA Career Days, NASA Langley Research Center Reid February 22, ECHR Engineering Excellence Banquet February 23, Peninsula Engineers Council 2008 Engineer of the Year Banquet March 15, ASME/AIAA Egg-Drop 2008

Further information of each event is available in the Hampton Roads 2008 EWeek Bulletin (190KB): http://www.vapec.org/events/National_Engineers_Week.pdf. The Hampton Roads Section participates annually at the Engineers’ Week Open House at ODU and NASA Career Days at NASA Langley Research Center distributing IEEE informational material. We are looking for volunteers to help out at each booth. Tickets are available for the Peninsula Engineers Council 2008 Engineer of the Year banquet. The banquet will be held on February 23 beginning at 6 PM (social) at the Point Plaza Suites in Newport News (Route 17 and I-64). This year’s ticket price is $40. If you have questions about any of the events, can provide time to participate at these ODU or NASA, or need tickets to the PEC banquet please contact me at [email protected], 757-421-8695, or 757-619-9050.

Region 3 Award Recipients At our Region 3 ExCom Meeting, 19 January 2008, the following recipients were selected for the Region 3 Awards to be presented at SoutheastCon on Saturday 5 April 2008. Robert S. Duggan Jr ([email protected]) - Daniel Jackson Director Award Ronald F. DeMara ([email protected]) - Region 3 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award Kalpathy B. Sundaram ([email protected])- Region 3 Outstanding Engineer Award Charles E Hickman ([email protected]) - Region 3 Outstanding Service Award So please join me in congratulating our award recipients. _ |_)0 |_)||_|_

William B. Ratcliff Region 3 Director 2008-2009 e-mail [email protected] The Open Channel – January 2008

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Uncle Albert’s Fun Corner …You know what gripes me, nieces and nephews? Statistics. Like back in undergraduate school. As if knowing the “odds” (a very appropriate term, if you ask me) of drawing a one-eyed Jack from a deck of cards where you’ve already removed the three of diamonds, say, but forgot to take out the Jokers and the rules card for Texas Hold ‘em, was important. I mean, you tell me, how many times have combinations and permutations of decks of cards played any role in YOUR professional career or engineering activities (except on that trip to Las Vegas to attend the Partial Differential Equation Lovers conference (when you took the Modified Bessel Functions of the Second Kind track) and kept losing at the Blackjack tables because you kept lapsing into confusion in your 21 counts because you kept thinking about the deck as a perfect base 13 system (A,2, 3…9,T, J, Q, K). Anyway, the other day I read on the statisticsdontaddup.com web site about a statistics consultant working for the local Department of Homeland Security office who, after lengthy quantitative analysis of various terror risks and disaster scenarios, recommended putting a live bomb on every plane leaving ORF. It wasn’t until the bombs began arriving at the airline maintenance shops setting off chemical-sniffing alarms that someone decided to question the expert’s research methods. Turns out he had calculated the “odds” (there’s that word again) of there being a bomb placed on a random ORF flight and found the number to be extraordinarily small. But during the analyses he had his software calculate also the risk of there being TWO bombs on a random flight and the number was insignificantly small, nearly zero! He thought, why hadn’t someone thought of this before?! Why, he had single handedly, and with the help of modern incontrovertible statistical methods, solved the nation’s security problems of terror in the air! He concluded that if one bomb was placed on each flight the odds of there being a second bomb aboard would, statistically speaking, be nearly zero, thus assuring safe and secure flights for all! (Last I heard he is now working as an advisor for a leading presidential campaign.) Then there was the study done by an outside marketing group for Victor Ria’s Secret intimate apparel company. The group spent millions of dollars on an army of quants and analysts scouring extensive demographic data from across the USA, organizing hundreds of focus groups, and data-mining millions of sexy garb consumer transactions, expertly quantifying all the results, then crunching the numbers using the most sophisticated, state of the art statistical methodologies. Next, over gallons of StarDuck’s espresso maximo, excited and already contemplating the salutary writeups in the Walled Street Journal,, Business Weak, and even Prayboy, they put together their multi-million dollar advertising campaign which included the sharpest, slick, hook ‘em and skin ‘em alive video ads for the yourface.com and mybook.com sites and subliminal embedded messages in the landscape backgrounds of on-line multiplayer games and in the textured surfaces of dashboards on all new model SUVs, and samples of their first designs for the new personal clothing line. Well, Victor was fit to be tied (in black leather straps from his latest creation in his S&M series called “Dungeon Duds”) when, in the first slide of the marketing group’s presentation, he read: “According to our exhaustive statistical research we have uncovered a heretofore unrecognized, unrealized, and unrivaled business opportunity destined to transform the intimate apparel industry. We` have discovered, based on infallible statistical evidence, that the average US consumer, our sales target for the new apparel line and marketing campaign, has one testicle and one breast.” See what I mean about statistics? ______________________________________ The answer to last month’s techniposer is shown below. I hope you got them all! Look below, too, for Techniposer #3. See you next month! Your Uncle Albert _________________________________________ This Month’s Uncle Albert’s Wisely Unsolicited Aphorism: First on Earth, last in Heaven. _________________________________________ Solution to Uncle Albert’s Techniposer #2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Farah idly came. (Michael Faraday) Ma is done shot! (Thomas Edison) Tends a horse. (Hans Oersted) I soak all nite. (Nikolai Tesla) Randal solves a lot. (Alessandro Volta) Cull ten bear. (Uncle Albert!) _________________________________________


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Uncle Albert’s Techniposer #3 This week’s techniposer is about a road bike race between two riders – one a Tour De Pants racer and the other a father of four who hadn’t been on a bike since he was a newspaper carrier boy. (Now, the father knew he would lose, but he figured he could always boast that he was in a race with a world class rider who came in next to last, while he came in second!) Anyway, the starter pistol sounded and the rippled rider soon disappeared out of site into the two-lap, 15 kilometer, cross-country course. Our flagging father did his best to maintain a reasonable speed but waited with weary anticipation to be lapped by the more potent peddler. As he passed the finish line the first time, heading into the second and final lap of the course, he was surprised that he had not yet been passed up. Where was the guy? Had our daring Dad been doing better than he thought? Did the ace have an accident? Well, the father managed to get through the second lap without having to get off the bike and walk somehow, and when he crossed the finish line, there was his counterpart enjoying a Croc-cooler and the admiration of the local press, media outlets, and assorted hangers on who enjoy being around athletic-looking men wearing colorful skin tight Lycra outfits. But how did the winning wheeler cover two laps without passing by the faltering father even once? Well, he did, you know. Can you figure out how? It was a completely legal ride, no shortcuts or cheats. A prize to you if you can express mathematically what occurred!

IEEE SoutheastCon 2008 Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe Street, Huntsville, AL 35801 USA Thursday, 3 April 2008 through Sunday, 6 April 2008 The Southeast's Premier Technical Conference IEEE Region 3, and the IEEE Huntsville are honored to host IEEE SoutheastCon 2008. SoutheastCon is the annual IEEE Region 3 Technical, Professional, and Student Conference. As the premier conference for the IEEE Region encompassing Jamaica and the Southeastern United States, it brings together electrical, computer and other engineering and science professionals, faculty and students to share the latest information through technical sessions, tutorials, and exhibits. It is the most influential conference in Region 3 for promoting awareness of the technical contributions made by our profession to the advancement of engineering and science and to the community. Attendance and technical program participation from areas outside IEEE Region 3 are also cordially encouraged and welcomed. The conference schedule includes: • • • •

A technical program with seminars, tutorials and workshops. Exhibits. A student program with student competitions. IEEE regional meetings.

For more information see the conference website at http://ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/secon/08/.

Brain Teaser Challenge Solution - Butch Shadwell December 2007 From my discussion with Uncle Gary concerning an electric toothbrush I got the following problem. “…can you tell me the maximum power output I can get from a 1.5 volt battery with an internal resistance of .1 ohms?” One of the fun things I get to do once in a while is demonstrate to EE students that the maximum power transfer occurs when the load impedance matches the source impedance. You can use the second derivative of the power equation (with respect to the load resistance) to find the max point, and voila. I don’t have room here for the math but you can take my word for it.


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The way I would solve this one is to simply double the source resistance and calculate the current from a 1.5 volt supply. Then P=I^2R. Making the substitution we get 5.625 watts. But I bet you already knew that.

Brain Teaser Challenge - Butch Shadwell January 2008 The year was 2108 and Zorg was considering his New Year’s resolution. Like every one of his past 40 New Years, he was spending far too much time thinking about a resolution that had virtually zero probability of being kept. But he thought, “Every new year is a chance to start over. I could become the person I’ve always wanted to be this time, if I would just commit myself to that end.” Of course this wasn’t the first time for this thought either. He had wondered what had held him back all of those times in the past when he had tried and failed to keep that promise to himself. Was he just too lazy or was there actually a reason why he could not allow himself to succeed? Oh well. As the smoke cleared around his overheated brain, the answer came to him. This year he would complete his work on the new improbability drive for space propulsion. When he had set it aside last year he was stuck trying to lift his prototype contraption into the test stand to measure the output. It weighs 2000 pounds but Zorg is only able to pull with 100 pounds of force. If he uses a block and tackle system (multi-wheeled pulleys) and he pulls on the rope end coming down from the upper block, what is the minimum number of wheels each block needs (upper and lower) in order for him to be able to lift his device into position? The other end of the rope is fastened to the bottom of the upper block. Also, assume zero friction from the pulleys. This could be a little tricky for some. What happens if we terminate the far end of the rope on the lower block instead of the upper one? Have fun.

Reply to Butch Shadwell at [email protected] (email), 904-223-4510 (fax), 904-223-4465 (v), 3308 Queen Palm Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32250-2328. (http://www.shadtechserv.com) The names of correct respondents may be mentioned in the solution column.

Career Opportunities Risk Manager/ Risk Analyst The Risk Manager / Risk Analyst will act as a subject matter expert and will be responsible for leading the risk planning for assigned projects and programs and will provide the customer with timely assessments of current status of all risks and opportunities, the occurrence of any triggers, the effectiveness of any handling plans that are being executed, and implement recovery plans for those that are not working as expected. They will communicate and train the customer in risk management processes and procedures and they will facilitate the risk and opportunity identification process, and link the identified risk and opportunities to project components and/or strategic organizational goals and strategies. The risk manager / risk analyst is responsible for qualitative and quantitative analysis and they support the customer in prioritizing the identified risks and opportunities. They assist the customer in preparing realistic and actionable risk handling plans for the identified risks and opportunities. They will interact with executives, other senior managers, program managers, project managers, key stakeholders to establish the risk and opportunity handling plans. They will develop risk models; analyze safety and reliability risk documents (hazard analyses, fault tress, failure models and effectives analyses); and perform quantitative data analysis.

Education and Experience A Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Mathematics or other technical field with a minimum of 4-6 years of relevant experience. A Master of Science or Master of Arts Degree in engineering, mathematics, physics or related field is desirable. The candidates must have significant experience with MS Office and MS Project and have excellent people skills including experience interfacing with high level customer. Experience with Risk Management tools such as IRMA, ARM, Crystal Ball, @Risk, or GoldPan is desirable. Also, experience with SAPPHIRE and GoldSim is preferred. Technical writing, Probabilistic Risk Analysis, and NASA experience is also preferred. Certified Systems Engineering Professional is desirable. U.S. Citizenship is required The Open Channel – January 2008

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Futron Corporation Futron Corporation, in business since 1986, is an established decision-support consulting firm with a business focus on the global space industry. We work with government and commercial clients in the aerospace, space, defense, transportation and telecommunications fields, using innovative methods that transform data into the information and knowledge they need to make critical decisions. Our areas of business expertise include: forecasting market demand for the space and telecommunications industries; analyzing programmatic and technical risk within the aerospace industry; analyzing and assessing aerospace safety, reliability and dependability; and training, educating, and communicating using web-based technologies. If you demonstrate strong communications skills with an in-depth knowledge of Risk Management, this is an excellent opportunity. We offer a competitive salary, outstanding benefits package and the professional advantages of an environment that supports your development and recognizes your achievements. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates should send a resume and cover letter to: [email protected] or Futron Corporation, Attn: Human Resources, 7315 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 900W, Bethesda, MD 20814. www.futron.com EOE


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