Following is a list of the most recent articles on ITTC that have appeared in local and area publications. For a complete list of ITTC articles, please click the More News link.

We also publish a quarterly newsletter, The Link, which details events at the Center. Issues of The Link, beginning with the Winter 2001 issue, are located on our website. We hope you enjoy reading about ITTC. If you have questions or can't find a specific article, please contact us.


KU at center of computer universe

From Lawrence Journal World -- 06-30-2009
By Chad Lawhorn

For the last 72 hours, Kansas University assistant professor Andy Gill has been a master of the universe, ordering dozens of satellites to move around the galaxy.

All right, it is all part of a game, and the moving of satellites is happening just in the virtual world. But what is real is that, for a weekend, Kansas University has been the center of the computer programming universe.

KU and its Information and Telecommunication Technology Center played host-Friday through Monday-to the international championships for functional computer programmers.

More than 850 teams from around the globe entered the contest. The participants include many of the top programmers in the world.

"There are programmers from companies like NASA and Google that have entered teams," said Nick Frisby, a KU doctoral student who is helping run the competition. "There are all these very talented people from top-tier institutions playing a game that was created at KU. That’s very cool."

The "game" this year focused on moving mythical satellites around in space. A team of KU researchers spent the last several months creating a computer program that represents how the mythical satellites work and function.

The approximately 850 teams that entered the competition were then told to develop their own computer programs to move the satellites to specific points in the universe on a specific time schedule. For example, the final challenge in the competition was for the teams to develop a program for a single satellite to link up with 12 other satellites positioned around the galaxy.

But, of course, there’s a catch. The entire competition takes place over 72 hours, and the teams have no idea what the scenario will be until the competition begins. The end result is a furious amount of work in a short period of time. Gill, who teaches in the electrical engineering and computer science department at KU, was previously on a team that won third in the competition.

"I think we had maybe three or four hours of sleep in the 72-hour period," said Gill, who is supervising the competition for KU.

Winners are determined based on the number of successful programs each team creates. Judges test the programs using a computer program that they have developed, and also score the programs based on overall functionality.

The teams are allowed to write the programs in whichever programming language they choose. That tends to create rivalries between different programming camps, Gill said.

"To say that they are competing for prestige is too nice a word, too finessed a word," Gill said. "They really are competing for bragging rights. In a sense, you are competing for the programing language that you use."

Competitors also are competing to test their own skills. Of the approximately 850 teams, only about 400 actually will complete a program.

KU programmers are not fielding a team in this year’s event because of conflict of interest reasons. But the university is expected to be a big winner. By hosting the competition, KU joins an elite list of schools that have tackled the project. Past hosts have included Harvard, Cornell, Penn and Virginia universities.

"That’s one of the reasons I wanted to do this," Gill said. "This group here at KU has been doing some very interesting language research, but it hasn’t been noticed as such. This helps put KU on the map. It gives us some good visibility."

Contest winners will be announced in August at the International Conference on Functional Programming in Edinburgh, Scotland.    Click to go to Top of Page

KU students, alumna win $30,000 research fellowships

From University Relations -- 05-13-2009
By Mary Jane Dunlap

Two University of Kansas students and a 2008 KU alumna have won $30,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

The recipients with KU connections are

--Ali Nabavizadeh, graduating senior in ecology and evolultionary biology from Olathe, whose research of the mechanics of the jaws of plant-eating dinosaurs has uncovered new information about how the jaw bones enabled the prehistoric herbivores to thrive.

--Brian L. Quanz, doctoral student in computer science from Cary, N.C., who is developing software able to predict cargo security, genetic predisposition and other outcomes in a data-driven approach.

-- Laura A. Stiles, 2008 graduate in engineering physics and a former Goldwater scholar from Prairie Village, now pursuing a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

They were among 950 fellowship recipients announced recently by the NSF. About 10 percent of those who apply for the NSF fellowships are selected. Graduate research fellowships provide an annual stipend plus tuition and discretionary funds for up to three years. The fellowships support students in the early stages of their research-based master’s or doctoral degrees.


Quanz works with Jun Huan, assistant professor of EECS and a researcher with ITTC. Quanz is helping objects determine their own safety level. His artificial intelligence tools process data collected within sensor networks charged with tracking assets along the supply chain. Quanz’s data analysis serves as the foundation for a threat detection system, providing cargo shipments en route with greater visibility, security and accountability. The alert system is part of ITTC’s Transportation Security SensorNet project, led by Joseph Evans, ITTC director and the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Quanz’s artificial intelligence algorithms also have applications in bioinformatics. Genes, in effect, have on/off switches. ITTC researchers, including Huan, are examining why these genes, such as those in cancer cells, are expressed in some people while remaining off in others. Quanz is attempting to expose the role diet, stress and other environmental factors have in flipping on those switches.

"“The fellowship, which I am honored to receive, gives me the freedom to pursue different research avenues," Quanz said.

Huan said, "The NSF fellowship is a great achievement for Brian. It also reflects the strong graduate program that we have at KU."

Quanz is a spring 2007 electrical engineering graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was admitted into KU’s fast track doctoral program in which students usually graduate in five years, compared with six years needed in traditional doctoral programs. KU accepts highly qualified applicants who have completed their undergraduate degrees directly into the electrical engineering and computer science program.

He is the son of Leo and Susan Quanz and the grandson of Mary Novitsky, all of Cary, N.C.    Click to go to Top of Page

KU receives national honor for work to fight cyber warfare

05-12-2009
By University Relations

Ensuring the safety of the U.S. information infrastructure is of vital importance to national security. The University of Kansas recently was honored by the federal government for its commitment to research and educational programs devoted to protecting this critical interest.

The National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security have designated KU a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.

"Keeping a free flow of digital information is a national priority that also affects individual peace of mind," said Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies. "KU is working to enhance both. This announcement reflects that fact and is a tremendous recognition of the strong collaboration that came together to submit the successful proposal."

The KU designation comes at a time when experts at the National Academy of Science and policymakers have identified cybersecurity as a key component to protecting the wired lives of Americans, who use banks, utilities, communication and other products and services used on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. By educating the next generation of practitioners, performing fundamental research and reaching out to the community, KU serves as a regional center of expertise in support of the ongoing fight to protect the U.S. information infrastructure.

KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science together form the core of KU’s program. In working toward center of excellence designation, ITTC developed the Information Assurance Lab.

The lab serves as a university-wide focal point for information assurance education, research and implementation. The new interdisciplinary lab includes researchers from the electrical engineering and computer science department, mathematics department and business school as well as KU’s IT Security Office, which is responsible for implementing information security on campus.

The proposal for the center of excellence designation was drafted by Joseph Evans, ITTC director and the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Perry Alexander, director of the ITTC Information Assurance Lab and electrical engineering and computer science professor. They worked with faculty from ITTC and the School of Business and Information Services staff.

"This is a testament to our national prominence in information assurance and cybersecurity education," said Alexander. "The hard work and strategic vision of numerous KU faculty members and staff led to the University being accepted into this elite group."

In coordination with the Information Assurance Lab, the electrical engineering and computer science department offers a master’s degree in information technology with a focus on information security. Additionally, the department’s computer science and computer engineering graduate programs include strong security components. Complementing these programs, the School of Business offers information systems and accounting courses with emphasis on information security issues.

"This designation recognizes the initiative and vision of numerous KU faculty and staff, and particularly Professor Alexander," said Evans. "In establishing the IA lab, Professor Alexander brought together diverse IA research expertise and the rich academic resources of KU. The lab is the centerpiece of a holistic approach to securing the national information infrastructure."

To be named a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance, an institution must meet courseware standards defined by the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Program. In 2007, KU’s electrical engineering and computer science department was certified for standards 4011 and 4013: the National Training Standard for Information Systems Security Professionals and the National Information Assurance Training Standard for System Administrators, respectively.    Click to go to Top of Page

Kansas IDeA Network lands $18.5 million grant to aid bioscience infrastructure

From Oread -- 05-11-2009
By Oread

The Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, known as K-INBRE, headquartered at the KU Medical Center, has received an $18.5 million National Institutes of Health grant that will continue to promote the building of bioscience infrastructure in Kansas. The grant brings the total NIH awards for K-INBRE to $44.2 million. In addition to NIH support, Medical Center, KU, Kansas State University and Wichita State University, as well as the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation and KansasBio, have provided funds for faculty and student research projects.

K-INBRE, which was established in 2001, is designed to improve the ability of Kansas researchers to compete effectively for NIH funds by building a "critical mass" of junior and senior biomedical investigators. Within the area of cell and developmental biology, K-INBRE provides financial support for undergraduates ready for research experiences, their mentors and junior and senior investigators, and encourages the development of cutting-edge biomedical research technology. The program is a multi-campus effort with collaborations among researchers at at the Medical Center, lead campus, Lawrence campus, Kansas State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Haskell Indian Nations University, Langston University (Oklahoma), Pittsburg State University, Washburn University and Wichita State University.

The K-INBRE program comprises four basic cores: administrative, headed by Joan Hunt, principal investigator and director, Medical Center; bioinformatics, led by Gerry Lushington Lawrence campus; partnerships for translational research, directed by Dianne Durham, Medical Center; and communication, led by Peter Smith, Medical Center. Major undergraduate and post-doctoral committees are headed by Keith Chapes, K-State and Bob Cohen, KU.

The $18.5 million grant, awarded by the National Center for Research Resources at the NIH, will promote continued success of this multi-campus effort in encouraging undergraduates to consider biomedical careers, faculty to strengthen their biomedical research programs and both trainees and faculty to utilize bioinformatics approaches for data acquisition and analysis. This renewal provides funds for new efforts to support post-graduate trainees, stimulate translational research and apply systems biology to research projects.

"The nice thing about this new core is that it supports ongoing translational research initiatives in the state, such as the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, the University of Kansas Cancer Center and the General Clinical Research Center," said Greg Kopf, executive director of the Research Institute at the Medical Center.

Through competitive grant processes, K-INBRE awards funds for undergraduate and graduate research and equipment for laboratories. Jim Orr, professor of molecular biosciences, said students greatly benefited from K-INBRE because they work one-on-one with faculty researchers.

"Any undergraduate who is able to conduct research alongside a faculty mentor will benefit, because they will have a stronger application to graduate or medical school," said Orr.

Because one major goal of the program is to provide for the educational development of students, Joan Hunt, University Distinguished Professor, vice chancellor for Biomedical Research Infrastructure and principal investigator of K-INBRE, said the grant will continue to contribute to the future of biological enterprises in the state. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that every $1 million in grants generates 40 jobs in Kansas, and Hunt remarked that biomedical research positions are highly desirable and well-paid, increasing the overall economic growth of Kansas.

"Higher education is vital to career development, and the K-INBRE grant permits us to foster the growth of new scientists who, we hope, will choose to pursue their research careers in Kansas," said Hunt.    Click to go to Top of Page

Chen, Blunt Chair International Events

05-03-2009
By Michelle Ward

Xue-wen Chen serves as the conference chair for the IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics & Biomedicine to be held in November. The multidisciplinary conference brings together academic and industrial scientists from computer science, biology, chemistry, medicine, mathematics and statistics. It will provide a platform to discuss issues and present research.

Chen, the director of ITTC’s Bioinformatics and Computational Life-Sciences Lab, is co-chair with Sun Kim, an associate professor at Indiana University and bioinformatics program director.

ITTC investigator Shannon Blunt served as the vice chair of the 2009 International Waveform Diversity & Design Conference. The February conference in Orlando, Florida, brought together researchers from diverse backgrounds to facilitate the exchange and cross-fertilization of ideas and research. Recent advances in hardware technology are enabling a much wider range of designs to be explored for sensor and communication systems. The conference examined the emerging and compelling changes in system requirements such as more efficient spectrum usage, higher sensitivities, greater information content, transmitter/receiver agility, and improved robustness to errors    Click to go to Top of Page

Smalter Participates in Biomedical Research Excellence Symposium

05-03-2009
By Michelle Ward

P.D. student Aaron Smalter was among 16 University of Kansas students chosen to participate in the Kansas IDeA (Institutional Development Awards) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence symposium in January. Smalter’s research poster, "Novel chemical informatics methods for the KU CMLD," focused on the development of computational analysis tools for structured data such as sets, sequences and graphs. He is working on methods for the discovery of chemical-protein and protein-protein interactions from large-scale databases. These interactions play a fundamental role in many biological processes and in cancer and other diseases. ITTC investigator Luke Huan guided Smalter’s research.    Click to go to Top of Page

Oguna Wins KU Research Award

05-03-2009
By Michelle Ward

Angela Oguna, a sophomore in electrical engineering, has received a KU Undergraduate Research Award. Awards support original, independent research by students enrolled on the Lawrence campus. Oguna’s project, "Data Collection in a Rail-Based Cargo Monitoring Sensor Network," is part of an effort to develop more secure, efficient transportation corridors. The real-time sensing network provides greater visibility and accountability as goods travel along the supply chain.

In the fall, the Kenya native was selected as a 2008-2009 University of Kansas Scholar. Gary Minden, director of ITTC Communications and Networking Systems Lab (CNSL), serves as Oguna’s mentor.    Click to go to Top of Page

New online search tool developed for legal researchers

From University Relations -- 04-28-2009

The Information and Telecommunication Technology Center and the School of Law at the University of Kansas have developed a powerful online search tool for legal researchers. MetaJuris, a metasearch engine, simultaneously searches various legal databases for cases, statutes and literature citations. The free service, metajuris.ittc.ku.edu/, is open to the public.

Subscription-based databases dominate online legal research. In addition to their prohibitive costs, Michael Hoeflich, the John H. and John M. Kane Distinguished Professor of Law, notes the software requires special training. Hoeflich envisioned a user-friendly "one-stop shop" for legal research and approached ITTC because of its expertise in software development.

"My purpose was to provide a fast, free search capability which would permit not only lawyers, but everyone access to crucial legal documents," Hoeflich said. "Metajuris, I believe, does that."

"Professor Hoeflich had a great idea, and with ITTC expertise, the technology was developed into a working prototype. As the technology matures, we hope to find a commercial partner to further develop its utility," said Keith Braman, director of technology commercialization for ITTC.

ITTC Lead Software Engineer Danico Lee designed and developed MetaJuris. Users enter search words from which MetaJuris creates and submits queries to targeted legal databases, she explained. Version 2.0 searches six databases: PreCYdent, which contains U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals cases; PLoL (Public Library of Law), which includes those cases plus cases from all 50 states since 1997 and other law, codes and regulations; kscourts, which searches state cases; Legalbitstream, for its capacity to search both tax cases and Internal Revenue Service rulings; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings Web site. MetaJuris then parses and integrates the hits, sorting them in reverse chronological order. For each result, the case name, its date, a synopsis and a link to the relevant citation are given.

In fall 2008, law students in two different classes, Contracts and Professional Responsibility, were asked to use and evaluate MetaJuris. Lee said students frequently used the metasearch engine, and it received positive comments.

"MetaJuris helps me find the most influential and authoritative cases on a particular issue," said Brian Jansen, a first-year law student who used the metasearch last fall.

The Information and Telecommunication Technology Center advances knowledge and creates innovative technologies in telecommunications, information systems, bioinformatics and radar. As one of KU’s most high-profile research centers, ITTC’s resources, affiliated faculty members and state-of-the-art facilities support a variety of multidisciplinary projects. As a KTEC Center of Excellence, ITTC is committed to the continued growth and diversity of the state’s economy. Under faculty guidance, graduate and undergraduate students in ITTC conduct fundamental research and develop strategic solutions for Kansas companies and national industries.

Hoeflich holds degrees from Haverford College, Cambridge University and Yale Law School. He taught at the University of Illinois from 1980-1988, was dean of the Syracuse University College of Law from 1988-1994 and was dean at the KU School of Law from 1994-2000. Hoeflich is the author or editor of seven books and more than 70 articles. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Kansas Correspondent of the Selden Society.    Click to go to Top of Page

Frost lands director position at National Science Foundation

From Oread -- 04-06-2009
By Oread Staff

Victor Frost, the Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has taken on a position as a program director in the Computer and Network Systems division of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation. He is working with the Networking Technology and Systems Program within the computer and network systems division. The research supports the development of pervasive networks, available anytime, anywhere. Accessible from any communication device, future networks will be resilient to failures and malicious attacks. These dynamic architectures, protocols and technologies will evolve to accommodate growth and change.

After 11 years, Frost stepped down as director of KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center in August. ITTC-affiliated faculty generated more than $55 million in research expenditures under his leadership. Frost has held senior administrative positions with ITTC and a predecessor lab since 1987.

Frost is the fifth electrical engineering and computer science professor to work within federal research agencies. For more than a decade, the department’s faculty have helped set the nation’s research agenda in computing, communications and sensors.    Click to go to Top of Page

ResiliNets: Resilient and Survivable Networks

From European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) -- 04-01-2009
By David Hutchison and James P.G. Sterbenz

The ResiliNets initiative is an umbrella for a number of projects in resilient future Internet architecture. It aims to understand and improve the resilience and survivability of computer networks, including the Internet.

Society increasingly relies on computer networks in general, and on the Internet in particular. Consumers rely on networks for access to information and services, personal finance and for communication with others. The Internet has become indispensable to the routine operation of businesses and to the global economy. The military depends on network-centric operations and warfare. Governments depend on networks for their daily operation, service delivery and response to natural disaster and terrorist attacks.

The consequences to disruption of the network are therefore increasingly severe, and threaten the lives of individuals, the financial health of businesses, and the economic stability and security of nations and the world. With the increasing importance of the Internet, so follows its attractiveness as a target for attackers, whether they be recreational or professional hackers, terrorists or those intent on information warfare.

Lancaster University in the UK and the University of Kansas in the US are developing new network architectures that regard resilience and survivability as critical to the future of our network infrastructure. The ResiliNets initiative aims to understand and improve the resilience and survivability of computer networks, including the global Internet, PSTN (public switched telephone network), SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) networks, mobile ad hoc networks and sensor networks.

ResiliNets is an umbrella for a number of projects in resilient future Internet architecture to which we will apply this strategy and principles. These projects are funded by the EU FP7 FIRE (Future Internet Research & Experimentation) programme, as well as the US National Science Foundation (NSF) programmes FIND (Future Internet Design) and GENI (Global Environments for Network Innovation).

The ResumeNet project (Resilience and Survivability for Future Networking: Framework, Mechanisms, and Experimental Evaluation) hosts original research work that aims to systematically embed resilience into the future Internet. The project work has three main dimensions.

First, at framework level, work will elaborate on the D2R2+DR framework and quantify the impact of different types of challenges and failures on normal network service operation. Metrics, classes of network resilience, policies and ways to negotiate them are at the epicentre. The outcome of this should improve network engineers’ understanding of resilient network services.

Second, the project will look into the mechanisms and algorithms to add to the network infrastructure so that the requirements identified at the framework level can be met.
The network infrastructure, both the end-to-end transport infrastructure and the service layer, including servers and data storage equipment, are the subject of work. The focus is on basic functions and technologies that constitute the building blocks of the D2R2+DR framework; nevertheless, some study cases (scenarios) of network service failure are considered in order to exemplify the synthesis of these blocks into a working system.

Finally, experimentation takes a leading role, both in terms of resource consumption and significance to the project objectives. Specific scenarios focusing on particular network service provision are composed from failure types and resilience mechanisms. The aim is to demonstrate both the applicability of the systematic approach as it unfolds, and the benefits for several aspects of the network functionality. An equally important task will be to provide feedback on the fine tuning of individual mechanisms in the network. The experimentation facilities will come from in-house test beds and facilities developed by the project.

The PoMo (Post-Modern Internet Architecture) project recognizes that the emerging global Internet consists of heterogeneous realms using a variety of technologies (such as optical and wireless) with a number of trust and policy boundaries. In response, we are designing a minimalist Internet working protocol that operates over these realms, and provides strict separation of concerns and inclusion of explicit mechanisms in support of all foreseeable policies that would influence network layer behaviour.

The GpENI (Great Plains Environment for Network Innovation) is deploying flexible and programmable network infrastructure to support interdisciplinary research and development of future Internet architectures, as part of the NSF GENI program. GpENI will provide an experimental platform for a number of research projects, including ResumeNet and PoMo.

Link:
http://wiki.ittc.ku.edu/resilinets

Please contact:
David Hutchison
Lancaster University, UK
Tel: +44 1524 510331
E-mail: dh comp.lancs.ac.uk

James P.G. Sterbenz
The University of Kansas, US
Tel: +1 508 944 3067
E-mail: jpgs ittc.ku.edu    Click to go to Top of Page

'White space' could expand Internet access

From The Wichita Eagle -- 11-08-2008
By DION LEFLER

A federal decision to allow Internet providers to use the space between television channels could help roll out wireless broadband to rural areas of Kansas -- and provide "Wi-Fi on steroids" in cities -- within the next couple of years.

Or, critics of the decision say, it could interfere with broadcast television signals in a time of widespread confusion as the nation switches to digital TV.

At issue is the so-called "white space" in the television broadcast spectrum -- mostly unused wavelengths that lie between the channel numbers.

The Federal Communications Commission decided this week to open the white space, at the urging of a coalition of companies led by Microsoft and Google.

The companies say it could help bring high-speed Internet service to rural America and provide much bigger and faster Wi-Fi "hot spots" in urban settings.

The new frequencies could serve smart phones, digital music and video players, laptop computers and even yet-to-be-invented devices such as "smart house" controllers, supporters say.

The FCC said its order will "allow for the use of these new and innovative types of unlicensed devices in the unused spectrum, to provide broadband data and other services for consumers and businesses."

The University of Kansas Information and Telecommunication Technology Center performed some of the research to determine whether data services could be sandwiched between TV channels without harming the TV picture.

The center's 2007 research report said that probably won't be much of a problem.
Broadcast television signals will be much more powerful than the data signals.

Plus, the new devices are designed to scan through frequencies and use only the empty space, said Dan DePardo, a KU research engineer who worked on the project.

Because they run on high frequencies, current Wi-Fi networks operate at short range and don't do well through walls and other obstacles, DePardo said.

The big advantage of using the TV band is that it operates at lower frequencies. That could allow for indoor-outdoor Wi-Fi coverage over a broad geographic area, DePardo said.

He said that could be a godsend for places such as western Kansas, where towns are small and widely separated and it's not economical to provide traditional landline broadband service.

"There's a lot of white space out there" in rural Kansas, he said. "There's a low population density and a low number of television stations."

Now that the FCC has approved, people could start seeing white-space access devices on the market in the next two years or sooner, DePardo said.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page lobbied FCC commissioners on the airwave issue, saying it could unleash a wave of innovation in wireless technology.

Consumer groups have weighed in as well, saying white-space devices could provide needed competition to telecommunications giants such as AT&T and Verizon.

But a wide and varied group of critics, including broadcast executives, Broadway producers, the Walt Disney Co. and even country-and-western legend Dolly Parton warn that the use of white-space devices could interfere with broadcast channels and wireless microphones used for sermons, university lectures and live performances.

Kent Cornish, executive director of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, said the FCC rushed to judgment on white space by giving broadcasters less than a month to evaluate a 400-page feasibility report.

"I understand these devices are going to... take Microsoft and Google to the next generation of Wi-Fi," Cornish said.

But "what's the rush?" he asked, noting that the switchover to all-digital broadcasting will take place Feb. 17.

While the FCC has made clear that it won't tolerate television interference from the new devices, "Would you even begin to take the chance that something will happen when people are going to be confused (by the digital switchover) anyway?" he said.

Devices to tap into white space will have to be thoroughly tested before they can be marketed, the FCC said in its statement.    Click to go to Top of Page

KU, Sprint research wireless technologies

From KC Business Journal -- 08-18-2008
By Staff

The University of Kansas is researching technologies that could help Sprint Nextel Corp. deploy its high-speed access to its wireless network.

In a release Monday, KU said its Information and Telecommunication Technology Center is leading multidisciplinary research with Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Lawrence-based Sunflower Broadband to correlate the performance of millimeter wave (mmw) communication systems with weather that can weaken signals and disrupt transmissions. These communication systems transfer as much as 1 billion bits of data a second and can cut costs and improve performance of broadband wireless services, the release said.

"Sprint Nextel future products will require extensive bandwidth to be differentiated in the emerging world of 4G (Fourth Generation) communication, or the mobile Internet," Tim Euler, Sprint Nextel’s senior technology strategist, said in the release. "This demand will be met with alternative technologies like mmw and network meshing techniques to ensure high reliability of the Sprint Nextel brand."

ITTC researchers have placed weather stations at Sunflower Broadband sites around Lawrence and on the KU campus. The stations collect meteorological data such as rain rate, relative humidity and rain droplet size. On-site cameras take pictures every 30 seconds, providing additional observations. The Sunflower cable network transports the weather data back to ITTC, and researchers from the KU Department of Geography analyze the weather measurements.

KU researchers are testing the range of mmw systems, which traditionally have been used only near one another. Radios on roofs of KU buildings are communicating with a radio on a grain silo at Pendleton Farms, providing a 5.5-mile link.

Initial results from the study found that mmw systems work well over the relatively long distance in clear weather and are accessible most of the time, the release said.

Victor Frost, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at KU and the project’s principal investigator, said in an interview that the project started in April 2007.

"I think this has a lot of potential," Frost said. "We’re going to a world where handsets have multiple-megabit capabilities. When all that data traffic gets to aggregation points--cell towers--you’ll have to have a bigger pipe back to the Internet."

Euler said in an interview that the research will continue at least until the first quarter. He wouldn’t disclose how much money Sprint is spending on the research.

Mmw systems operate in the 71-–76 gigahertz and the 81-86 GHz ranges of the radio frequency spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission in 2003 opened these high frequencies to promote development and deployment of new wireless broadband services and equipment.    Click to go to Top of Page

Discovery channels: Super phones, biofuels take form in KU laboratories

From Lawrence Journal-World -- 08-16-2008
By Chad Lawhorn

A new sign on the Kansas Turnpike proclaims three major KU accomplishments that passing motorists may want to know: the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball championship; the 2008 Orange Bowl championship and KU’s status as an international research university.

The research designation is listed first.

KU administrators long have made boosting the university’s status as a major research university a top goal.

So, what do KU researchers have cooking that could affect your daily life? Here’s a look:

Super phones

Researchers at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center are doing the legwork for a world where wireless phones truly will work like powerful computers.

"Your cell phone could become a broadband Internet computer," said Michelle Ward, the public relations manager for the center. "It would work just as well as the broadband computer sitting in your office."

The key is television airwaves. KU researchers -- led by professor Joseph Evans--have been studying whether devices like wireless phones, Palm Pilots and hotspots can take advantage of unused TV spectrum without messing up the TV industry.

Ward said researchers already have done enough work to know the concept is possible. Now ITTC leaders are just refining the parameters.

Cheaper shipping

In today’s world of high fuel prices, greater costs of the products you buy are related to shipping costs.

Researchers at ITTC are hoping to ease the shipping cost pressures by improving the use of radio frequency identification tags by major retailers and manufacturers.

The RFID technology allows manufacturers and retailers to use computers and radio waves to keep track in real time of their inventories. The thinking is that greater efficiency will cut down on transportation costs.

KU researchers--led by Daniel Deavours have come up with new technology to tackle the longtime problem of RFID tags performing poorly when they are near metal containers.

This concludes the ITTC portion of the article.    Click to go to Top of Page

FCC to launch field tests of new crop of "white space devices"

From NetworkWorld -- 07-11-2008
By John Cox

Next week, the FCC will launch a second test, this time in the field, of prototype wireless devices that run in the "white spaces" of the unlicensed television broadcast band.

And through an FCC filing, the NFL and ESPN invited the commission to test these white space devices (WSDs) in football fields: during 2008-09 games at the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium and the Washington Redskins’ FedExField in Landover, Maryland.

Several such devices did poorly in the first round of tests a year ago in the FCC labs. The prototypes were created by Microsoft and by a group of other high tech companies, including Dell, Google, HP and Intel. The FCC testers concluded (the full report is online) that the first crop of WSDs didn’t do a good job of detecting TV or wireless micrphone signals, and some of their transmitters did cause interference.

As recently as last March, a Microsoft WSD simply stopped working and was removed from lab tests.

Proponents of white space use, like the Wireless Innovation Alliance, device builders and mobile software companies, say these bands between TV channels, which are no longer needed in digital broadcasting, are a substantial asset that could be exploited by a new generation of wireless devices.

The broadcasters recently reiterated an inflexible opposition to the idea.

Opponents, which include the broadcaster themselves as well as unlicensed wireless microphone makers and users (ranging from churches, concert venues and the NFL), argue that a flood of new devices could interfere with the signals they rely on, especially in the switchover to digital TV signals in early 2009.

The new round of testing next week will assess the latest group of low-power WSD prototypes, which are expected to have more advanced features, such as dynamic power control and the ability to adjust radio power levels based on signal levels in adjacent band. Such features, in theory, will let WSDs detect when a channel is being used by authorized services, and avoid transmitting in it.

The field tests will be in suburban Maryland, and Washington, D.C., covering rural, residential, and urban landscapes, an airport, sports facility, and a theater or other entertainment venue, according to a Dow Jones story.

A recent series of tests by researchers at Kansas University, concluded that the "operation of unlicensed devices in the television band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area."

One of the researchers, Joseph Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KU, said that WSDs "could bring about better, more interoperable public safety communication, a drop in broadband costs and easier deployment of wireless technology to rural areas," according to the university’s press release.    Click to go to Top of Page

KU researcher calls for approval of wireless gadgets that use ‘white space’

From KU News -- 07-02-2008
By Brendan Lynch

In most regions of the country, ample swaths of the television spectrum go unused. Such "white space" in the TV band once comprised useful buffer zones between broadcasters that cut the risk of interference, the way medians divide highway lanes. But research at the University of Kansas shows that the digital revolution has lifted the need for unoccupied gaps in the TV spectrum and opened white space for use by a new generation of personal electronic devices.

"Where you are in the range of spectrum is very important," said Joseph Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KU. "They call the spectrum below one gigahertz ‘beachfront property.’ That is by far the best spectrum for covering a reasonably wide area. The TV bands are down smack in the middle of that. And they could be used for any number of applications."

In May, Evans was named director of the Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, one of KU’s largest research centers. The center explores and develops state-of-the-art information technology, ranging from devices like RFID tags to applications such as bioinformatics. Recently, Evans and colleagues at the center conducted research into unlicensed devices using white space that showed the potential of such technology.

As part of the study, the team built the "KU Unlicensed Device Emulator and Testbed," an apparatus that mimicked the effects of unlicensed devices on digital television receivers.

"We were testing against real TV signals that you’d expect a normal user to see," said Evans. "We could generate digital TV signals, then crank in an amount of power from the prototype of what a white space transmitter would look like -- and we’d crank more power until the digital TV signal would fall over."

The KU team found that operation of unlicensed devices in the television band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area. Moreover, Evans said devices using the TV band could bring about better, more interoperable public safety communication, a drop in broadband costs and easier deployment of wireless technology to rural areas.

The findings are timely: A profusion of new white space will emerge in February as TV stations switch from analog to all-digital broadcasting.

"I’d certainly recommend that policies do not block good technology," said Evans. "I’ve become a believer that white space technology is feasible. I do believe it is fair and prudent that the engineering details be carefully worked through -- we’re still some distance from being able to field those types of devices. But there is great opportunity for white space devices in the next five to 10 years."

This fall, the Federal Communications Commission will choose whether to permit use of devices that scan TV frequencies for white space and use these idle bands for transmission. But the FCC rulemaking is caught in a storm of controversy. Current licensees of the television spectrum stand firmly against giving personal devices access to their wedge of bandwidth.

"The TV channel operators really don’t want their customers inconvenienced or bothered by Johnny-Come-Latelys in the spectrum regions," Evans said. "If you’re a broadcaster and your customers suddenly are reporting that they’re not seeing their signal as well, that could end up in loss of revenue. They do have legitimate concerns to make sure that any new technology isn’t negatively affecting them."

On the other side, technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Google and Dell have joined to press the FCC to approve white space devices. Groups that advocate for public access to airwaves also are urging the commission to OK the innovative transmitters.

The research conducted at KU has informed this important public debate. Last year, Evans presented evidence to the FCC citing the center’s work to show that white space devices do not create interference for TV viewers when operated under appropriate rules.

"If technology comes along that can better serve the public, then we should enable those technologies to flourish," said Evans. "We can do that by carefully understating the science and the technology before making those policy decisions. That’s not to say there are important vested interests -- broadcast TV remains an important part of our media landscape. But we need to allow for the possibility of evolution."    Click to go to Top of Page

Kansas City Company Licenses RFID Technology

06-18-2008
By Michelle Ward

   Click to go to Top of Page

Another radio-frequency ID tag going to market

From Lawrence Journal-World -- 06-17-2008
By Mark Fagan

Technology behind another radio-frequency identification tag developed at Kansas University is headed to market.

KU’s Agility tag, developed through the university’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, is being licensed for manufacturing through Starport Technologies LLC, based in Kansas City, Mo.

The agreement, announced Monday, is the second that the center has with Starport. A little over two years ago, the center secured a deal for Starport to use so-called "KU-Tag" technology. The KU-Tag technology allows for manufacture of RFID tags designed to function at high levels when used to keep track of metal containers or items that contain liquid, minimizing problems encountered through the use of other RFID tags.

While KU-Tag units are more expensive and more durable, the Agility-enabled tags are designed to be functional in less-demanding conditions.

RFID systems increasingly are used to track inventory by identifying tagged items through radio communication between electronic readers and tags that contain data on microchips.

Starport is using the Agility technology in its new Orion tag, expected to be ready for market by August. The Orion tags "easily" outperform traditional foam tags, recording read ranges of up to 25 feet on metal, said Jeff Nedblake, Starport’s principal and managing partner.

The market for such tags is growing, according to research conducted by IDTechEx Ltd., a consulting firm.

Worldwide spending on such systems is expected to reach $5.3 billion this year, up from projections of $4.96 billion a year ago, the firm said. The market is projected to reach $27 billion in 10 years.

KU officials say they hope to continue working with Starport to advance such technologies.

"Our relationship is a good example of how ITTC works with area industry to improve their product offerings by transferring innovative technology out of the laboratory," said Keith Braman, the center’s director of commercialization    Click to go to Top of Page

Starport licenses KU technology

From Kansas City Business Journal -- 06-16-2008
By Staff

Starport Technologies LLC has licensed manufacturing rights for a University of Kansas technology that can be used in applications such as supply chain or asset management.

The new Agility technology, from KU's Information and Telecommunications Technology Center, creates better-performing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, according to a Monday release. Kansas City-based Starport is a provider of RFID technologies, which automatically read digital data encoded in RFID tags on objects to help track them.

"There is conventional wisdom in the industry that tag performance degrades when the tag is near metal and that's just the way it is," Daniel Deavours, KU principal investigator and ITTC research assistant professor, said in the release. "Conventional wisdom is wrong: You can make tags so they work well in air and on metal."

Information about the price of the licensing agreement was not immediately available.

The new technology offers the performance of high-end tags at the price of foam-attached tags, the release said. Agility tags have a unique antenna design that enables read ranges at least three times farther than other foam tags on metal, plus better performance on other materials.

The Orion Tag, which uses Agility technology, should be available commercially by August, the release said.

"The performance of the Orion Tag using Agility technology is outstanding. We have measured read ranges up to 25 feet on metal," Jeff Nedblake, principal and managing partner of Starport Technologies, said in the release. "While foam tags have been around for some time, the Orion easily outperforms them."

Currently available foam tags, which are thicker than Agility tags, have a read distance of less than 6 feet on metal, the release said. Agility tag read distances are comparable to those of high-end tags, the release said.    Click to go to Top of Page

Director of KUTelecommunications Research Center Announced

From University Relations -- 05-12-2008
By Kevin Boatright

Joseph Evans, a prominent researcher and computer systems designer at the University of Kansas, has been named director of KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, effective Aug. 18.

Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will succeed Victor Frost, who announced last fall that he would step down as director after 11 years in that position. Evans was acting director of ITTC from 1999 to 2000 and served for three years as KU’s director of research information technology.

"This is a very dynamic research field, nationally and internationally," said Evans. "ITTC has a good track record developing innovations that advance knowledge. Some of that research has an economic impact, and enabling that is also very much a part of our mission. I look forward to leading this outstanding team of faculty, staff and students."

Evans came to KU in 1989, following a postdoctoral appointment with AT&T Bell Laboratories. His current research is wide-ranging and includes wireless networks, high-speed communications networks and switching hardware, and the design and evaluation of software. During his career, Evans has received more than 60 federal and industrial research grants and has published extensively.

Evans will report to Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies.

"KU is fortunate to have a researcher of Joe’s caliber in this important role," said Warren. "He’s a national authority on the subject of research computing, and he has experience moving IT research into the marketplace. He also knows ITTC extremely well, so the center won’t miss a beat during the leadership transition."

Evans served the National Science Foundation from 2003 to 2005 as a program director in its Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering. He oversaw research involving wireless networking, cybersecurity and optical networking, and was responsible for awarding more than $50 million in grants to newly created programs.

Evans was a co-founder of NetGames USA Inc., a network gaming company acquired by Microsoft in 2000. The technology is utilized in Microsoft’s Xbox Live Internet gaming service. He was also president and CEO of Ambient Computing Inc., a developer of software and hardware for smart wireless environments.

Evans’ academic background includes a doctorate from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College. During the 1996-97 academic year, he spent a sabbatical at Cambridge University and the Olivetti and Oracle Research Laboratory in England.    Click to go to Top of Page

KU computer science graduate student wins federal SMART fellowship

From University Relations -- 04-10-2008
By Jill Hummels

A University of Kansas student is among a select group of students nationwide to receive a 2008 Science Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Defense Fellowship.

Mike Wasikowski, a master’s student in computer science from Omaha, will receive a $25,000 stipend, book allowance, health insurance and full tuition and fees as part of this Department of Defense program.

"Mike is a hardworking and brilliant student," said Xue-Wen Chen, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science who is guiding Wasikowski on his graduate studies and research activities at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center. "I was impressed by his motivation and sincerity toward work. He is dedicated and has great potential in research."

As part of the program, fellowship recipients must fulfill a one-year employment obligation with a Department of Defense agency for each year they receive the fellowship. Wasikowski, who is studying machine learning algorithms and feature selection techniques, will work for TRAC-Monterey, a research center at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

"The specific organization that I’m looking at does a lot of research on projects like automatic target recognition -- looking at a large image of, say, a battlefield and trying to pick out areas that are potentially hazardous such as missile silos," he said. "You need to know where you have to look to figure out if there’s something there in the first place. They’re also working on robots that can adapt and learn depending on the environment or what they experience. Those sort of techniques would be very, very beneficial to them."

Getting a SMART fellowship requires, well, some smarts.

The extensive application process, which begins in the fall, requires each candidate to submit detailed academic information, letters of reference and information about his or her research interests. Successful candidates also must endure two rounds of reviews by personnel within the Department of Defense, Wasikowski said.

"It’s definitely a load off my chest, knowing that I got it and that I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to be in the next couple of years, what I’m going to be doing," he said.

Wasikowski earned undergraduate degrees in math, computer science and psychology at Truman State University in Missouri in 2007. He said his career aspirations are still open.

"I plan on spending at least three years there to get my feet grounded and get some good work experience," he said. "If it’s something that I really like, I might stay there."

Wasikowski is the son of Larry and Teresa Wasikowski of Omaha and a graduate of Ralston (Neb.) High School.

First awarded in 2005, the SMART fellowship program is designed to promote the education, recruitment and retention of students in science, math and engineering studies. Wasikowski is the second KU School of Engineering student to receive a SMART fellowship since 2006.

"This scholarship is very competitive-- so it speaks a volume about our program, our research, and our students," Chen said.    Click to go to Top of Page

Technology developed at KU acquired by digital media company

From University Relations -- 10-09-2007
By Michelle Ward

Veatros LLC, a University of Kansas start-up company and an alumnus of Larta Institute, was acquired recently by DivX Inc., a digital media company. Veatros technology, developed at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, will perform enhanced video and discovery searches to help better manage users’ media collections.

John and Susan Gauch, former faculty members in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, created Veatros in 2002 with assistance from KU. The Gauches then turned to Larta Institute to help them commercialize Veatros. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization specializes in transferring technology from government agencies and universities.

In 2005, the company presented its technology at Larta’s Project T2, a technology transfer conference, under a Kaufman Foundation grant. Shortly after, it became the first company selected for Larta’s venture capital affiliate, T2 Venture Capital. The foundation has long supported Larta’s tech transfer programs.

According to Victor Hwang, managing director of T2VC and former president of Larta Institute, the conference focuses on companies at the cutting edge of technology and with tremendous commercial potential. Hwang mentored the company through its recent growth and acquisition by DivX and became the chief strategy officer of Veatros.

Veatros markets the digital video processing technology VidWatch, which the company developed in 1997 at ITTC. The initial application of VidWatch was to prevent foreign cable stations from using more allotted commercial time than they had actually purchased by continuously monitoring television broadcasts.

"It wasn’t until we started working with Victor Hwang and Larta Institute that doors started opening for us," said John Gauch. "It is through their professionalism and contacts that we were able to find a partner to take our technology forward. We benefited from incubating the technology with support from ITTC and were able to focus on development and new applications for several years while the market for our technologies developed. Now we are thrilled to work with DivX on a mature implementation."

"This little spin-out that could shows the potential that is available in research in many parts of the country," said Rohit Shukla, CEO of Larta Institute. "At Larta Institute, we are proud to work closely with companies like Veatros who are at the intersection of research and enterprise."

DivX is a digital media format like MP3 for video. Its technology compresses video to a fraction of its original size, allowing the easy creation, storage and sharing of media. Additionally, DivX-certified products, including DVD players, cameras and mobile phones, are interoperable. More than 100 million DivX-certified devices have been shipped globally from major manufacturers and there have been more than 300 million software downloads.

Earlier this year, Susan Gauch accepted a position as department head and Rodger S. Kline Endowed Chair in Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Arkansas. John Gauch accepted a position as a professor in the same department.    Click to go to Top of Page

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