IPTV is one of the fast growing services. We survey the operation and the infrastructure that supports the IPTV: the data center, the Internet, and the end user, and discuss issues that affect the global scalability of IPTV. We show that the client-server model cannot support large scale IPTV delivery, and the peer assisted IPTV service without locality awareness will quickly overrun the Internet backbone when the number of subscribers increases. Peer-assisted delivery with locality is the only way to scale IPTV to the world.

We proceed to quantify the benefit of peer-assisted IPTV. Using a nine-month trace from a client-server IPTV deployment for MSN Video, we show that peer-assistance IPTV can dramatically reduce server bandwidth costs, particularly if peers prefetch content when there is spare upload capacity in the system. We consider the impact of peer-assisted VoD on the cross-traffic among ISPs. We also develop a simple analytical model which captures many of the critical features of peer-assisted VoD, including its operational modes.

Speaker's Biography

Dr. Jin Li is currently a principal researcher managing the communication system subgroup at Microsoft Research Redmond. He has worked in a diversified research field, ranging from audio/image/video compression, virtual environment and graphic compression, audio/video streaming, realtime audio/video conferencing, peer-to-peer content delivery, distributed storage, etc.. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) in 1994. From 1994 to 1996, he served as a Research Associate at the University of Southern California (USC). From 1996 to 1999, he was a member of the technical staff at the Sharp Laboratories of America (SLA) (Camas, WA), and represented the interests of SLA in the JPEG2000 and MPEG4 standardization efforts. He was a researcher/project leader at Microsoft Research Asia (Beijing, China) from 1999 to 2000.

Dr. Li has 90+ refereed conference and journal papers. He is an Area Editor for the Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation (Academic Press) and Journal of P2P networking applications, and previously served as an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Multimedia. Dr. Li is a senior member of IEEE. He was the recipient of the 1994 Ph.D. thesis award from Tsinghua University and the 1998 Young Investigator Award from SPIE Visual Communication and Image Processing.

[URL: http://research.microsoft.com/~jinl/]

Directions:

From I-495, take Route 1 south, turn right onto Campus Drive and enter the main gate of the UMD campus. Take the right-most lane (which becomes Paint Branch Drive), and make the first right turn into the XX parking lots. Free parking after 4pm. Two red-brick buildings connected by a covered bridge at the 3rd floor are next to the parking lot: the closer one is CSIC building, and the other is A.V. Williams building. Paid visitor parking is also nearby by following the signs.

From College Park Metro Station (Green line), take UM campus shuttle (free) and get down at the first stop. Walk back for a hundred yards and turn left onto Paint Branch Drive. The A.V. Williams building is the 2nd on the right. See shuttle schedule at:

http://www.transportation.umd.edu/routes/schedules/CollegeParkMetro.pdf

More info:

http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/capitalarea/eSCANNER/calendar.html#SPSWJUN

Contact:

washington.sps@ieee.org

3. IEEE Baltimore GOLD

The following is a notice for an upcoming event in DC.

Subject:

D.C. United Soccer Game!

Date:

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Sponsors:

Women in Engineering, Graduates of the Last Decade (Northern Virginia and Washington chapters).

Time:

7:30 pm

Place:

RFK Stadium, Washington, DC

Directions:

Take Metro to the Stadium-Armory station (Orange, Blue lines). See:

http://web.mlsnet.com/t103/stadium/directions.

More Info:

See the D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls game with WIE and GOLD members. We will be getting the premium seats (normally $28!). All are welcome to attend!

Cost:

IEEE members--$14, non-IEEE members--$22.

Contact:

If interested, please contact Katie Schaffold at katie.schaffold@ieee.org as soon as possible, but no later than May 25. Please also cc khartman@ieee.org on your e-mail so that we can keep a headcount of NoVA GOLD members.

Payments must be received by June 2 (after contacting Katie, send your payment to IEEE NoVA Section, P.O. Box 6814 , Woodbridge , VA 22195-6814, ATTN: WIE/GOLD Soccer)

4. Power Engineering

The IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) is offering an outstanding opportunity for non-power engineering professionals to receive a comprehensive briefing about the operation of the electric power system and basic power concepts. These three courses are presented in clear straightforward language that will quickly bring new hires and non-engineers up to speed. You definitely should take these courses if you are interested in any aspect of energy policy, industrial power systems and equipment, or utility power systems and operation, and are not an up-to-date power systems engineer.

The ongoing deregulation of the power industry means that increasing numbers of non-power-engineering professionals are making judgments that have a major impact on power systems in the areas of planning, design, operations, economics and more. Without an understanding of the basic operation of electric power systems, how can you properly evaluate how your day-to-day decisions impact the short- and long-term running of an efficient and reliable power system?

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING: An appreciation of power system fundamentals can greatly improve your ability to function in your critical role relating to the electric power industry. By understanding the realm of the power engineer, you can improve your ability to communicate your decisions with those in key technical areas. This course will provide the knowledge you need to help you work better and smarter.

COURSE FOCUS: The focus of these courses will be on real-world problems and examples. They will provide a thorough foundation in electric power systems planning, operations, economics and various regulatory frameworks. Basic electrical terminology and concepts are explained in simple-to-understand language with regard to design, construction, operations and maintenance of power plants, substations and transmission and distribution lines. Basic electrical safety concepts are included

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Plan to attend if you are a legislator, commission staff professional, power broker, power marketer, member of a consumer group, policy maker, public affairs administrator, legal counsel, member of the media, energy agency leader, business executive, utility manager, economist, accountant, purchasing and stores manager, a non-power engineer in the power field, and any one else interested in learning about electric power systems to improve your ability to function in your business environment.

TOPICS COVERED: Some of the subjects to be covered include: An Introduction and Brief History, Fundamentals of Electric Power, Generation and Transmission, Distribution and Utilization, Power System Protection, Power System Operation and Interconnection, and Regulation.

5. IEEE EMC EXPO

The IEEE EMC EXPO will be held on Tuesday June 3. For more information, see the attached file (IEEE_EMC_EXPO_7_June_2008.pdf).

6. Notes from the Desk of the Chair of Baltimore Section

The following is a note from Bill Semancik, Chapter Chair for the IEEE Baltimore Section.

“Annual Awards Dinner

Wednesday May 14th the section held its annual awards dinner at Snyders of Willow Grove. This dinner serves two purposes. It is a chance to thank the volunteers who held offices at the Section level and who were chairs of technical chapters and affinity groups. The second purpose is to honor the high school student teams who were most outstanding the Robot Challenge. Our guest speaker was Dr. Allison Okamura of Johns Hopkins University. You may recognize the name as the same person whose work was included in the IEEE Spectrum article on haptics. Dr. Okamura was just a great speaker. She never forgot that our guests were the high school students and she continually related her work in conveying a remote tactile sense to their own experience in robotics. We have had many great speakers in the past but I cannot recall one who was so capable of relating to the students. She made the evening quite special for all.

The local members who were honored were:

Robert Cuellar Past Chair Baltimore Section

Dr. Brian D. Womack Chair Aerospace and Electronic Systems Chapter

Dr. Arik D. Brown Chair Antenna Propagation Theory /Microwave Theory

and Techniques Chapter

Dr. Boniface Nwugwo Chair Computer Society Chapter

Dr. Charles Kim Chair Education Society Chapter

Dr. Fred Semendy Chair Electron Device Society/Solid State Circuits

Society Chapter

Robert J. Berkovits Chair Electromagnetic Compatibility Chapter

Dr. David Sherman Chair Engineering in Medicine and Biology Chapter

Hayes Smith Chair Industry Applications Society Chapter

Michael Dennis Chair Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Chapter

Olatayo Oyelade Chair Power Engineering Society Chapter

Dr. Stephen Bayne Chair Power Electronics Society Chapter

Walt Willing Chair Reliability Society Chapter

Ron Aloysius Chair Signal Processing Society Chapter

Rachel Andre Chair Graduates of the Last Decade Affinity Group

Andrea Kraay Chair Women in Engineering Affinity Group

David Kisak Secretary Baltimore Section

Helen Garrison Treasurer Baltimore Section

Dr. Boris Gramatikov Continuing Education Director Baltimore Section

Neville Jacobs Student Activities Director Baltimore Section

Jay Gamerman Student Activities Director Baltimore Section

My personal thanks to all of the volunteers. IEEE could not function without the personal involvement of members such as these.

Search for a Baltimore Section Member to Serve as an Expert Witness

I have received a request from an IEEE member from New Hampshire to poll the Section Membership for a person willing to act as an expert witness in an intellectual property dispute. The technology involves RF/microwave engineering. The date in Baltimore District Court was to have been 11 June but is likely to be delayed for one week. If you are willing to discuss the possibility of serving as an expert witness, please contact me and I will place you in contact with the IEEE member. The terms under which you serve as a witness are a matter of discussion between you and the requester. My e-mail address is wsemancik@ieee.org.

NASA 50th Anniversary Dinner Lecture

The Baltimore Section and the Historical Electronics Museum are looking to sponsor a special dinner and lecture in early October to celebrate 50 years of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The exact date will depend upon our ability to get a speaker from NASA but our hope is to schedule the event during the month of October when NASA was actually authorized by legislation. Please keep looking to the newsletter for further details for the date, time, and cost of the event.

Baltimore Aerospace and Electronic Systems Chapter Chair Needed

The AES chapter is still in need of a chair to lead the organization. If you are interested, please contact me.”

Bill Semancik

Chair, Baltimore Section

wsemancik@ieee.org

7. Financial Engineering: a Growing Career Path for Technical Professionals

The following is a paid advertisement by T. Rowe Price, a leading global investment management firm.

It might surprise you to hear that the financial industry is now one of the hottest destinations for sharp-minded engineers. And for good reason, says Richard T. Whitney, head of Quantitative Equities at Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price, a leading global investment management firm.

“The financial industry has matured to a point where sophisticated and innovative models are now a big part of decision-making,” explains Whitney. This is prompting many financial firms to reach out to engineers and others with technical backgrounds to apply their expertise to the world of investing.

See the following website for more information:

http://www.troweprice.com/financialengineering

8. Baltimore Region Conferences

The following conferences are planned for Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia. This list can be used for planning purposes and also represents potential volunteering opportunities.

2008 IEEE 23rd Annual Conference on Computational Complexity (CCC)

22 Jun - 26 Jun 2008

University of Maryland

College Park, MD, USA

http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/jrogers/complexity/

2008 10th IEEE Conference on E-Commerce Technology and the 5th IEEE

Conference on Enterprise Computing, E-Commerce and E-Services (CEC/EEE)

21 Jul - 24 Jul 2008

Doubletree Hotel- Crystal City

Arlington, VA, USA

http://cec2008.cs.georgetown.edu/index.html

2008 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE 2008)

23 Aug - 26 Aug 2008

Marriott Key Bridge

Arlington, VA, USA

http://www.ieee-case.org

2008 IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis & Simulation of

Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS)

07 Sep - 10 Sep 2008

Tremont Suite Hotels

Baltimore, MD

http://www.mascots-conference.org/

2008 IEEE 25th Symposium on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies (MSST)

22 Sep - 25 Sep 2008

Sheraton Inner Harbor

Baltimore, MD, USA

www.storageconference.org

<http://webapps1.ieee.org/conferenceSearch/www.storageconference.org>

2008 3rd International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software

(MALWARE)

07 Oct - 08 Oct 2008

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center

Alexandria, VA, USA

http://isiom.wssrl.org

2008 IEEE Workshop On Signal Processing Systems (SIPS)

08 Oct - 10 Oct 2008

Radisson Hotel Reagan National Airport

Arlington, VA, USA**

2008 IEEE 58th Annual Broadcast Symposium (BTS)

15 Oct - 17 Oct 2008

The Westin Hotel

Alexandria, VA, USA

http://www.ieee.org/bts/symposium

2008 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference - Intelligent

Biomedical Systems (BioCAS)

20 Nov - 22 Nov 2008

*Location:* TBD

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.biocas2008.org

2009 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC 2009

15 Feb - 19 Feb 2009

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Washington, DC, USA

http://www.apec-conf.org

2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)

02 Jun - 04 Jun 2009

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.i-leos.org

2009 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC)

June 2-4, 2009

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, MD, USA

http://www.i-leos.org

2009 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPC)

28 Jun - 02 Jul 2009

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel

Washington, DC, USA

http://web.ece.missouri.edu/ppc2009

2011 IEEE AUTOTESTCON

September 19-22, 2011

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, MD, USA **

http://www.autotestcon.com

9. Continuing EE Education

We are re-running this request for interest in a continuing education program. This program will be in the format of seminars focused on a particular topic of interest. The seminars may run either during the week after work hours or possibly on Saturday. The idea for the program is described below.

Name of project: Continuing EE Education (“CEEE”)

Goal: A section-level program aimed at:

Updating the IEEE members on new developments in the EE field.

Familiarizing engineers with basic new tools, products and techniques as well as giving them the initial knowledge and skills to use them.

Inviting representatives from different vendors to present leading novel products.

Giving tutorials in new areas.

Helping IEEE fellow members become more competitive, especially in times of uncertain jobs, off-shoring and salary stagnation.

Facilitating networking.

Broadening the horizon of each IEEE member.

Fostering collaboration between members of different societies as well as generation of new ideas (“cross-pollination” element).

The program should be open to all IEEE members, including students. It is meant to be a cross-societies initiative, i.e. should not be limited to narrow topics serving the interests of a single chapter only. Emphasis should be placed on meeting with experienced experts from different fields. Critical comparisons between different solutions of EE problems are expected to be made, and trends should be discussed.

Potential topics of interest could include, but are not limited to:

Software tools:

Programming languages

Compilers

Real-Time Operating systems

Debuggers

Emulators

Hardware tools:

Novel electronic components

Single-Board Computers (SBC)

Embedded solutions

FPGAs

Printed circuit board design (schematics capture, layout)

Circuit simulation (PSPICE)

Portable devices

Signal and image processing (examples, tools, help)

Wireless devices:

Theory

Standards

Available OEM products

Trends

Internet-based methods and devices:

Standards

Available tools

Web Page Design

Contemporary design tools (like AutoCad and Solid Works)

Reliability and Compliance issues

We plan to invite qualified speakers from academia, industry and governmental institutions. The speakers will be professionals who can give first-hand information and share front-line experience on the technology, methods and tools being presented.

We plan to organize 2-4 meetings annually. Each meeting is planned to last for 2 hours or more. We could meet on weekdays, or on Saturdays.

Please send us your suggestions and preferences regarding topics, time and place of meetings, the name/acronym of the program etc.

Boris Gramatikov

Baltimore Section

Bgramat@jhmi.edu