Advances in Optical Access Networks


Prof. Hussein T. Mouftah
University of Ottawa, Canada

Abstract


Explosion of data and mass availability of Internet connections around the globe had created huge bandwidth requirements for bandwidth hungry applications. Despite the technological advances in the core and their ability to transport, still much work has to be done in the access networks in order to be able to let the broadband traffic be transmitted transparently. Current solutions for access networks do not provide a concrete solution for the famous last mile problem. In this talk we will present optical access networks as viable solutions to the ongoing problems in the access networks. Further we will cover physical and technological limitations with the current state-of-the-art optical technology. We will address the optical access networks promises in responding to these shortcomings. We will focus on passive optical networks (PONs), reviewing different type of PONs considering their benefits and limitations.

Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) has been considered as an attractive solution to next-generation broadband access networks due to its low cost and high throughput. However, designing efficient bandwidth allocation algorithms (DBAs) is a critical issue in EPON. In this talk, we will also cover dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms along with the role which the multipoint control protocol (MPCP) plays in their design.

Biography:


Hussein T. Mouftah joined the School of Information Technology and Engineering (SITE) of the University of Ottawa in September 2002 as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Optical Networks, where he became a Distinguished University Professor in 2006. He has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen's University (1979-2002), where he was prior to his departure a Full Professor and the Department Associate Head. He has three years of industrial experience mainly at Bell Northern Research of Ottawa, now Nortel Networks (1977-79).

He has spent three sabbatical years also at Nortel Networks (1986-87, 1993-94, and 2000-01), always conducting research in the area of broadband packet switching networks, quality of service over the Internet, mobile wireless ad hoc and sensor networks and optical networks. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Communications Magazine (1995-97) and IEEE Communications Society Director of Magazines (1998-99), Chair of the Awards Committee (2002-2003), Member of the Board of Governors (1997-2000 and 2006-), Director of Education (2006-). He is a Distinguished Speaker of the IEEE Communications Society since 2000.

Dr. Mouftah is the author or coauthor of 5 books, 24 book chapters, more than 800 technical papers and 9 patents in this area. He is the joint holder of the Best Paper Award for a paper presented at SPECTS’2002 and the IEEE ICC2005 Optical Networking Symposium, and the Outstanding Paper Award for papers presented at the IEEE HPSR’2002 and the IEEE ISMVL’1985. Also he is the joint holder of a Honorable Mention for the Frederick W. Ellersick Price Paper Award for Best Paper in the IEEE Communications Magazine in 1993. He has received numerous prestigious awards, such as the 2007 Thomas W. Eadie Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, the 2006 IEEE Canada McNaughton Medal, the 2006 EIC Julian Smith Medal, the 2004 IEEE ComSoc Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award, the 2004 George S. Glinski Award for Excellence in Research of the U of O Faculty of Engineering, the 1989 Engineering Medal for Research and Development of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), and the Ontario Distinguished Researcher Award of the Ontario Innovation Trust (2002). Also, he is the recipient of the IEEE ComSoc 2006 CSIM Distinguished Service Award, and IEEE Canada (Region 7) Outstanding Service Award (1995). Dr. Mouftah is a Fellow of the IEEE (1990), the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2003) and the Engineering Institute of Canada (2005).



Wireless Access Networks: Recent Developments, Issues and Trends


Prof. Raj Jain
Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Abstract

Broadband access is quickly becoming ubiquitous. Among the technologies for access, wireless is becoming the preferred technology for reasons of mobility, cost, and convenience. In this talk we begin with the recent trends in the wireless access market, summarize the key technical developments that are leading to increasing reach and speeds. WiMAX is almost here but the competing technologies, such as HSPA, EV-DO, LTE, IEEE 802.20, IEEE 802.22 are also trying to catch up fast and the next generation WiMAX is already being designed. These and other developments will be presented.

NEW! (The audio/video recordings and slides of the talk)

Biography:


Raj Jain is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis, MO. He was Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nayna Networks, Inc - a next generation broadband access equipment company in San Jose, CA and co-chair of the SPIE 2007 conference on Broadband Access Communication Technologies. Dr. Jain is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of ACM. He has served on the Board of Technical Advisors to several companies including Nexabit Networks, Westborough, MA acquired by Lucent Corporation. (March 1997-1999), Amber Networks, Fremont, CA acquired by Nokia (1999-2001).

He is the author of "Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis", which won the 1991 "Best-Advanced How-to Book, Systems" award from Computer Press Association. His fourth book entitled "High-Performance TCP/IP: Concepts, Issues, and Solutions," was published by Prentice Hall in November 2003.

Based on his active participation in the computer industry, Dr. Jain was awarded 1999 siliconindia Leadership Awards for Excellence and Promise in Business and Technology. He is also a winner of ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time award.

For his publications and talks, see http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/