The Future of 5G, Edge Computing and Digital Transformation

Speaker: Akshay Sharma, Tech analyst, ex-Gartner
DATE: November, 2019
TIME: Refreshments, Lunch, and Networking: 11:30 a.m.; Seminar: 12:00 p.m. – 01:30 p.m.
PLACE: The Marshes Golf Club, 320 Terry Fox Drive, Kanata. View Map
PARKING: Free parking available.
ADMISSION: Open to all, free of charge. Registration is required by e-mail. Space is limited:
REGISTRATION: Register here, or contact Michael Lalonde michael.lalonde@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website, or contact almuhtadi@ieee.org

Bio
Akshay Sharma is a Tech analyst, ex-Gartner, having authored 280+ research notes, on emerging technologies like DevOPs, Software Defined Data Centers, 5G, and IoT. T. A frequent speaker at tech events, he is often quoted in leading institutions like CNN, Wall St. Journal, and CIO.com. He is a former CTO of one of the first video/WiFi smartphone firms and an entrepreneur in the tech sector, having worked for firms that are now part of leading firms like Intel, IBM, Nokia, and Ericsson. He advises many emerging startups, such as Kovair in the DevOps/ALM arena, having worked for 3 startups that are part of IBM Rational/DOORS in ObjecTime, Verilog, and Telelogic on integrated development, test and operational environments. He will be joining us to speak on his extensive experience in the field of 5G and digital transformations related to upcoming technology leaps..

Enabling IoT Services Through Secure 5G Core Slices

Speaker: Prof. Ashraf Matrawy, PhD, PEng, SMIEEE, School of Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
DATE: Thursday October 31, 2019.
TIME: Refreshments/Registration/Networking: 06:00 p.m.; Seminar: 06:30 p.m. – 07:30 p.m.
PLACE: Ciena Optophotonics Lab (room T129), School of Advanced Technology, Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2G 1V8.
PARKING: after 5:00 p.m. at Lots 8 & 9. Pay $5 flat rate at the machine and display the ticket on your car dashboard.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Wahab Almuhtadi.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website.

Abstract
The key motivation for this work is that future smart services (e.g. IoT applications) will have competing and perhaps conflicting networking performance requirements. These services will also require flexible and agile deployment. 5G networks, an essential component of future virtualized infrastructures, deal with this issue – in part – by relying on network slicing. To define a network slice, one has to consider the allocation of resources – both in the radio and core parts – of the 5G network to form a logical entity where a service could be deployed. Network slicing has emerged as a key-enabler for proving heterogeneous services. It takes advantage of the virtualization elements of future networking infrastructures where multiple services can be hosted on the same physical infrastructure.This talk will give a quick overview of network slicing with emphasis on 5G core networks. It will also discuss the requirement for network slice isolation and different methods that were proposed to implement it. Finally, an overview of our research group ongoing work on mitigating Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks using slice isolation. Our approach is to tackle slice isolation as a resource allocation problem to deal with the trade-off between offering security while achieving a certain level of performance. In other words, we utilize a mathematical optimization model to solve a security problem. In our proposed solution, we use slice isolation as security constraints for the optimization model to proactively mitigate DDoS attacks. Our experimental test results show how DDoS could be mitigated and the impact on slice availability. We believe this work will encourage further research in securing 5G network slicing.

Bio
Dr. Ashraf Matarawy (http://www.csit.carleton.ca/~amatrawy/) is a Full Professor at the School of Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Carleton University. He is also a senior member of the IEEE and a licensed P. Eng. in Ontario. Dr. Matrawy leads the Next Generation Networks group at Carleton and is a Network co-Investigator of Smart Cybersecurity Network (SERENE-RISC). His research interests include reliable and secure computer networking, secure virtualized infrastructures, and security routing in IoT. In addition to his academic work, he did consulting work for different industrial and government organizations (https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ashraf-matrawy-5917b56). He spent his sabbatical leaves working for industry, at Cloackware Research Center in 2010-2011 and at TELUS in 2017-2018. He serves on the editorial board of the IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials journal and Wiley’s Security and Privacy Journal. He has served as a technical program committee member of IEEE CNS, IEEE ICC, IEEE Globecom, IEEE LCN, and IEEE/ACM CCGRID and other conferences. Dr. Matrawy has more than 10 year experience in undergraduate and graduate curriculum development for the Network Technology programs at Carleton University. He served as associate director for the School for three and half years and as coordinator for the Networking program for six years.

AI-Driven 5G Networks & Beyond

Speaker: Hatem Abou-zeid, Ericsson
DATE: Wednesday October 30, 2019.
TIME: 11:30 a.m. – 01:30 p.m.
PLACE: 359 Terry Fox Drive, Suite 200, Kanata, Ontario, Canada
ADMISSION: Event is free, but space is limited. Registration required. All participants must register in advance. Please follow the link to register https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/20632. For more information, please contact: Kexing Liu kexing.liu@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website.

Abstract
5G Networks are anticipated to transform modern societies by providing an ultra-reliable, high-speed communications infrastructure that will connect billions of devices including vehicles, machines, and sensors. Both the complexity of such networks and the diversity of application requirements will be unprecedented. This mandates novel, autonomous network configuration and operation that can anticipate and react to changes in traffic, topology, and interference conditions to ensure seamless quality of experience and reliability. In this talk I will discuss AI-driven networking use-cases elaborating on the practical challenges of industrial deployments. I will then highlight directions where research is needed to further expedite and facilitate the development of AI-powered networks.

Bio
Hatem Abou-zeid is a Senior 5G Systems Designer at Ericsson Canada where he drives research and system development for 5G radio access networks. Prior to that he held industrial positions at CISCO Systems and Bell Labs in addition to postdoctoral and research assistant affiliations at Queen’s University, Canada. His research focuses on the application of machine learning in 5G networks with particular emphasis on anticipatory and adaptive algorithms drawing on methods from reinforcement learning, spatio-temporal forecasting, deep learning and stochastic optimization. Dr. Abou-zeid is very passionate about developing strong industry-university collaborations that foster applied, innovative research, and he leads multiple academic partnerships on intelligence and analytics in future networks.

The Future of Leadership & Work in the Era of Exponential Technologies

Speaker: Sophia Leong, Executive-in-Residence (University of Ottawa), Global Advisor Executive Development Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA)
DATE: Wednesday September 11, 2019
TIME: Refreshments, Lunch, and Networking: 11:30 a.m.; Seminar: 12:00 p.m. – 01:30 p.m.
PLACE: The Marshes Golf Club, 320 Terry Fox Drive, Kanata. View Map
PARKING: Free parking available.
ADMISSION: Open to all, free of charge. Registration is required by e-mail. Space is limited:
REGISTRATION: Register here, or contact Michael Lalonde michael.lalonde@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website, or contact almuhtadi@ieee.org

Abstract
What does leadership & work look like in an age where emerging technologies are constantly disrupting the status quo? We will hear speculation on what we know, and what is possible from someone who has been in the emerging technology landscape for many years.

Bio
Ms. Sophia Leong is the Director of the Telfer Executive MBA Program, responsible for the Ottawa’s only face-to-face Executive MBA program, one that is Global, Practical and Relevant in its curriculum design. She also teaches within the Program. Ms. Leong is a strategic and operational planning specialist on the areas of innovation, commercialization and capital investment. She assists companies in crafting and implementing their strategic direction by connecting focused goals and actions towards business successes. Most recently she served at the executive level with Industry Canada and prior to that, Sophia was Vice-President Business Development at KlocWork Inc., a company she had co-founded. She has extensive experience working at Nortel Networks where she was instrumental in co-founding, managing and commercializing seed and start-up companies. Sophia leads a capital financing course, a course she had led for the past decade with strong funding success rate. She is a recipient of numerous awards for outstanding contributions and holds a patent on Mergers and Acquisition business and software processes during her time at Nortel Networks and Nortel Technology. She is currently Chair/Board Member of several start-ups and sits on the Government, Industry & Academic Board of Startup Canada, an entrepreneur-led, national movement to enhance the competitiveness and prosperity of Canada by supporting and celebrating Canadian entrepreneurship. Sophia is focused on the development of business and civic leadership to help grow innovative and profitable Canadian companies.

Status of the Internet in Canada and the Importance of Canadian IXP’s

Speaker: Jacques Latour, CTO at Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA/.CA)
DATE: Thursday June 20, 2019
TIME: Refreshments, Lunch, and Networking: 11:30 a.m.; Seminar: 12:00 p.m. – 01:30 p.m.
PLACE: The Marshes Golf Club, 320 Terry Fox Drive, Kanata. View Map
PARKING: Free parking available.
ADMISSION: Open to all, free of charge. Registration is required by e-mail. Space is limited:
REGISTRATION: Register here, or contact Michael Lalonde at michael.lalonde@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website, or contact almuhtadi@ieee.org

Abstract
As an expert in developing innovative, leading-edge IT solutions, Jacques has established CIRA as a global leader among ccTLD registries. He has 25+ years of experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors and as CIRA’s CTO, is currently leading CIRA Labs, CIRA’s innovation hub and providing leadership and direction for the management and security of the .CA registry and its underlying DNS. A visionary in the Internet community, Jacques led the development of CIRA’s Internet Performance Test, is an outspoken advocate for the adoption of IPv6 and represents the .CA registry internationally as a member of a variety of working groups and advisory groups, including being a member of ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), TLDOPS standing committees and TechDay and DNSSEC Planning Program Committee.

Bio
Jacques is committed to the development of a new Canadian Internet architecture. He has served as the catalyst for the creation of a national Canadian IXP association, CA-IX, and is a member of the Manitoba Internet Exchange’s (MBIX) and the DNS-OARC Board of Directors. Jacques holds an Electronics Engineering Technologist diploma from Algonquin College in Ottawa, is ITIL v3 Foundation certified and is a certified Agile ScrumMaster.

Perspectives on AI, the future impact on Engineering, Science and Technology

Speaker: Robin Grosset, Patent Agent, CTO Mindbridge AI
DATE: Thursday May 2, 2019
TIME: Refreshments, Lunch, and Networking: 11:30 a.m.; Seminar: 12:00 p.m. – 01:30 p.m.
PLACE: The Marshes Golf Club, 320 Terry Fox Drive, Kanata. View Map
PARKING: Free parking available.
ADMISSION: Open to all, free of charge. Registration is required by e-mail. Space is limited:
REGISTRATION: Register here, or contact Michael Lalonde at michael.lalonde@ieee.org.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website, or contact almuhtadi@ieee.org

Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to disrupt many professions and the future of any role will certainly involve AI. This is true for doctors, lawyers, accounts and even engineers. In this session, we will look at the factors which are bringing about this disruption. We will also explore the importance of explicability and a human-centric approach in AI technology to support improving professional judgement.

Abstract
Artificial Robin currently works at MindBridge where he leads the development of a next generation AI Auditor which helps professionals detect and prevent financial anomalies including fraud. Robin has a track record as an entrepreneur having founded successful software start- ups. He joined Cognos and subsequently IBM through acquisitions. In 2012 he was appointed IBM Distinguished Engineer. At IBM, he was a part of the Watson Group where he served as technical lead and chief architect of IBM Watson Analytics. Robin holds many patents in the areas of analytics, data processing and security. MindBridge Ai is a venture-backed FinTech company based in Ottawa, Canada. Through the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, the MindBridge platform detects anomalous patterns of activities, unintentional errors and intentional misstatements. Using MindBridge Ai Auditor, organizations across multiple industries can minimize financial loss, reduce corporate liability and can focus on providing higher value services to their clients.

Security in SDN/NFV and 5G Networks-Opportunities and Challenges

Speaker: Dr. Ashutosh Dutta, Director, Industry Outreach-IEEE Communications Society, IEEE 5G Initiative Founding Co-Chair and Senior Scientist JHU/APL (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab).
DATE: Wednesday April 3, 2019.
TIME: Refreshments/Registration/Networking: 06:00 p.m.; Seminar: 06:30 p.m. – 07:30 p.m.
PLACE: Ciena Optophotonics Lab (room T129), School of Advanced Technology, Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2G 1V8.
PARKING: after 5:00 p.m. at Lots 8 & 9. Pay $5 flat rate at the machine and display the ticket on your car dashboard.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Wahab Almuhtadi.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website.

Abstract
Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are the key pillars of future networks, including 5G and Beyond that promise to support emerging applications such as enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-low latency, massive sensing type applications while providing the resiliency in the network. Service providers and other verticals (e.g., Connected Cars, IOT, eHealth) can leverage SDN/NFV to provide flexible and cost-effective service without compromising the end user quality of service (QoS). While NFV and SDN open up the door for flexible networks and rapid service creation, these offer both security opportunities while also introducing additional challenges and complexities, in some cases. With the rapid proliferation of 4G and 5G networks, operators have now started the trial deployment of network function virtualization, especially with the introduction of various virtualized network elements in the access and core networks. These include elements such as virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC), virtualized IP Multimedia Services (vIMS), Virtualized Residential Gateway, and Virtualized Next Generation Firewalls. However, very little attention has been given to the security aspects of virtualization. While several standardization bodies (e.g., ETSI, 3GPP, NGMN, ATIS, TIA) have started looking into the many security issues introduced by SDN/NFV, additional work is needed with larger security community involvement including vendors, operators, universities, and regulators. This tutorial will address evolution of cellular technologies towards 5G but will largely focus on various security challenges and opportunities introduced by SDN/NFV and 5G networks such as Hypervisor, Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), SDN Controller, Orchestrator, Network slicing, Cloud RAN, and security function virtualization. This tutorial will also highlight some of the ongoing activities within various standards communities and will illustrate a few deployment use case scenarios for security including threat taxonomy for both operator and enterprise networks. In addition, I will also describe some of the ongoing activities within IEEE Future Network initiative including roadmap efforts and various ways one can get involved and contribute to this initiative.

Bio
Dr. Ashutosh Dutta is currently Senior Wireless Communication Systems Research Scientist and JHU/APL Sabbatical Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labs (JHU/APL), USA. Most recently he served as Principal Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Labs in Middletown, New Jersey. His career, spanning more than 30 years, includes Director of Technology Security and Lead Member of Technical Staff at AT&T, CTO of Wireless at a Cybersecurity company NIKSUN, Inc., Senior Scientist in Telcordia Research, Director of Central Research Facility at Columbia University, adjunct faculty at NJIT, and Computer Engineer with TATA Motors. He has more than 90 conference and journal publications, three book chapters, and 30 issued patents. Ashutosh is co-author of the book, titled, “Mobility Protocols and Handover Optimization: Design, Evaluation and Application” published by IEEE and John & Wiley that has recently been translated into Chinese Language. Ashutosh served as the chair for IEEE Princeton / Central Jersey Section, Industry Relation Chair for Region 1 and MGA, Pre-University Coordinator for IEEE MGA and vice chair of Education Society Chapter of PCJS. He co-founded the IEEE STEM conference (ISEC) and helped to implement EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) projects in several high schools. Ashutosh currently serves as the Director of Industry Outreach for IEEE Communications Society and is the founding co-chair for IEEE 5G initiative. He also serves as IEEE Communications Society’s Distinguished Lecturer for 2017-2018. Ashutosh serves as the general co-chair for the premier IEEE 5G World Forum. He was recipient of the prestigious 2009 IEEE MGA Leadership award and 2010 IEEE-USA professional leadership award. Ashutosh obtained his BS in Electrical Engineering from NIT Rourkela, India, MS in Computer Science from NJIT, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University under the supervision of Prof. Henning Schulzrinne. Ashutosh is a senior member of IEEE and ACM.

Opportunities and Design Considerations for GaN HEMTs in Industrial and Automotive Applications

Speaker: Juncheng (Lucas) Lu, Applications Engineering Manager, GaN Systems Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 2019.
TIME: Refreshments/Registration/Networking: 06:00 p.m.; Seminar: 06:30 p.m. – 08:00 p.m.
PLACE: Ciena Optophotonics Lab (room T129), School of Advanced Technology, Algonquin College, 1385 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2G 1V8.
PARKING: after 5:00 p.m. at Lots 8 & 9. Pay $5 flat rate at the machine and display the ticket on your car dashboard.
ADMISSION: Free. Registration required. To ensure a seat, please register by e-mail contacting: Wahab Almuhtadi or ottawapels@gmail.com.
MORE INFO: Ottawa ComSoc/CESoc/BTS Chapter website.

Abstract
GaN HEMT has been a focus in both academia and industry, due to the extremely low figure of merits (RDS(on) x QG) compared with conventional Silicon counterparts. The opportunities, challenges and design considerations for GaN HEMTs in industrial and automotive applications will be presented in the device/packaging and system perspectives. Design examples are detailed to show how the system performance maximization is enabled by GaN HEMTs with minimum cost in the selected applications. The key design procedures will be thoroughly discussed, i.e., topology selection, loss analysis, cost reduction, power stage layout, thermal design, etc.
This presentation is aimed at covering the fundamentals as well as the latest research and updates of GaN HEMTs applications. The target audience is the design engineers, researchers, and graduate/undergraduate students interested in industrial/automotive applications or just GaN technology.

Bio
Juncheng (Lucas) Lu received B.S. degree from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, and M.S. degree from
Kettering University, Michigan, USA. He was a research engineer with Delta Power Electronics Center, Shanghai, China. Since 2016, he has been with GaN Systems, Inc., Ottawa, Canada. He manages the head office applications and is responsible for Americas and EMEA application support.
His research interest is wide bandgap devices application, power electronics packaging, high-efficiency high power density power supply, and electric vehicle battery charger. He published more than 20 IEEE/SAE transaction and conference papers and holds 9 U.S. Patents.