Keynotes
Keynote 1: Electronics on the brain
George Malliaras
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Monday, 21st September, 06:25-07:25 PDT
Session Chair: Cecilia Mascolo
Abstract: One of the most important scientific and technological frontiers of our time is the interfacing of electronics with the human brain. This endeavour promises to help understand how the brain works and deliver new tools for diagnosis and treatment of pathologies including epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Current solutions, however, are limited by the materials that are brought in contact with the tissue and transduce signals across the biotic/abiotic interface. Recent advances in electronics have made available materials with a unique combination of attractive properties, including mechanical flexibility, mixed ionic/electronic conduction, enhanced biocompatibility, and capability for drug delivery. I will present examples of novel devices for recording and stimulation of neurons and show that organic electronic materials offer tremendous opportunities to study the brain and treat its pathologies.
Bio: George Malliaras is the Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the University of Cambridge (UK). He received a PhD from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and did a postdoc at the IBM Almaden Research Center (USA). Before joining Cambridge, he was a faculty member at School of Mines (France) and at Cornell University (USA), and served as the Director of the Cornell NanoScale Facility. His research has been recognized with awards from the New York Academy of Sciences, the US National Science Foundation, and DuPont, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Linköping in Sweden. He is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and of the Royal Society of Chemistry and serves as Deputy Editor of Science Advances.
Keynote 2: Disaggregating the Cellular Radio Access Network with O-RAN
Sachin Katti
Stanford University and VMware
Monday, 21st September, 09:00-10:00 PDT
Session Chair: Joerg Widmer
Abstract: Since cellular networks have been deployed, the radio access network (RAN) has been a vertically integrated and closed part of the network. This has limited network agility, increased cost, hindered innovation and has led to vendor consolidation. Over the past few years, for the first time ever, this has begun to change. We founded the xRAN forum out of our research on cellular network virtualization in 2016 which has now evolved to the O-RAN alliance that is defining the open RAN architecture. Open RAN has quickly become a movement that has been embraced both by cellular network operators and regulators as a means to diversify the cellular infrastructure supply chain and introduce much needed innovation. I will discuss the genesis of this architecture, initial successes with the deployment of the Rakuten and Dish networks in Japan and the US, and the road ahead.
Bio: Sachin Katti is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University and an Advisor in charge of Telco Strategy at VMware. He is also the Co-Chair of the Technical Steering Committee for O-RAN Alliance and the Director of the xRAN Foundation. He is also Co-Founder and ex-CEO of Uhana (now part of VMware) which built a network AI platform to monitor and optimize mobile networks and applications. He has previously co-founded Kumu Networks, which is commercializing breakthrough research from his lab on full duplex radios. He received his PhD in EECS from MIT in 2009. His research focuses on designing and building next generation high capacity wireless networks by combining techniques from information and coding theory, RF systems, and networking. His research has won numerous awards, including the 2008 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award - Honorable Mention, the George Sprowls Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in EECS at MIT, the IEEE William Bennett Prize, the Best Student Paper Award at ACM SIGCOMM 2012, USENIX ATC 2013, the Sloan Fellowship, the NSF Career Award as well as Okawa, Hooover, Packard and Terman Faculty Fellowships.
Keynote 3: What is Next for the Efficient Machine Learning Revolution?
Nic Lane
University of Cambridge and Samsung AI
Tuesday, 22nd September, 09:00-10:00 PDT
Session Chair: Dave Kotz
Abstract: Mobile and embedded devices increasingly rely on deep neural networks to understand the world -- a formerly impossible feat that would have overwhelmed their system resources just a few years ago. The age of on-device artificial intelligence is now upon us; but incredibly, these dramatic changes are just the beginning. Looking ahead, mobile machine learning will extend beyond simply classifying categories and perceptual tasks, to performing roles that alter how every part of the systems stack of smart devices function. This next evolution in constrained-resource computing will finally produce devices that meet our expectations in how they can learn, reason and react to the real-world. In this talk, I will briefly discuss the initial breakthroughs that allowed us to reach this point, and outline a number of looming open problems we must overcome to bring about this next phase in the deep transformation of mobile and embedded computing.
Bio: Nic Lane is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge where he leads the Machine Learning Systems Lab (CaMLSys). Alongside his academic role, he is also a Director (On-Device and Distributed Machine Learning) at the Samsung AI Center in Cambridge. Until May 2020, Nic was an Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at the University of Oxford. Earlier in his career, Nic held dual appointments at University College London (UCL) and Nokia Bell Labs. Of late, Nic research has specialized in the study of efficient machine learning under computational constraints, and over the last five years he has pioneered a range of embedded and mobile forms of deep learning. More generally, Nic’s research interests revolve around the modelling and systems challenges that arise when computers collect and reason over various types of complex real-world multi-modal sensor data. Nic has received multiple best paper awards, including ACM/IEEE IPSN 2017 and two from ACM UbiComp (2012 and 2015). In 2018 and 2019, he (and his co-authors) received the ACM SenSys Test-of-Time award and ACM SIGMOBILE Test-of-Time award for pioneering research, performed during his PhD thesis, that devised machine learning algorithms used today on devices like smartphones. Nic served as the PC-chair of ACM MobiSys 2019, a role he has performed also for ACM HotMobile and ACM SenSys in the past. Most recently, Nic is the 2020 ACM SIGMOBILE Rockstar award winner for his contributions to “the understanding of how resource-constrained mobile devices can robustly understand, reason and react to complex user behaviors and environments through new paradigms in learning algorithms and system design.” Prior to moving to England, Nic spent 4-years at Microsoft Research based in Beijing as a Lead Researcher. He received his PhD from Dartmouth College in 2011. Nic also received an M.Eng from Cornell University (2004) and a B.Sc (Hons) from the University of Waikato (2001).
Keynote 4: What's next in 5G infrastructure?
Durga Malladi
Qualcomm Technologies
Wednesday, 23rd September, 09:15-10:15 PDT
Session Chair: Bozidar Radunovic
Abstract: 5G networks are poised to become the unifying connectivity fabric – across spectrum, services and deployment models. Venues, enterprises, industrial operations, healthcare, and city infrastructure will all become smart connected spaces, big or small, and in public or private networking domains. Learn how network architectures will evolve to situate network functions where they most efficiently and securely cater to the unique requirements of each use case, and scale easily with demand. Join this keynote to get perspective on some of the exciting milestones along this 5G network evolution journey such as disaggregated network functions, open interfaces, virtualization, with the opportunistic use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) white boxes and inline accelerators, high performance radios, and lower latency with intelligence at the wireless edge.
Bio: Durga Malladi is Senior Vice President and General Manager, 4G/5G in Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Durga joined Qualcomm in 1998 as a Senior Engineer. Over the past 22 years, he has worked on 3G, 4G and 5G technologies in various R&D and Business roles. He was the Project Engineer of 4G LTE and LTE-Advanced in Qualcomm Research from 2008-15, working on features such as Carrier Aggregation, Small cells, HetNets, Relays, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), Internet of Things (eMTC, NB-IoT) and Cellular V2X. From 2015-18, he led 5G Research in Qualcomm across Sub6 and Millimeter Wave bands, focusing on enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Industrial IoT, 5G based Vehicular Communications (C-V2X), Integrated Access and Backhaul systems, Unlicensed / Shared Spectrum Access and Massive IoT (mIoT). The responsibilities spanned system design, standardization, prototype testbeds, pre-commercial vendor inter-operability tests and trials. Since 2018, as Senior VP & General Manager of 4G/5G, he is responsible for Cellular Modem, Position Location and Infrastructure Modem-RF businesses, Baseband and Transceiver modem technology roadmap & features, Software products, and Commercial engagements with 5G ecosystem partners (operators, service providers, infrastructure). He drives the overall 5G roadmap and solutions across business units, spanning Mobile, Industrial and Automotive segments. He is the recipient of Qualcomm’s IP Excellence Award, Qualcomm Distinguished Contributor Award for Project Leadership and Upendra Patel Achievement Awards for Outstanding Contributions to HSPA and LTE. Durga holds a B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and an M.S and Ph.D. from UCLA. His Ph.D. dissertation is on Sequential Detection and Adaptive Estimation techniques, and his research interests include Signal Processing, Communication Theory and Artificial Intelligence. He is a member of IEEE and holds 505 U.S. patents.
Keynote 5: From Research to Product: Stories from the Frontlines of R+D
Alex Kauffmann
Wednesday, 23rd September, 10:20-11:20 PDT
Session Chair: Shyam Gollakota
Abstract: Preparing research for production—so-called technology transfer—is, beyond the lab, a fraught and often thankless exercise in organizational diplomacy, problem solving, and improvisation. After nearly a decade of bridging the research and product worlds at Google, I have many stories of tech transfer that highlight lessons I've learned—lessons I hope can help others transforming research into cutting-edge tech that ships quickly and at scale.
Bio: Alex Kauffmann has spent the last decade working in research and development at Google—initially at Google X, where he built the first interfaces for Google Glass; then at Google Research, where he worked on gestural computing and computational photography and led the design of Google Cardboard; and most recently at Google's Advanced Technology and Projects division where he runs Direct Objects, a hardware R+D team intent on making computers disappear. His current research interests include low-power communication technologies, ad-hoc networks, and unusual devices. He has degrees from Harvard and NYU, where he studied technology and its history, and spent six years at ad and media agencies in China.
Keynote 6: From Early NFV to NLP – a Network Operator’s R&D Journey
Dr. Ron Marquardt
Vice President of Advanced Technologies & Innovation, T-Mobile
Thursday, 24th September, 08:15-09:15 PDT
Session Chair: Karthik Sundaresan
Abstract: While R&D investigations in industry may not often be viewed as “cutting edge” as similar efforts in academia, our work can benefit from being rooted in very concrete, practical challenges and yield an interesting and fruitful journey, nonetheless. Using the experiences of the R&D team formerly at US mobile operator Sprint, and now part of T-Mobile USA, the progression of a research vein is followed from its earliest concept, through multiple partnerships and intermediate results, to show some surprising ways in which an industry’s challenges can be met through collaboration, and spawn unanticipated new R&D efforts along the way. How does NLP relate to NFV? Can open source development supplement and improve industry standards? What benefits does a network operator find from such an exploration? These issues and more will be touched upon as the evolution of one mobile operator’s commercial R&D project is explored.
Bio: As Vice President of Advanced Technologies & Innovation for T-Mobile, Dr. Marquardt is responsible for the exploration of new and enabling technologies, partnerships with business leaders for their use in new categories of products and services, and the related industry relationships and investments enabling T-Mobile innovation and ecosystem development goals. He also represents T-Mobile at speaking engagements, in press and analyst interviews, and as needed with regulatory bodies and other industry stakeholders. Previously, he held a similar role at Sprint before the companies merged. Prior to Sprint, Dr. Marquardt was VP of Technology Development at Clearwire Corporation, responsible for that company’s technology strategy as well as the architecture, design, testing, and implementation of its mobile broadband 4G network, devices, and services. He also was CTO at Covad Communications where he led teams responsible for the engineering and network planning of VoIP, wireless, and broadband services across the United States. Prior to that role, he was in various positions at network equipment manufacturers. Dr. Marquardt has an S.B. in Physics from MIT, an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Caltech, and is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.