Workshop in the framework of MobiMedia 2007

Convergence among Mobile Multimedia Services and Fourth-Generation Wireless Networking Standards: Technical Challenges and Users’ Perspectives

Recently, a plethora of multimedia services are being provided to mobile users with a fair quality of service. Cellular phones and handsets are now becoming more and more similar to small “portable multimedia centers”, so that people often watch TV or surf on Internet walking on foot, traveling by car, bus, train, etc.  In the next decade, the development of fourth generation wireless standards (4G) should enhance the trend towards broadband mobility. The ambitious goals of future 4G standardization process are well known: broadband mobile connectivity, ubiquitous connectivity, global coverage reached by a tight integration of terrestrial and satellite networking infrastructures, adaptive reconfigurability of the terminals, seamless vertical handover, etc. Pillars in the transition from 3G to 4G are represented by multicarrier modulations (OFDM, MC-CDMA), software-defined radio (SDR) technologies, situation-location aware networks and services.

If this panorama is “framed” in a multimedia perspective, some questions obviously arise. Could 4G standards be “broadband” enough to improve perceptual quality of video streaming, real-time interaction in delay-sensitive applications, throughput of TCP-based applications? How can mobility issues be addressed by 4G standards in multimedia applications? In other words, will it be possible to provide a good quality of service also to multimedia users traveling by high-speed trains or airplanes? What would the real impact of SDR technologies be on multimedia service provision? How might be efficiently exploited location-situation awareness in order to improve the perceived QoS? Should the concept of “wireless security” be revised in a renewed framework of large-scale broadband multimedia mobility?

To try to answer to these questions (and to other ones), the MULTICOM-4G workshop will be organized in the context of the MobiMedia 2007 Conference.

High-quality contributions coming from leading experts in mobile multimedia communications, 4G standards, advanced mobile networking, etc. are welcome. A preliminary list of suggested topics for this session is given as follows:

• Multicarrier modulations and multimedia communications

• MIMO systems

• Future-generation mobile networking protocols for multimedia applications

• Software radio techniques for multimedia communications

• Middleware for multimedia communications

• Advanced channel coding techniques for multimedia communications

• High-speed mobility and broadband multimedia

• Multimedia handset implementation issues

• Satellite communications and multimedia applications: a look to the future

• Innovative video coding techniques for mobile HDTV services

• Ad-hoc networks for mobile multimedia

• Security issues in next-generation mobile multimedia services

• Applications: the end-user perspective

The workshop will host presentations of original, unpublished contributions, subject to peer review. The papers will be published in the MobiMedia Conference Proceedings.

Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Perspective authors are kindly asked to tightly adhere to the ACM publication guidelines when they are formatting their papers (these guidelines, together with the related author kit can be found at the address: http://www.mobimedia.org/authorskitacm.php). The papers MUST be submitted by e-mail as pdf attachment to the following address: multicom-4g@lenst.det.unifi.it. Note that only pdf format will be accepted for paper submission. Authors should quote in the cover e-mail their names, affiliation and the e-mail address of the corresponding author.

• Deadline paper submission: April 30^th 2007

• Notification of acceptance: June 8^th 2007

• Submission of camera ready papers: July 2^nd 2007

Technical chair

Dr. Claudio Sacchi – University of Trento (I)

Publication chair

Dr. Simone Morosi - University of Florence (I)

Publicity chair

Dr. Giulia Boato - University of Trento (I)

Program and Review Committee

• Prof. Luc Vandendorpe, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve (B)

• Prof. Jonathan Rodriguez, Instituto de Telecomunicaciones; Aveiro (P)

• Prof. Gregory Yovanof, Athens Information Technology, (GR)

• Dr. Christos Politis, OfCom (UK)

• Dr. Massimo Donelli, University of Trento (I)

• Prof. Ramjee Prasad, University of Aalborg (DK)

• Prof. Petri Mahonen, RWTH Aachen (D)

• Prof. Lajos Hanzo, University of Southampton (UK)

• Dr. Merouane Debbah, EURECOM (F)

• Dr. Fabrizio Granelli, University of Trento (I)

• Dr. Maristella Musso, University of Genoa (I)