Schedule
A preliminary program, including the time-slot and date, as well as the abstract of the talks and panels, and the bios of the speakers in final draft form is available. Click on the title of the talk or panel to read the abstract. Click on the name of the speaker to view the speaker’s affiliation and bio. Additional presentations continue to be under review by the conference planning committee, so check back often for additional updates.
Tracks
The conference includes 6 tracks addressing issues important to real time communications. The names of the tracks, and their high level descriptions are shown below:
- IPTComm
- Programmable Real-Time Networks
- VoiceTech
- WebRTC & Real-Time Applications
- Next Generation Emergency Communications Services
- Internet of Things
IPTComm
Conference Co-Chairs: Carol Davids and Vijay Gurbani
IPTComm brings together researchers from academia, industry and government to advance real-time IP communications. The conference addresses current topics such as programmable network services, internet of things, confidential computing, interactive communications, artificial intelligence in communication networks with focus on the reliability, security, privacy, performance and scalability. The 14th IPTComm conference will be held on October 13, 2021 as a track within the Real Time Communications Conference and Expo, an IEEE International Conference, sponsored by the Chicago Section of the IEEE. The conference is tentatively scheduled to be a hybrid event with the in-person portion hosted on the Main Campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL.
Papers that are accepted and presented at the conference will be submitted for publication in IEEE Xplore.
Programmable Real-Time Networks
Track Chair: Maureen Stillman and Chris Mayer
The cloud is one of the defining technologies of the twenty-first century. By virtue of increased flexibility and cost-effectiveness relative to traditional IT, it has put vast computing resources at the fingertips of billions of people. At the same time, rapidly rising mobile data consumption, coupled with the high costs for deploying 5G are forcing operators to re-examine how they deploy next generation networks. This is leading network operators to begin transitioning to advanced technologies such as a cloud-native 5G mobile core architecture, virtualized Radio Access Networks (vRAN), and increased reliance on machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable network automation.
This evolution makes it possible to build, deploy, and operate new communications services quickly and with relative ease. It increases the number of communications developers and ushers in an era of “programmable real time networks” that are focused not only on technologies such as 5G, virtualization, and machine learning (ML), but also on potential future intersections with technologies such as dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), blockchain distributed ledgers, quantum computing, and many others.
This transition toward programmable networks gives rise to a new class of developer, network engineers armed with the ability to programmatically interact with the networks they administer. Programmatic interfaces enable network engineers to automate the creation of new network services (rapidly accelerating real time network creation and service activation functions), and to monitor and scale existing network services in real time to meet the rapidly increasing demands of the applications that run on top of them.
This track will focus on the technologies behind the shift to programmable real time networks, new skills required for the emerging class of network developers, and how these technologies are democratizing the way developers and network engineers create value and solve problems in disparate verticals. We will also delve into the intersection of voice, video and messaging technologies with other disciplines to examine potential threats and opportunities as developers and customers define new cutting-edge services and create new, disruptive applications.
VoiceTech
Track Chair: Jordan Hosier
Speech technology has changed the nature of our daily interactions. From voice assistants to conversational bots, speech and artificial intelligence technologies give way to amazing opportunities for business applications as well as academic research.
Natural language understanding is foundational to voice-powered technology. When this technology is performing at its best, the user experience is natural, fluid, and efficient. When it breaks down, the results can be frustrating. Despite recent advances in the field of AI, most conversational technologies still require a high degree of design skill to make this technology useful and effective, but there remain many challenges that impede optimal human-computer voice interaction.
This track brings attendees up-to-date on current and emerging NLU technology, analyzing how state-of-the-art technology is applied and the potential implications when it fails. We will cover concepts related to conversational AI including, but not limited to, optimization and implementation of NLU engines, conversational design, voice biometrics and authentication, as well as best practices for the collecting, generating, and annotating of voice data. This track will highlight recent developments in NLU, challenge the operational impact of emerging technology, and identify opportunities for growth and improvement in the field of VoiceTech.
WebRTC & Real-Time Applications
Track Chair: Alberto Gonzalez
Real Time Applications are no longer a niche – they are a crucial part of the modern internet and our distributed and socially distanced lives. Live audio and video is a key component of this new experience, as well as real-time data transfers that keep us informed even when working apart.
WebRTC video has come a long way since 2012 when it was proposed as a standard for allowing JavaScript code to access the microphone and camera via the browser, permitting peer-to-peer video, audio, and data connections to be created directly between browsers.
WebRTC usage has been growing dramatically since 2020 with the increased need to work from home and to have physically distant interactions due to coronavirus quarantines globally. This further increases the visibility and need for WebRTC and brings with it conversations around scalability, higher quality and usability.
This year, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) announced WebRTC as an official standard, and today its being used in billions of browsers, mobile phones and other devices. It enables video and audio communications in a wide range of industries, including: social media, telecommunications, healthcare, education, broadcasting, and more.
In this track we will:
- Go over the current status of WebRTC from a standards and market perspective
- Explore best practices for implementing Real Time Applications and WebRTC, covering topics such as web/mobile development, testing, and security
- Examine leading use cases for WebRTC applications
- Learn how to scale WebRTC
Next Generation Emergency Communications Services
Track Chair: Mark Fletcher
Welcome to 2021, and the potential end of “The Great Pandemic” – we hope. While the world struggled through a period of forced innovation and connectivity, thoughts and ideas that once seemed impossible, became reality. Few other industries saw such dramatic change as did public safety. The reason? No matter how dangerous conditions were, citizens still needed help when they were hurt; accidental fires still raged in homes and forests; hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and natural disasters did not take a vacation. Emergency services operations were forced to continue in an environment that was as alien to them as anything they had ever experienced.
IT innovators and engineers were challenged to “MAKE IT HAPPEN”. Overnight, untested theories, and unproven concepts were thrust into production, albeit still with caution. And, while caution was not thrown to the wind, it was balanced against the dangers present in current systems as decisions were being made. The effort was to use new and emerging technologies to directly benefit Public Safety. Under this pressure, innovative ideas were given the opportunity to mature, and be fine-tuned as operational challenges were met head-on, and in most cases overcome.
The Next Generation Emergency Services Track will highlight, not just the technologies, but their innovative utilization and use cases specific to the Public Safety sector. In addition to developers and engineers, this track will include IT administrators, addressing the means by which they achieved workflow and operational stability. Our speakers will describe how they implemented unfamiliar technologies, and the levels of trust in these new technologies that was required and generated during this difficult year.
Join us as this track continues to highlight the intersection of public safety and new technologies and the challenges presented as make these technologies operational. Next Generation emergency services is no longer a future technology. It is here and thriving in both the public and private sectors.
Internet of Things
Track Chairs: Besma Smida and Alvin Chin
Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as one of the most trending topics of technology in recent times since it gives rise to a number of trends and services related to different scenarios. Thanks to its multidisciplinary approach, IoT has been phenomenal in revolutionizing many aspects of traditional paradigms. By 2025, the IoT is expected to connect 25 billion smart objects to the network. Applications and their enablement play a critical role in harnessing this connectivity growth and the data generated from these objects.
IT technology development, whether it is Silicon, Multimedia Communication, Devices & Systems, Software, Solutions, System Integration & Services is being augmented through this new IoT paradigm. Vertical industry segments such as manufacturing, healthcare, digital workplace technologies, transportation and public sector continue to heavily invest their resources to capitalize on this burgeoning market which is poised to have an overall impact of many trillion dollars. Through these applications, data collected can foster breakthroughs in decision making, operational efficiencies, safety, and security and have an effect on nearly every aspect of the customer experience.
IoT relies upon a vast confluence of technologies and standards – including sensors and actuators, wearable computing, communications & protocols, network, storage and compute infrastructure, big data and analytics, middleware, security, visualization and control and finally immersive applications.
This track aims at bringing together researchers from academia and industry to contribute with their latest research works from various fields of the state-of-the-art, pertaining to this new IoT paradigm.