Nonparametric Identification of Linear Time-Varying Systems

Prof. Helmut Bölcskei

Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Switzerland

Abstract:

We first review basics of deterministic linear time-varying (LTV) systems and then discuss a fundamental result, due to Kailath (1962), showing that a deterministic LTV system is identifiable from a single observation if and only if the support area of its delay-Doppler spreading function is smaller than 1. We present a text-book proof of this result and develop insights into the design of good signals for nonparametric LTV system identification. We show that this design problem is closely linked to Weyl-Heisenberg frame theory, in particular to the Heil-Ramanathan-Topiwala conjecture. We then show how the framework developed in this talk can be applied to the identification of LTV systems with sparsely supported delay-Doppler spreading function and unknown support area, thereby establishing relations between system identification, compressed sensing, and radar waveform design.

About the Keynote Speaker:

Helmut Bölcskei was born in Mödling, Austria on May 29, 1970, and received the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr. techn. degrees in electrical engineering from Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, in 1994 and 1997, respectively. In 1998 he was with Vienna University of Technology. From 1999 to 2001 he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Information Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, and in the Department of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. He was in the founding team of Iospan Wireless Inc., a Silicon Valley-based startup company (acquired by Intel Corporation in 2002) specialized in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems for high-speed Internet access, and was a co-founder of Celestrius AG, Zurich, Switzerland. From 2001 to 2002 he was an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been with ETH Zurich since 2002, where he is Professor of Electrical Engineering. He was a visiting researcher at Philips Research Laboratories Eindhoven, The Netherlands, ENST Paris, France, and the Heinrich Hertz Institute Berlin, Germany. His research interests are in information theory, mathematical signal processing, and applied and computational harmonic analysis.

He received the 2001 IEEE Signal Processing Society Young Author Best Paper Award, the 2006 IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Best Paper Award, the 2010 Vodafone Innovations Award, the ETH "Golden Owl" Teaching Award, is a Fellow of the IEEE, and was an Erwin Schrödinger Fellow (1999-2001) of the Austrian National Science Foundation (FWF). He was a plenary speaker at several IEEE conferences and served as an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, and the EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing. He is currently editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and serves on the editorial board of "Foundations and Trends in Networking". He was TPC co-chair of the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory and serves on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Society.

Keynote Speaker's web-page:

http://www.nari.ee.ethz.ch/~boelcskei

Challenges and Recent Advances in Cancer Image Analysis

Dr. Julia A. Schnabel

Institute of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Engineering Science
University of Oxford
United Kingdom

Abstract:

In this talk I will present our recent research efforts and advances in the field of cancer image analysis, as part of the Oxford Cancer Imaging Centre. In particular, I will focus on a number of novel non-rigid registration methodologies developed for respiratory motion correction in lung imaging, which is a particularly challenging application due to the combination of rigid structures, such as the ribs, and largely deformable structures involved, such as the lungs and liver. The sliding motion of the lungs, resulting in locally discontinuous deformations, is one of the main challenges that we are currently facing and are actively working on. Other challenging applications include the motion correction and analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced or perfusion images, where small, localised patient motion compromises accurate tumour localisation and diagnosis.

About the Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Julia A. Schnabel is a University Lecturer in Engineering Science at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford. She received her Diplom in Informatics in 1993 from the Technical University of Berlin, and her PhD in Computer Science in 1998 from University College London (UCL). She then became Research Associate at the University Medical Centre Utrecht, and from 1999 Research Fellow at Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas’ Medical Schools, London. She joined the new Centre for Medical Image Computing at UCL in 2005 as Research Fellow, before taking up her post in Oxford in 2007. Julia’s research is in medical image analysis, in particular nonlinear image registration and motion modelling. Julia has published over 80 peer-reviewed conference and journal articles, is Associate Editor for Medical Physics, and on the Editorial Board of Medical Image Analysis.

Keynote Speaker's web-page:

http://www.ibme.ox.ac.uk/biomedia/people/julia-schnabel

Colour for Image Retrieval and Image Browsing

Dr. Gerald Schaefer

Department of Computer Science
Loughborough University
United Kingdom

Abstract:

Content-based image retrieval, which is based on the principle of extracting image features and visual similarity based on these features, has been an active research area for the last two decades. While several kinds of features can be used for retrieval, colour features are the most widely and most successfully employed, and are hence at the heart of various image retrieval engines.

However, it is also known that colour is not a stable image cue as it depends on various confounding factors including scene illumination and device characteristics. In my talk, I will focus on this issue and present solutions to this problem in the form of colour invariant features, i.e. features that do not change with a change of light, putting particular emphasis on colour invariance for uncalibrated images.

In the second part of my talk, I will look at the use of colour not for direct retrieval, but for image database visualisation and navigation, and present some colour-based image browsing systems we have developed in our lab which allow for intuitive and efficient exploration of large image repositories.

About the Keynote Speaker:

Gerald Schaefer gained his BSc. in Computing from the University of Derby and his PhD in Computer Vision from the University of East Anglia. He worked at the Colour & Imaging Institute, University of Derby (1997-1999), in the School of Information Systems, University of East Anglia (2000-2001), in the School of Computing and Informatics at Nottingham Trent University (2001-2006), and in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Aston University (2006-2009) before joining the Department of Computer Science at Loughborough University.

His research interests are mainly in the areas of colour image analysis, image retrieval, physics-based vision, medical imaging, and computational intelligence. He has published extensively in these areas with a total publication count exceeding 250. He is a member of the editorial board of more than 10 international journals, reviews for over 60 journals and served on the programme committee of more than 200 conferences. He has been invited as plenary speaker to several conferences, is the organiser of various international workshops and special sessions at conferences, and the editor of several books and special journal issues.

Keynote Speaker's web-page:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/co/people/acad_staff/schaefer.html

Overview of Innovative Antenna Research at the University of Zagreb

Prof. Juraj Bartolic

Department of Wireless Communications
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
University of Zagreb
Croatia

Abstract:

This talk presents recent advances in small antennas, UWB antennas, and reconfigurable antennas and arrays performed at the Department of Wireless Communications, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb. The first part of my talk briefly introduces design challenges of small and ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas. Then, the miniaturization techniques of small and UWB antennas are addressed. Various techniques of antenna miniaturization and several fabricated antenna prototypes are shown. In the second part of my talk, several reconfigurable antennas are presented and discussed. A design of compact dual band reconfigurable slot antenna is shown. The dual band operation is realised by changing the slot electrical length using solid state PIN diode shunt switches. Also, the dynamic control of the beamwidth of a partially reflective surface (PRS) antenna is reported.

About the Keynote Speaker:

Juraj Bartolic was born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1948. He received the dipl. ing., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Zagreb in 1971, 1975, and 1982, respectively. From 1972 to 1974 he was with the Radio Industry of Zagreb working on development of a digital radio system. In 1974, he joined the Department of Wireless Communications, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, were he was a Research Assistant, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor. Since 1997 he is a Professor in the same department. He served as the Head of the Department in the Department of Wireless Communications from 2000 to 2004. Since 1998 he is a member of the Croatian Academy of Engineering.

His research interests include antennas, microwave engineering, electromagnetic compatibility, and wireless circuit and system design. He has published over 200 refereed international journal and conference papers, and two books and three book chapters. Since 2007 he is an Elected Member of the Board of Directors of European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP). He is more that two decades active in European collaboration through the COST Actions: 223, 245, 260, and 284, European FP6 project Antenna Centre of Excellence (ACE 2), and the FP7 project Coordination of Antenna Research in Europe (CARE). He is currently a Croatian delegate for COST action IC0603 (ASSIST). He is a senior member of IEEE, and a member of EurAAP, EuMA, Elmar, and KoREMA.

Keynote Speaker's web-page:

http://www.rc.fer.hr/jbartolic