MARCH MEETING
Cognitive Radio Technology

DATE: Thursday, March 24, 2011
PLACE : Raffel’s – 10160 Reading Road (see below for directions)
TIME : 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. –  Social Time
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. –  Dinner
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. –  Presentation
COST:   $12- $20, See information in Reservations

MENU SELECTIONS:   Buffet Menu: BBQ’d Ribs, Marinated Char Grilled Chicken Breast, Au Gratin Potatoes, Steamed Fresh Broccoli, Cole Slaw, Tossed Salad, Dinner Rolls and Butter.   There is also a bar available for the purchase of alcoholic drinks.

LOCATION:  Raffel’s is located at 10160 Reading Road, south of Glendale-Milford Road on the east side of Reading. Take I-75 to the Glendale-Milford Rd. Exit, go east on Glendale-Milford Road approximately ¾ of a mile to Reading Rd. and turn right on Reading.

RESERVATIONS:  (Please note New Procedure) New on-line reservation system.  Please make reservations for this meeting by going to: Cognitive Radio Technology meeting .  You may pay on-line via PayPal, or by cash or check at the door.

On-line dinner reservation: $12.00 (member), $15.00 (non-member).

All dinner reservations close at noon on March 22, 2011.

Walk-in dinner rate (i.e. no reservation): $15.00 (member), $20.00 (non-member).  No guarantee that meals will be available for walk-ins.  Cash or check only.  Valid IEEE Membership card required for member rate.

** You are welcome to attend this meetings without purchasing dinner – Registration is requested**

Voice Mail reservations have been eliminated.

PE CREDITS:  Depending on the subject matter, attendance at IEEE Cincinnati Section Meetings now qualifies the attendee for Professional Development Hours towards renewal of Professional Engineers Licenses. Required documentation will be available following the meeting!  The Section Meetings also provide a great opportunity to network with fellow engineers in the area.

ABOUT THE MEETING:
The Cincinnati Chapter of the IEEE is proud to offer a presentation of the state of the art in Cognitive Radio Technology by two leading experts in the field, Dr. James Neel, President and co-founder of Cognitive Radio Technologies (CRT), and David Maldonado, Business Development manager at L-3 Nova Engineering. This emerging technology is having a profound effect on the way radios and frequency spectrum will be used in the future. Both gentleman are graduates of Virginia Tech, a pioneering institution in cognitive radio technologies.

From Wikipedia: “Cognitive radio is a paradigm for wireless communication in which either a network or a wireless node changes its transmission or reception parameters to communicate efficiently avoiding interference with licensed or unlicensed users. This alteration of parameters is based on the active monitoring of several factors in the external and internal radio environment, such as radio frequency spectrum, user  behavior and network state.
The idea of cognitive radio was first presented officially by Joseph Mitola III in a seminar at KTH, The Royal Institute of Technology, in 1998, published later in an article by Mitola and Gerald Q. Maguire, Jr in 1999.[1] It was a novel approach in wireless communications that Mitola later described as:
The point in which wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the related networks are sufficiently computationally intelligent about radio resources and related computer-to-computer communications to detect user communications needs as a function of use context, and to provide radio resources and wireless services most appropriate to those needs.[2]
It was thought of as an ideal goal towards which a software-defined radio platform should evolve: a fully reconfigurable wireless black-box that automatically changes its communication variables in response to network and user demands.”

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Dr. James Neel is the President of Cognitive Radio Technologies, which he founded in 2007 with Dr. Jeff Reed to commercialize cognitive radio research from Virginia Tech. The leading small business for incorporating artificial intelligence into wireless networks with three SBIRs on cognitive spectrum management and contracts on topics ranging from applying behavioral learning to detecting the intention of wireless networks to rapidly deployable networks for disaster responses. Dr Neel is the Chair of the Cognitive Radio Work Group in the Wireless Innovation Forum (formerly the SDR Forum), and has received three paper awards for the design of cognitive radio networks.

Mr. David Maldonado is currently the Manager of the Advanced Programs and New Technologies Development Group at L-3 Nova Engineering.  In addition, Mr. Maldonado is part of the Business Development group.  In his combined role, Mr. Maldonado is responsible for identifying new technologies and emerging markets of business development. He is also part of the company’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) selection committee.  It is in this capacity that Mr. Maldonado has participated in the system engineering of various next generation SDR-based communications systems and supported integration, test and evaluation of Cognitive Radio algorithms into the company’s product offerings. Mr. Maldonado has also contributed to the creation of a tightly integrated development process between the modeling, simulation and hardware development teams to ensure a successful and more effective transition of innovations to deployable systems. Much of this work has been integral to L-3 Nova Engineering’s maturation, rapid integration and transition of technologies developed in conjunction with Small Business and University partners directly impacting DoD developments such as the JTRS WNW waveform program.

Mr. Maldonado obtained his MS from Virginia Tech (VT) where he is currently working on his PhD degree. As part of his work, Mr. Maldonado was one of the pioneers of the Center for Wireless Telecommunications (CWT) Cognitive Engine (CE) at VT. He has been part of Cognitive Radio developments since its inception and an active participant of the Wireless Innovation Forum (formerly the SDR Forum) Cognitive Radio Working Group where he held Vice-Chair and Chair positions.

Prior to Joining L-3 Nova Engineering, Mr. Maldonado held a District Sales Manager position at Anritsu Company as part of their wireless Test and Measurement (T&M) group where he served as a liaison between Sales, Marketing and Engineering groups. Mr. Maldonado’s career in advanced wireless development started in the commercial arena as an RF engineer of Ericsson’s Mobile Handset R&D group.

NEW MEMBERS

The following individuals are IEEE members who are new to our Section:

Guthrie Briggs
Chris Butler
Casandra Cox
Andrew Daniel
Tobias Derdorff
John Dwyer
Chris Edwards
Jeffrey Gruseck
Alexander Jones 
Matthew Myers
Kevin Penn
Anthony Sargent
Michaela Scheifer
Aaron Seidel
Alander Squire
Xinyu Sun
Gregory Watson
We wish to welcome these members to the Cincinnati Section!!!

 If you are interested in upgrading your membership to Senior Member, please contact any member of the Executive Committee.

FEBRUARY MEETING
Police radar and laser detectors – state of the art

DATE: Thursday, February 24, 2011
PLACE : Raffel’s – 10160 Reading Road (see below for directions)
TIME : 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. –  Social Time
               6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. –  Dinner
               7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. –  Presentation
COST:   $12- $15, See information in Reservations

MENU SELECTIONS:   Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Breast with Ham & Cheese, Scalloped Potatoes, Seasoned Green Beans, Tossed Salad, Dinner Rolls and Butter.  There is also a bar available for the purchase of alcoholic drinks.

LOCATION:  Raffel’s is located at 10160 Reading Road, south of Glendale-Milford Road on the east side of Reading. Take I-75 to the Glendale-Milford Rd. Exit, go east on Glendale-Milford Road approximately ¾ of a mile to Reading Rd. and turn right on Reading.

RESERVATIONS:  (Please note New Procedure) We are changing to an on-line reservation system.  Please make reservations for each meeting by going to: https://ieeecincinnati.org/meetings/.  Please click on the appropriate link and complete the reservation.  Beginning with the March 2011 meeting, you will be able to pay on-line.  We encourage you to use the on-line system.  It is a convenience not only to you, but also to our volunteers.  For a limited time, we will be offering a price break for using the on-line system.  $12 On-line reservations for IEEE member and $15 for Guests, Email, Voice Mail, or at the door. 
** If you are having dinner you must use the Menu Selection drop down box to select “Buffet – $12”**
If for some reason you cannot use the on-line reservation system, you may register by emailing your Name, IEEE Member Number (if you wish to receive the IEEE rate), a daytime telephone number, and whether or not you will be having dinner to reservations@ieeecincinnati.org .  For email reservations, you will pay at the door by check or cash (exact change appreciated).
All Reservations must be made by Noon, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 if you plan to attend.
Voice Mail reservations will be eliminated at the end of February 2011.  Voice Mail at 513-629-9380.
PE CREDITS: Depending on the subject matter, attendance at IEEE Cincinnati Section Meetings now qualifies the attendee for Professional Development Hours towards renewal of Professional Engineers Licenses. Required documentation will be available following the meeting!  The Section Meetings also provide a great opportunity to network with fellow engineers in the area.

ABOUT THE MEETING:  
Ever since speed measurement devices were introduced in the late 1960s using microwave (radar) frequencies, devices to detect these transmitters have been sold to the public.  As detectors become more and more capable, police radar and laser guns manufacturers introduce features, and sometimes new frequencies, to make them less detectable and more efficient.  This contest continues today with the widespread use of laser guns, as well as the introduction of ultra-short duration radar pulse guns, referred to as “POP” in the industry.
 
This talk will cover the various technical aspects of this cat-and-mouse game and will review the present state of the art in radar and laser speed measurement and its countermeasures.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: 
Marwan Nusair is from Amman, Jordan receiving his BA(Hons) and MA(Hons) from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences (experimental physics), and his M.Sc. from the American University of Beirut (theoretical physics). He went on to receive a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Cincinnati, and, more importantly, met his wife there.
He spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toronto Physics Department, followed by two years as an instructor. He then started a business in Cincinnati, designing antennas and feedhorns for home satellite use, and later commercial satellite systems. The business was sold in 1985. He has been a consultant since 1987, doing design work for RF and microwave projects, with the majority being in the police radar detector industry. He is currently busy with radar detector design work. He has published 4 papers in peer-reviewed physics journals and has 7 patents in microwave design and 3 currently pending. He was also a visiting professor of physics at the University of Cincinnati in 1987-88. He is also proud of the fact that an antenna system of his design is in use in a U.S. military project known as “Spider”.
He has served as IEEE Cincinnati Section Secretary and is now Treasurer, and looks forward to helping the Section continue its success, whether as a member or officer.

MEMBERSHIP NEWS
If you are interested in upgrading your membership to Senior Member, please contact any member of the Executive Committee.
NEW MEMBERS
The following individuals are IEEE members who are new to our Section:

Daniel Amundson
Joshua Biltz
Ralph Campbell
Waylon Chambless
Eric Cochran
Keith Frikken
John Gebhardt
Greg Harrington
Herman Harrison
Nathan Kincade 
Joe Koetters
Robert Maertz
Dean Oliver
Rodney Phillips
Jim Ramler
Michael Shannon
Antar Vasi
Timothy Waters
Dalric Webb
We wish to welcome these members to the Cincinnati Section!!!