CEEN%20Department%20Cyber%20Infrastructure%20Vision:%20Education,%20Outreach%20and%20Research

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CEEN Department Cyber Infrastructure Vision
Education, Outreach and Research

• Dr. Bing Chen, Computer and Electronics
  Engineering
• College of Engineering
• Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha campus
• August 15th, 2005

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State of US Engineering Education

• Static student enrollments in ECE
• International competition
• esp. Pacific rim
• US undergraduate enrollments impacted
• Offshore job migration perceptions
• Dot-Com Bust
• Lack of diversity
• Found in ECE faculties
• Low minority / women student enrollment
• Programs are largely unchanged since the Sputnik
  era Bruce Kramer, NSF

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CEEN Goals

• Improve student retention
• 1st year 50 average
• 2nd year 20 average
• Attract more students
• Underrepresented minorities
• Women
• Enhance
• Level of individual creativity
• Sense of discovery from courses and laboratories
• Increase faculty research and satisfaction

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Department Objectives Education

• Search for a unifying theme
• Enhance student interest
• Bring anticipation for the next course in the
  sequence
• Increase outreach to K-12 students
• Schools with high underrepresented minority
  populations
• e.g., Omaha Public Schools

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Research That Improves Faculty Productivity

• Proposal sharing CEEN courses
• Analogy Like farmers of old sharing implements
  and working together
• With upper-Midwest ECE departments
• Increase subject availability to students
• Free more faculty to pursue other research and
  educational opportunities
• Advantage Internet2 Abilene Network
• Distribute and receive courses

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Education Solution Paths

• Applying the TekBot robot
• Developed as a learning platform at Oregon State
  U.
• Diffuse into the CEEN programs into all 4 UG
  years
• Review NSF programs
• Support for program improvements and outreach to
  K-12
• Solution
• Outreach NSF ITEST (Information Technology
  Experiences For Students and Teachers)
• Self-improvement AI (Adaptation and Innovation)
  
• Announcements pending in Aug./Sept. for 1.2M and
  160K

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The Access Grid (AG)

• Access Grid offers
• Multimedia large-format displays
• Presentation and interactive environments
• Interfaces to Grid middleware and to
  visualization environments
• High-end audio and visual technology needed to
  provide a high-quality compelling user experience
• AG supports distance group-to-group interactions
  across the Grid.
• e.g., uses of AG
• Large-scale distributed meetings / collaborative
  work sessions
• Seminars / training
• Lectures / tutorials
• Virtual site visit meetings / remote panel
  discussions / grid based demonstrations
• Research
• The Access Grid has member sites in over 47
  countries

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Access Grid Concepts

• AG prototype Demonstration at UKY Chautauqua
• Shared PowerPoint
• Large-format displays
• Multiple audio and video streams
• Supporting distributed meetings

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Access Grid Basics
Presenter mic
Presenter camera
Ambient mic (tabletop)
Audience camera

• Designed spaces for group interactions
• Hands free audio
• Multiple video and audio streams
• Wide field of view

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PKI-161 AG Setup
Seamless RGB Video
Display Svr
Digital Video
Shared App, Control
I2 Abilene
S-Video
Video Encoding Svr 1
INPUTS Cameras 1-6, DVD/VCR SmartBoard, Sympodium
, Polycom, Inst. PC, Visual Pres.
Video Encoding Svr 2
Digital Video
Video Encoding Svr 3
Digital Audio
Analog Audio
Audio Capture Svr
Echo Canceller/ Mixers
Microphones (13) student (1) instructor (2)
operator (4) wireless
RS232 Serial
Control Svr
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The Next-Generation AG Powerhouse

• Right now PKI-161 supports
• Seamless screen real estate (Default not
  seamless)
• 26 students (Default 3-10)
• Multiple presenters at same site (Default 1 per
  site)
• Multiple media formats at the same time DVD/VCR,
  visual presenter, Sympodium, SMARTBoard,
  Instructor PC/Laptop (Default one or none at a
  time)
• Hands-on or hands-free microphone system
  (Default hands-free)
• Uses of distance education and video conference
  (AG, Polycom, or AG/Polycom), also presentation
  room and normal classroom (Default video
  conference only)

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Our Access Grid Project Goals

• Connecting people and teams via the Grid
• Improve the user experience
• Drop the idea of one-on-one teleconferencing
• Provide a sense of presence
• Support natural interaction methods
• Implement quality and efficient digital IP-based
  audio/video
• AG development of HD / DV or MPEG-4 video
• Enable complex multi-site visual and
  collaborative experiences
• HeyeWall, VR Caves
• Distance Learning
• Build on integrated Grid services architecture
• Develop new tools specifically to support group
  collaboration

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Our AG Active Research Issues

• Recording, playback, and production of
  multistream media
• Friendly AG AG to the end-user desktop
• Potential replacement for NetMeeting, etc.
• Secure communications via AG
• Improving sense of presence and point of view
• Network monitoring and real-time management
• Role of Back-channel communications

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Why Travel?

• A few current professional reasons for travel
• Taking courses from a distant university / school
• Face-to-face business sessions or training
  workshops
• Problems
• Post 9/11 concerns
• How safe are the skies?
• Costly for everyone involved
• Monetary travel, hotel, car rental/taxi fees,
  lost work/productivity
• Human condition no home comforts, separation of
  family

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Why Travel When You Can Use AG?

• AG is the solution
• Real-time face-to-face meetings
• Multiple media formats
• Cost effective (find a node in your area)
• PKI-161
• Shown in the previous slides

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Satellite COmmunications for LeAarning (SCOLA)

• SCOLA provides
• Real-time video of foreign language programming
• News and cultural programs in native languages
  from 58 countries in 44 languages
• 3 channels of programming delivered to
• Colleges, K-12 schools, cable systems, foreign
  language and foreign policy institutes

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SCOLA Transmission Method
Universities
Internet2 Network
SCOLA
Research Lab
Institutions
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List of SCOLA Countries
ArgentinaArmeniaAzerbaijanBasqueBelarusBrazilBulgariaCanadaCataloniaChileChinaColombiaCosta RicaCroatiaCubaCzechDubaiEl SalvadorEstonia FinlandFranceGaliciaGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIranIsraelItalyJapanJordanKazakhstanKoreaKyrgyzLatviaLithuaniaMexicoMoldova MyanmarNetherlandsNicaraguaPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSpainSwedenTaiwanTurkeyUkraineUSAUzbekistanVaticanVietnam
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Universities receiving SCOLA
Arizona State University College of William and Mary Columbia University Harvard University Lehigh University Louisiana State University Michigan Technological Mississippi State University Northern Michigan University Notre Dame Rice University Rochester Institute of Tech. Syracuse University Tufts University University of Kansas University of North Carolina University of Pennsylvania University of Vermont University of Washington University of Iowa Virginia Commonwealth Duke University New York University Northern State University Stanford University Texas Tech University University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Utah Wake Forest University Berlitz Language Center Florida AM University North Carolina State North Dakota State Northwestern University St. Cloud State University State University of New York Texas Christian University University of Alabama at Birmingham University of Alaska Fairbanks University of Arkansas University of Indiana Purdue University of New Mexico University of Oklahoma University of Rochester West Virginia University
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SCOLA Research Areas

• High-Speed Network Protocols
• Next Generation of Internet
• Internet2
• Real-Time Video Broadcasting over High-Speed
  Networks
• Components
• Quality of Service (QoS) issues for real time
  applications such as monitoring number of frames
  lost in video broadcasting
• Routing for multiple requests, including the
  multicast issues
• Network adaptability

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Internet2 Abilene Network (at least 1000 times
faster than current Internet)
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Future SCOLA Work

• SCOLA Archiving
• Content based video indexing
• Development of a protocol model for real-time
  (time sensitive) applications over the next
  generation of Internet

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Economic Development for NebraskaCollaboration
of University, Industry, and NSF
UNL COE CEEN
SCOLA Corp
International Broadcast Deployed over Internet2
NSF EPSCOR