NSDR 2008

Important Dates

2007-11-02T04:49:37Z

PAPERS:
Submission:	~~Sunday, 2nd March, 2008~~ Friday, 7th March, 2008 (23:59 PST) - Extended Deadline
Notification:	Friday, 25th April, 2008
Camera-ready:	Friday, 6th June, 2008 (9:00 AM EST, NY time) - See instructions.
Workshop:	Monday, 18th August, 2008

Organization

2007-11-02T04:49:39Z

Program Chairs
Kentaro Toyama,	Microsoft Research, India
Lakshmi Subramanian,	NYU, USA
Muneeb Ali,	TU Delft, Netherlands
Program Committee
Philip Levis,	Stanford University, USA
Eric Brewer,	UC Berkeley, USA
Tom Anderson,	Univ. of Washington, USA
Umar Saif,	LUMS, Pakistan
S. Keshav,	Univ. of Waterloo, Canada
Venkata Padmanabhan,	Microsoft Research, India
Adam Dunkels,	SICS, Sweden
Matthew Caesar,	UIUC, USA
Jan Beutel,	ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Rahul Tongia,	CMU, USA
Joseph Polastre,	Sentilla, USA
Bhaskaran Raman,	IIT Bombay, India
Jinyang Li,	NYU, USA
John Bennett,	Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, USA
Arun Venkataramani,	Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Nicolas Chevrollier,	TNO, Netherlands
Tapan Parikh,	UC Berkeley, USA

Travel

2007-11-03T02:24:13Z

Nothing yet ...

Submission Information

2007-11-03T02:30:25Z

Submissions must be no greater than 6 pages (six pages) in length (including figures and references), must be a PDF file, and must follow the SIGCOMM 2008 Workshop Paper Submission Guidelines (to be announced). Submissions that deviate from these guidelines will be rejected without consideration. Reviews will be single-blind: authors name and affiliation should be included in the submission.

All submissions will be handled electronically via EDAS.

Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their papers at the workshop. Submissions must be original work not under review at any other workshop, conference, or journal.

NSDR'08 Program

2007-11-03T02:33:42Z

Monday 2008-08-18
09:00 - 09:15	Opening remarks
09:15 - 10:00	Keynote
	"Irrational Exuberance" and the Information Technology for Development Boom
	Kenneth Kenniston (MIT)
10:00 - 10:15	Break
10:15 - 11:15	Session 1: Long-Distance Wireless (Chair: Lakshmi Subramanian)
	Very Long Distance WiFi Networks
	Rob Flickenger (Hacker Friendly LLC); Steve Okay (Inveneo); Ermanno Pietrosemoli (EsLaRed- ULA); Marco Zennaro (International Centre for Theoretical Physics); Carlo Fonda (International Centre for Theoretical Physics)
	Optimal Scheduling and Power Control for TDMA based Point to Multipoint Wireless Networks
	Rabin Patra (UC Berkeley); Sonesh Surana (UC Berkeley); Sergiu Nedevschi (UC Berkeley); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley)
11:15 - 11:30	Break
11:30 - 12:30	Session 2: Security (Chair: Kentaro Toyama)
	Practical Security for Rural Internet Kiosks
	Sumair Ur Rahman (University of Waterloo); Urs Hengartner (University of Waterloo); Usman Ismail (University of Waterloo); Srinivasan Keshav (University of Waterloo)
	Secure Rural Supply Chain Management using Low Cost Paper Watermarking
	Ashlesh Sharma (New York University); Lakshminarayanan Subramanian (New York University); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley)
12:30 - 14:00	Lunch
14:00 - 15:00	Session 3: Sensor Networks (Chair: Philip Levis)
	N-SMARTS: Networked Suite of Mobile Atmospheric Real-time Sensors
	Richard Honicky (UC Berkeley); Eric Paulos (Intel Research); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley); Richard White (UC Berkeley)
	Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Rain-fed Farming in India
	Jacques Panchard (EPFL); P. R. Seshagiri Rao (Chennakeshava Trust); M. S. Sheshshayee (University of Agriculture Sciences); Panagiotis (Panos) Papadimitratos (EPFL); Jean-Pierre Hubaux (EPFL)
15:00 - 15:15	Break
15:15 - 16:15	Session 4: Wireless and Web Transport (Chair: TBA)
	Serengeti Broadband
	Amos Nungu (Royal Institute of Technology); Bjorn Pehrson (Royal Institute of Technology); Nsubis Genesis (Royal Institute of Technology)
	Multistreamed Web Transport for Developing Regions
	Preethi Natarajan (University of Delaware); Paul D. Amer (University of Delaware); Randall Stewart (Cisco Systems)
16:15 - 17:00	Closing Remarks

SIGCOMM 2008 Registration

2008-07-03T22:51:35Z

How do I register?

You can register for SIGCOMM 2008 by visiting this link.

What is the early bird deadline?

July 25th is the deadline for early registration. Note that the hotel reservation deadline (July 15th) is earlier than this.

What are the SIGCOMM 2008 Conference Fees?

Early Registration Fees (through August 1st)				Late Registration Fees (after August 1st)
Event	Member	Student	Non member	Event	Member	Student	Non member
Conference	$625	$400	$725	Conference	$725	$500	$825
Workshop	$250	$200	$275	Workshop	$300	$250	$325
Tutorial	$275	$200	$325	Tutorial	$325	$250	$375

What is the Cancellation/Refund Policy?

All refund requests must be made in writing and received no later than August 1, 2008. Requests received by August 1st, will receive a full refund less a $50 processing fee. No refunds will be processed for those cancelling after August 1, 2008.

Questions?

Contact SIGCOMM Registration at:

Telephone (direct): +1-303-530-4683
Telephone (tollfree): +1-888-526-1242
Email: dbartlett@executivevents.com

Session 1: Paper 1

2008-07-03T23:45:24Z

Very Long Distance WiFi Networks

Authors: Rob Flickenger (Hacker Friendly LLC); Steve Okay (Inveneo); Ermanno Pietrosemoli (EsLaRed- ULA); Marco Zennaro (International Centre for Theoretical Physics); Carlo Fonda (International Centre for Theoretical Physics)

Abstract: 802.11 Wi-Fi technology is commonly used for creating wireless networks with a range of about one hundred meters. With careful planning and proper antennas, this same equipment can be used to make point-to-point links of hundreds of kilometers. This paper presents a successful 279 km link made by wireless experts in Venezuela, and a permanent 133 km test network in northern Italy for ongoing research.

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Session 1: Paper 2

2008-07-04T00:04:36Z

Optimal Scheduling and Power Control for TDMA based Point to Multipoint Wireless Networks

Authors: Rabin Patra (UC Berkeley); Sonesh Surana (UC Berkeley); Sergiu Nedevschi (UC Berkeley); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley)

Abstract: In TDMA-based point-to-multipoint rural wireless deployments, co-located base station radios and sector antennas are used to increase base station capacity. To achieve maximum capacity with limited availability of non-overlapping wireless channels, we need to operate as many radios as possible from different sectors on the same channel. However, operating co-located radios on the same channel can result in substantial interference especially with the current practice of operating all radios at maximum power. We investigate techniques that increase network throughput by eliminating this interference.

To this end we formulate an LP optimization problem that maximizes throughput by computing optimal transmit schedules, optimal allocation of clients to base station radios, and optimal radio power levels. Our results suggest that there is a large gap between currently-used and optimal strategies, creating opportunities for simple, practical algorithms to address these issues. Our techniques are equally applicable to both WiFi based networks as well as other point-to-multipoint technologies such as WiMax.

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Session 2: Paper 1

2008-07-04T00:12:40Z

Practical Security for Rural Internet Kiosks

Authors: Sumair Ur Rahman (University of Waterloo); Urs Hengartner (University of Waterloo); Usman Ismail (University of Waterloo); Srinivasan Keshav (University of Waterloo)

Abstract: Rural Internet kiosks typically provide weak security guarantees and therefore cannot support secure web access or transaction-oriented applications such as banking and bill payment. We present a practical, unobtrusive and easy-to-use security architecture for rural Internet kiosks that uses a combination of physical and cryptographic mechanisms to protect user data and kiosk infrastructure. Our contributions include (a) a detailed threat analysis of rural Internet kiosks, (b) a security architecture for rural Internet kiosks that does not require any specialized hardware features in kiosks, and (c) an application-independent and backward-compatible security API for securely sending and receiving data between kiosks and the Internet that can operate over disconnection-tolerant links.

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Session 2: Paper 2

2008-07-04T00:18:20Z

Secure Rural Supply Chain Management using Low Cost Paper Watermarking

Authors: Ashlesh Sharma (New York University); Lakshminarayanan Subramanian (New York University); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley)

Abstract: Supply chain systems in rural developing regions are extremely fragile and are vulnerable to a wide range of security threats including theft, fraud and counterfeit goods. In this paper, we propose the design of a secure, low cost supply chain management system that leverages cheap cell-phones and a low-cost paper watermarking system that can authenticate and verify the integrity of goods in a supply chain. Unlike many sophisticated solutions which have deployment problems due to the harsh ground realities in rural regions, our system is easy to use, deploy and does not require significant changes to the existing operational model. In addition, our system relies only on paper and cellphones, both of which are ubiquitously used in rural developing regions.

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Session 3: Paper 1

2008-07-04T00:23:01Z

N-SMARTS: Networked Suite of Mobile Atmospheric Real-time Sensors

Authors: Richard Honicky (UC Berkeley); Eric Paulos (Intel Research); Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley); Richard White (UC Berkeley)

Abstract: By attaching sensors to GPS-enabled cell phones, we can gather the raw data necessary to begin understand how urban air pollution impacts both individuals and communities. In this paper we introduce a hardware and software platform for exploring algorithms and data gathered from pollution sensors integrated into cell phones, and discuss our main research agenda going forward.

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Session 3: Paper 2

2008-07-04T00:25:28Z

Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Rain-fed Farming in India

Authors: Jacques Panchard (EPFL); P. R. Seshagiri Rao (Chennakeshava Trust); M. S. Sheshshayee (University of Agriculture Sciences); Panagiotis (Panos) Papadimitratos (EPFL); Jean-Pierre Hubaux (EPFL)

Abstract: Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be a valuable decision-support tool for farmers. This motivated our deployment of a WSN system to support rain-fed agriculture in India. We defined promising use cases and resolved technical challenges throughout a two-year deployment of our COMMON-Sense Net system, which provided farmers with environment data. However, the direct use of this technology in the field did not foster the expected participation of the population. This made it difficult to develop the intended decision-support system. Based on this experience, we take the following position in this paper: currently, the deployment of WSN technology in developing regions is more likely to be effective if it targets scientists and technical personnel as users, rather than the farmers themselves. We base this claim on the lessons learned from the COMMON-Sense system deployment and the results of an extensive user experiment with agriculture scientists, which we describe in this paper.

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Session 4: Paper 1

2008-07-04T00:35:40Z

Serengeti Broadband

Authors: Amos Nungu (Royal Institute of Technology); Bjorn Pehrson (Royal Institute of Technology); Nsubis Genesis (Royal Institute of Technology)

Abstract: This paper presents a broadband island defined by a fibre-optic communication network between Bunda and Serengeti, two rural districts in the Mara region in northern Tanzania. The purpose of the network is to facilitate creation and sharing of information at government institutions. The network is also expected to create jobs and entrepreneurial activities in these under-served areas The network is comprised of an optical fibre backbone and wireless local area networks operating in license-free spectrum as access networks. The fibre is currently terminated at three locations. VLAN-capable Ethernet switches with long range optical transceivers provide backbone transmission as well as fibre access. To minimize costs, routers and servers in the network are all based on standard PC hardware and Free Open Source software. The infrastructure is operated under an Open Access regime, other ways of resource sharing like virtualization at the link; network and application layers are explored. Although the broadband island defined by the fibre has a narrowband VSAT connection to the Internet, the focus on the services provided in the network is local, focusing on egovernment, education, healthcare and support to local entrepreneurs.

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Session 4: Paper 2

2008-07-04T00:43:26Z

Multistreamed Web Transport for Developing Regions

Authors: Preethi Natarajan (University of Delaware); Paul D. Amer (University of Delaware); Randall Stewart (Cisco Systems)

Abstract: A multistreamed web transport has the potential to reduce head-ofline (HOL) blocking, and improve response times in high latency Internet browsing environments, typical of developing regions. In our position paper [13], we proposed a design for HTTP over the multistreamed Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), and implemented the design for non-pipelined (HTTP 1.0) transactions in the Apache web server and Firefox web browser. We have since adapted Apache and Firefox to handle HTTP 1.1 persistent, pipelined transfers over SCTP streams. Initial emulation results over high latency paths reveal that HTTP over SCTP streams benefits from faster page downloads, and achieves visually perceivable improvements to pipelined objects’ response times. Movies comparing page downloads of HTTP/TCP vs. HTTP/SCTP streams can be found on the author’s website [12]. The promising results have motivated us to propose a low cost, easily realizable, gateway-based HTTP over SCTP deployment solution to enhance users’ browsing experience in developing regions.

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Keynote Speech

2008-07-04T01:10:48Z

"Irrational Exuberance" and the Information Technology for Development Boom

by Kenneth Keniston (MIT)

Abstract: Ever since the end of WWII, well-wishers, government policy makers and philanthropists have searched for a technological solution to the problem of “development”. After all, Technology -- in the form of innovations like radar and the A-Bomb -- had apparently “won the war”; so why not the peace, especially in the newly independent but impoverished nations of Africa and Asia? The last 60 years have seen a series of fashionable but failed technological projects to overcome the poverty and immiseration of the third world. Starting with agricultural innovations (e.g., tractors, hybrid varieties) and going on to mega projects (e.g., big dams) then to simple indigenous technologies (e.g., small is beautiful, pottery stoves), and including macro-structural reforms intended to let the Market solve the development problem (e.g., the Washington Consensus). Each of these booms has left a valuable residue, but none has “solved” the Problem of Development.

Lately, new hopes are being placed on the most radically transformative technology of our age, and perhaps of any age -- the revolution of information and communication technologies. What is called ICT4D is becoming the new mantra of NGOs and Governments that want to make a difference. It is often embodied in the image of (and plan for) village telecenters, each equipped with a high bandwidth connection to the Web, and each providing what is sometimes called a “bouquet” of services to rural villagers, thus improving health, education, agricultural practices, banking, commodity purchases and sales, and providing immediate access to government regulations, officials and documents like land records (e-governance) -- and a host of other services from wedding pictures to computer training for village children.

India, probably more than any other nation, by now has ten years of experience with such village telecenters. Hundreds of projects involving thousands of computers are -- or were -- in existence. Today, an ambitious new plan to create 100, 000 more village telecenters (called Common Service Centers) is underway with massive central government funding. But the lessons of the last ten years have not been studied. And in fact, of the hundreds of projects that I have studied, NOT ONE has achieved the objectives for which it was founded.

What are the lessons to be drawn from India’s rich experience? How can we understand the current ICT4D boom? And how should ICT professionals respond to the boom?

Kenneth Keniston is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Human Development, in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and Director of the MIT India Program. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. He received his D. Phil. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has taught at Harvard University, at Yale University; and at MIT, where he has been Director (1986-1992) and Director of Graduate Studies (1992-1996) of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society.

Professor Keniston is the author of nine books and more than one hundred articles and chapters. His most recent works are, with Deepak Kumar, IT Experience in India: Bridging the Digital Divide (2004); with Rohit Raj Mathur and R.K. Bagga, The State, IT, and Development (2005), and with V. Balaji, a study of rural information projects for the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Government of India (2006).

In recent years, Professor Keniston's research has focused on information technology and development. His research in India is focused on how computer technology is used for information and communication and how it is used in development, political transparency and social justice. He is engaged in comparative ethnographic study of sites that seek to use modern information and communication technologies for e-governance and the improvement of life in rural India.

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