2016 IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing, VLSI, Electrical Circuits and Robotics
13 - 14 August 2016 | NITK Surathkal, Mangalore, India
Technical Co-Sponsor
Keynotes and Invited talks
Keynote: Indoor Positioning using Inertial Measurement Units
Saturday, August 13, 2016 (10:00 10:45)
Prof. K. V. S. Hari
Professor and Chairman, Department of ECE, IISc,
Chairman, IEEE Bangalore Section, India
Abstract: The invited talk plans to discuss some ideas that will address India's indigenous needs
Abstract: The talk presents results of an experiment in Indoor Positioning of first responders in a using electronics, robotics, distributed computing and VLSI.
disaster affected building with no WiFi and GPS coverage. The use of Inertial Measurement Units
to build a miniature Inertial Navigation system is considered. The underlying navigation system Biography: Dr. Narasimha Bhat is the Founder & CEO of Manipal Dot Net Pvt. Ltd. Manages a
along with signal processing ideas, like the zero-velocity-update and Kalman filtering, will be successful hardware/software outsourcing unit in India, especially catering to startups and
introduced. The design and development of the prototype system, which can be mounted on a SMEs that are looking to outsource highly technical work at very low costs. Previously, Dr. Bhat
foot, will be presented. was R&D Director at Synopsys Inc, USA, a world leader in Electronic Design Automation. He was
Biography: Senior Associate Editor, Sadhana - Academy Proceedings in Engineering Science,
Indian Academy of Sciences, Affiliated Professor in Signal Processing, Royal Institute of
Technology, also Director ESQUBE Communication Solutions Pvt. Ltd . Professor Hari was awarded
the PhD, from, ECE, Systems Science from University of California, San Diego and M.Tech in Radar
and Communication engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Keynote: Embedded Vision: The Big Vision of Small Devices
Saturday, August 13, 2016 (13:45 14:30)
Prof. Gunar Schirner
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
Abstract: The majority of people consider sight to be most important human sense as we rely on it to instantly
recognize objects, faces and assess critical situations. One major theme of computer vision is to electronically
perceive and understand an image with a vast application area including industry automation, visual
surveillance, medical image analysis and automatic inspection. However, using high-powered desktop systems is
prohibitive in everyday use due to power, cooling and size. Embedded deployment of vision algorithms is the
next big challenge and one of the fastest growing areas among high-performance low-power applications in the
incoming decades. System architects have faced notoriously difficult challenges as they set out to design and
architect platforms that consume little power (few watts) while offering very high performance (hundreds
billion of operations). Instruction-Level Processors (ILPs), e.g. CPUs and DSPs, have been the predominant
choice due to their flexibility. However, ILPs require too much energy per operation leading to exorbitantly high
power consumption even for a few billion operations. This talk presents some of our research for novel
architectures and design methodologies. Hardware acceleration (i.e. custom hardware implementation of
algorithms) has tremendous potential to increase performance and power efficiency. However, few super-
specialized large accelerators are not flexible enough to reach sales quantities that would justify custom System-
on-Chip (SoC) manufacturing. For wide deployment, we therefore predict a shift from optimizing individual
applications (super specialization) to optimizing common functions across many applications (domain
specialization). Toward that end, we introduce a novel processor category: Function-Level Processor (FLP). It
offers many small, composable function-level accelerators to execute many applications, allowing for a wider
scale deployment.
Biography: Gunar Schirner is currently an Associate Professor at the Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
He holds a Ph.D. degree (2008) and a M.S. degree (2005) in electrical and computer engineering from the
University of California, Irvine. He graduated in computer engineering from the Berufsakademie Berlin,
Germany, in 1998. Prior to joining the Northeastern faculty in fall 2009, he was an assistant project scientist at
the Center for Embedded Computer Systems (CECS) at the University of California, Irvine. Gunar Schirner also
has 5 years of industry experience at Alcatel (now Alcatel-Lucent) where he designed distributed embedded
real-time software for telecommunication products. His research interests include system-level design and
modelling, hardware/software co-design, and heterogeneous architectures for streaming applications.
Invited talk: SPIN: Model Checker for Distributed Software Systems
Sunday, August 14, 2016 (10:00 11:30)
Prof. Deviprasad M
Professor, School Of Information Science
Manipal University, India
Abstract: The primary aim of this tutorial is to communicate the power of logic model checkers,
using SPIN to state and verify behavioral properties of concurrent systems. In the process of
formally verifying many models, we will explain foundational ideas of the SPIN model checker. We
will end the tutorial with a plea to support the Verified Software Initiative manifesto proposed
and advanced by Sir C. A. R. Hoare and his colleagues.
Biography: Prof. Devi Prasad M. is a Professor at the School of Information Sciences, Manipal
University. His research interests include formal verification of software systems. In the past, he
has worked and consulted with different software industries.
Financial Co-Sponsor
Invited talk: Ideas for Electronic Self Reliance
Saturday, August 13, 2016 (11:15 12:45)
Dr. Narasimha Bhat,
CEO, Manipal Dot Net Pvt. Ltd., Manipal, India
the Managing Director of the Manipal R&D site of Synopsys, where he set up unique university
collaborations with NITK, Surathkal and MAHE, Manipal. Prior to Synopsys, he was a Technical
Leader at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ. Dr. Bhat holds a Ph. D. in EECS from U.C
Berkeley, M.E. in ECE from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and B. E. in E&C from Manipal
Institute of Technology,
Keynote: Demystifying Big Data
Sunday, August 14, 2016 (09:00 10:00)
Dr. Peter Aiken
Founding Director and Owner at Data Blueprint
Virginia Commonwealth University, US Army,
Richmond, Virginia Area, USA
Abstract: Yes, we face a data deluge and big data seems to be largely the focus when discussing
it. But much of what has been written about big data is focused on selling algorithms, hardware,
and services. The truth is that until the concept of big data can be objectively defined, any
measurements, claims of success, quantifications, etc. must be viewed skeptically and with
suspicion. While both the need for and approaches to these new data requirements are faced by
virtually every organization, jumping into the fray ill-prepared has (to date) reproduced the
same dismal IT project results. This talk demystifies the concept of big data - providing the
basis for a more objective discussion of its capabilities/limitations and how both more data and
better techniques can benefit your organization.
Biography: Peter Aiken is acknowledged to be a top data management (DM) authority. As
a practicing data consultant, author and researcher, he has been actively performing and
studying DM for more than 30 years. His expertise has been sought by some of the world's most
important organizations and his achievements have been recognized internationally. He has
held leadership positions and consulted with more than 75 organizations in 21 countries across
numerous industries, including defense, banking, healthcare, telecommunications and
manufacturing. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and author of multiple publications,
including his latest the "Case for the CDO" & "Monetizing Data Management" and he hosts the
longest running and most successful webinar dedicated to data management (hosted by
Dataversity.net). Peter is the Founding Director of Data Blueprint, a consulting firm that helps
organizations leverage data for competitive advantage and operational efficiencies. He is also
Associate Professor of Information Systems at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), past
President of the International Data Management Association and Associate Director of the
MIT International Society of Chief Data Officers.
Invited talk: Experiential learning for Robotics and Automation as
vehicle to drive home fundamental concepts
Sunday, August 14, 2016 (13:45 15:15)
Prof. K. V. Gangadharan1 and Dr. Pruthviraj2
Center for System Design,
NITK Surathkal, Mangalore, India
Abstract:
1The talk explore the possibilities of creating renewed interest in fundamentals with the help of
present day demand in advanced topics. Advanced topics like robotics and automation - can it be
used as a vehicle to drive fundamental subjects and concepts? Can we drive home basics through
the interest in advance topic? How do we make learning an active process than passive
listening?. How to make a basic concepts more experiential. Can we dream about providing a lab
to experience basic concepts, but the learners needs it their place, pace and period (time). The
concept of Virtual Lab demonstrate the possibility.
2Applications of Open Source hardware & software in services to community carried out by
Centre for System Design, NITK Surathkal will be featured.
Prof. K. V. Gangadharan & Dr. Pruthviraj are serving as faculty since 1993 and 2007 respectively.