consumer communications going stronger than ever! - IEEE Xplore

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The fourth article by Huasong Cao et al. provides a survey and outlook of enabling technologies for wireless body area networks (WBANs). This article presents ...
LYT-GUEST EDIT-Kolberg

11/18/09

1:39 PM

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GUEST EDITORIAL

CONSUMER COMMUNICATIONS GOING STRONGER THAN EVER!

Mario Kolberg

T

Madjid Merabti

Stan Moyer

his theme is reflected in the very large number of papers we have received for this series. Over 50 papers were submitted to this edition of the Consumer Communications and Networking series, out of which we have selected five articles for this issue. Some additional articles will be published in another issue in the first half of next year. The articles in this issue cover a very wide range of interesting aspects of consumer communications. The first article by Andreas Berl et al. focuses on “Virtualization in Future Home Environments.” The aim of this work is to provide a way to analyze the computing resources available in a home environment so that they can be used in a more efficient fashion. The second article by Khalid Ahmad and Ali C. Begen looks at future development of IPTV and video networks up to 2015. They use the notion of medianets to include all the enabling video and multimedia technologies. The third article by Karoly Farkas et al. investigates motivations, technologies, and sustainability models of wireless municipal networks. This article discusses applications, technologies, design methodologies, and business models together with major driving forces and stakeholders in this domain. The fourth article by Huasong Cao et al. provides a survey and outlook of enabling technologies for wireless body area networks (WBANs). This article presents major projects and technologies, including sensors and actuators and radio systems, as well as ways to interconnect WBANs. The final article in this issue by Leucio Antonio Cutillo et al. presents a privacy-preserving online social network. This work employs two major design principles: decentralization and using trust relationships in real-world social networks. Their approach has been implemented as Safebook. In closing, we wouldd like to remind you that January is again IEEE CCNC time. The Consumer Communications and Networking Conference will be running for the seventh time between January 9–12, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. IEEE CCNC 2010 will provide a forum to discuss consumer communications issues mentioned in this edition and many more. As in past years CCNC will run around the same time as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), giving you two opportunities to learn more about and see consumer communications in action. We hope to see you in Las Vegas in January!

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BIOGRAPHIES MARIO KOLBERG [SM] ([email protected]) is a lecturer within the Department of Computing Science and Mathematics at the University of Stirling. His research interests include peer-to-peer overlay networks, home automation, and IP telephony. He led a project funded by Panasonic (USA) investigating efficiency gains in structured peer-to-peer overlays. He is the academic supervisor for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership focusing on developing a peer-to-peer overlay for mobile handsets. He is working in the ESRC project Interlife on using peer-to-peer networks with 3D virtual worlds in an educational context. He is also involved in the MATCH project, focusing on integrating different network technologies for care in the home. He is on the editorial board of the Springer journal Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications and has a long-standing involvement with the IEEE CCNC conference series. He will serve as its TPC Vice Chair for the January 2011 running. He is a member of a number of international conferences’ program committees on networking and communications. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom. STAN MOYER [SM] ([email protected]) is executive director and strategic research program manager in the Applied Research area of Telcordia Technologies, where he has worked since 1990. Currently, he is the product manager for the Telcordia Mobile Messaging and Application Solution. In the past he has led research and business development activities related to digital content services and home networking. Prior to that he worked on ATM switch hardware, broadband network architectures and protocols, middleware, Internet network and application security, Internet QoS, and voice over IP. He is currently president of the OSGi™ Alliance. He is a member of the Board and Treasurer for the IEEE Communications Society, vice-chair of the IEEE CCNC steering committee, and a member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board Finance Committee. MADJID MERABTI [M] ([email protected]) is a professor of networked systems and director of the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D. from Lancaster University, United Kingdom. He has over 20 years’ experience in conducting research and teaching in the areas of computer networks (fixed and wireless), mobile computing, and computer network security. He is widely published, with over 150 publications in these areas, and leads the Distributed Multimedia Systems and Security Research Group. He is principal investigator in a number of current projects: Mobile Networks Security and Privacy Architectures and Protocols, Secure Component Composition in Ubiquitous Personal Networks, Networked Appliances, Mobile and Ad Hoc Computing Environments, Sensor Networks, and computer games technology. He was Guest Editor for the Special Issue on Research Developments in Consumer Communications and Networking of Multimedia Tools and Applications: An International Journal (Kluwer, September 2005). He is a member of the Steering Committee for IEEE CCNC. He has acted as TPC chair for a number of international conferences, including the 5th IEEE Workshop on Networked Appliances, Liverpool, October 2002. He is a member of a number of international conferences program committees on networking, security, and computer entertainment.

IEEE Communications Magazine • December 2009