Candidates registered to sit for the Fall 2008 WCET Certification Exam must be sure to schedule their exam date with Prometric. The Fall 2008 testing window is open from 22 September through 10 October 2008. The Authorization to Schedule notice that candidates received via email provides information on how to schedule the exam or you can visit www.prometric.com/wcet and click on “Schedule a Test”. Web Link | Return to Headlines



Want to find out what kind of questions you’ll find on the WCET certification exam? Purchase a WCET practice exam to test your knowledge and get a FREE draft e-version of “A Guide to the Wireless Engineering Body of Knowledge” – a 260 page book which outlines the topics that may be covered on the exam. Return to Headlines



A new video brought to you by IEEE.tv on the IEEE WCET Certification Program from the IEEE Communications Society illustrates why individuals should seek this certification and highlights the benefits for industry. Tune in to learn more. Return to Headlines



In this issue we’re featuring three esteemed members of our Industry Advisory Board – Javan Erfanian, Ashley Hunter, and Luis Jorge Romero. Their experience and practical knowledge has helped shape and enhance the development of the WCET certification program.

Javan Erfanian, served as an editor and authored a chapter of “A Guide to the Wireless Engineering Body of Knowledge”. He is also a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff within Wireless Technology Strategy at Bell Mobility, Canada and brings over 20 years of experience in telecommunications with over 12 years in wireless technology strategy, standards, and research to the Industry Advisory Board.

Javan offered the following commentary when asked what he thought the strongest benefit of the WCET program is: “WCET has a great potential to serve both the wireless engineers of the world in their development and recognition, and the wireless industry in acquiring and developing their engineers. It aims to provide a holistic, operational, and up-to-date framework with an accreditation initiative governed by such a prestigious, global, and neutral organization as IEEE.”

When asked the same question, Ashley Hunter, added, “With WECT Certification, managers will no longer need to guess at the skill set of a potential contractor or employee based on their past roles. As the pace of developments in and around wireless networks increases, one of the most important skills a candidate can possess is a breadth of wireless understanding allowing them to assess the impacts of changes and spot new opportunities. WCET Certification allows you to demonstrate that capability.”

Ashley works for Telstra Australia as national manager of Wireless Operational Support Systems and has over ten years experience in the wireless telecommunications industry which he brings to the board. Ashley’s practical experience spans RF lab testing, radio network design, network optimization, pre-sales support and network security.

Luis Jorge Romero, is the Director of Innovation and Standards at Telefonica Espana and brings over 15 years of practical experience to the group. Luis Jorge's experience in various senior management roles related to wireless technology and standards is also an asset.

Luis thinks that “The WCET program creates a wonderful bridge between industry and its professionals. On one hand industry can now rely on a high level, international standard benchmark that helps it assess the degree of preparation of professionals in the market. On the other hand, the WCET program helps professionals certify their skills and practical knowledge as well as meet industry’s expectations and demands for what a wireless communications professional should know.”

Visit our “Community” on the WCET website to learn more about the volunteers involved in the development and enhancement of the WCET Certification Program.
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WCET Webinar: 19 September 2008
Register to participate in a one-hour long webinar designed to provide you with an understanding of how the WCET certification program got it’s start and why the IEEE Communications Society committed itself to developing it along with IEEE and industry volunteers. This webinar will also highlight the methodology used to develop a new certification program as well as what the program offers as a whole.

The webinar will take place on Friday, September 19th at 1:00pm EST. Virtual doors will open 15 minutes in advance. Pre-register to attend the event and pre-test your computer readiness.

IEEE ComSoc is making the rounds to various wireless conferences and meetings around the world to offer free IEEE WCET practice exams to several lucky winners. Stop by the IEEE ComSoc booth to enter the drawings at:
IEEE Sections Congress 2008
19-22 September 2008
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Sections Congress Home Page

WiMAX World Americas
30 September – 2 October 2008
Chicago, Illinois – USA
WiMAX Home Page

DySPAN (IEEE International Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks)
14-17 October 2008
Chicago, Illinois – USA
DySPAN Home Page

MILCOM (IEEE Military Communications Conference)
16-19 November 2008
San Diego, California – USA
MILCOM Home Page

GLOBECOM (IEEE Global Communications Conference)
30 November – 4 December 2008
New Orleans, Louisiana – USA
GLOBECOM Home Page
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Report: Economy May Fall, But Mobile And Telecom Jobs Won't
InformationWeek (09/09/08) Gardner, W. David

Professionals in telecommunications, media, and technology (TMT) have little cause for concern in today's struggling economy, according to a new survey. TelecomCareers interviewed 880 TMT professionals and found that 40 percent of respondents expect the U.S. economy will not fare as well as their industry over the next six to 12 months, and 70 percent say their industry will manage to grow or at least remain consistent. "It is clear that while TMT professionals may be wary of the state of the overall economy, they are bullish on where their industry is headed, particularly in the wireless sectors," says TelecomCareers' John Scarborough. One of the most promising areas of TMT is wireless, with 40 percent of respondent citing wireless as offering the most opportunities. Meanwhile, a recent iSuppli report predicts that a widespread adoption of mobile Internet devices will drive social networking in businesses at the start of next year. ISuppli notes that while TMT represents only 5 percent of global gross domestic product, its impact extends far beyond its $3 trillion global value.
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IEEE Readies Launch of Gigabit Wi-Fi Project
Network World (09/11/08) Cox, John

The IEEE Very High Throughput (VHT) Study Group is examining changes to the 802.11 WLAN standard to support gigabit capacity in two frequency bands—the high-frequency 60 GHz band for relatively short ranges, and the under-6 GHz band for ranges similar to today's WLANs in the 5GHz band. At a recent meeting, the study group worked on finishing a proposal calling for the creation of a new task group to continue the work of crafting a standard. The proposal must be accepted by the 802.11 Working Group, which oversees the entire WLAN standard. Broadcom's Tushar Moorti says the basic idea is that the maximum mandatory mode on a single link would be at least 500Mbps, though that idea is subject to change. Currently, WLAN products based on the draft 2 802.11n standard provide a throughput 130Mbps to 150Mbps, and sometimes up to 170Mbps. One version of the IEEE proposal suggest a completion target date will be 2012-2013 for the standard. The proposal says that VHT will allow a corporate or home user to roam from high-throughput dense cells to wide-area networks in a seamless manner while maintaining full support for the installed base security, management, diagnostics, and infrastructure. VHT also will be backward compatible with a variety of existing and emerging 802.11 standards. "I think we'll see a [VHT] standard in two years, and WLAN products with more than 1 gigabit per second within three years," says Fairport Group's Craig Mathias. "That is absolutely phenomenal."
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New World Record for Wireless Optical Transmission
Cellular-News (09/15/08)

A new world record for wireless optical transmission has been established by Japanese and Italian researchers, who achieved a 1.28 terabits per second transmission in a free air link between a pair of transceivers separated by a distance of approximately 210 meters. One of the transceivers was set up on the roof of the Center of Excellence for Information Engineering and Communication (CEIIC) building at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, while the other was installed on the roof of the Building A at the Italian National Research Council. The experiment was a collaborative venture between CEIIC, Waseda University, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. "The 1.28 terabit/s optical data traffic was generated in the CEIIC laboratory on the first floor then transmitted to the terrace of the same building through a fiber-optic link and transparently connected to one of the antennas that sent the signals into the air [wireless-free space optics]," says CEIIC professor Ernesto Ciaramella. "In the second building this signal is collected from the second antenna directly to another fiber and then looped back through the same apparatus to the first one and then returned back in fiber to the CEIIC laboratory, where it is finally tested." The researchers say that this experiment illustrates, for the first time, the possibility of devising a transparent and stable free space connection between two fiber trunks carrying ultra-wideband data traffic.
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A Network That Builds Itself
Technology Review (09/03/08) Fitzgerald, Michael

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed two experimental ad hoc wireless networks that instruct emergency workers how to deploy transmitters to ensure a good signal. The NIST prototypes, which have been under development for more than three years, use algorithms to monitor the signal-to-noise ratio of transmissions and automatically warn when a new node should be deployed. NIST's Nader Moayeri says the prototypes aim to avoid fixed rules because situations change depending on the area. The methods also need to be adaptable because deploying too many nodes can lead to excessive costs and communication delays. Initially, NIST considered sending short messages between nodes to see how data packets were lost in transit, except that the people deploying the network would not detect a weak connection immediately. Using an algorithm to measure the signal-to-noise ratio avoids this problem and provides a clearer picture of connection strength. NIST built two prototypes using off-the-shelf hardware, one that operates at 900 megaherz and uses motes to transmit radio signals, and one based on a Wi-Fi network operating at 2.4 gigahertz. The mote-based system has LED lights that automatically change from green to red when a new node needs to be deployed, and the Wi-Fi system issues alerts through a handheld or tablet computer connected to the network.
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IEEE Calls on Young Emerging Engineers to Make Real Change
Test & Measurement World (09/04/08) MacNeil, Jessica

IEEE is "Celebrating 125 Years of Engineering the Future" with the introduction of a new competition aimed at encouraging students to develop and use technology to solve life challenges. The IEEE Presidents' Change the World Competition places an emphasis on engineering education while challenging students to make real changes through technology. The competition calls on college students and teams to use engineering, science, computing, and leadership to benefit humanity through real-world problem solving. The winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000, with runners-up receiving $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000, and a People's Choice Award Winner who will receive $500 for winning in a popular vote held on the contest's Web site. The top three winners will be invited to accept their awards at the IEEE Honors Ceremony in Los Angeles in 2009. Student members of IEEE and teams with an IEEE student member leader can submit entries on the competition Web site. Up to five projects from each of IEEE's 10 regions will be selected for review by the global competition judging committee, which will select 15 finalists for display on the competition Web site. IEEE will chose the prize-winning projects by May 10, 2009. The judging will be based on the results of the project, its impact on humanity or a community, and the projects sustainability, reusability, transportability to other parts of the world, entrepreneurship, originality, creativity, and leadership.
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Small Measure
Engineer (09/01/08) Vol. 293, No. 7755, P. 6; Pierce, Julia

The completion of a new facility at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Britain will greatly aid the development of small antenna technology with lower power consumption, which will be assessed at the new center. The design of smaller and smarter antennas requires the designers "to know the antennas' coverage and efficiency to ascertain how much extra power they will need to make it all work," says Dr. Phil Miller with NPL's Time Quantum and Electromagnetics team. The facility has a Small Antenna Radiated Testing range whose walls are covered with a TDK radio wave absorber material with very low reflection to eliminate a coal dust-style problem, Miller says. The antennas employing the facility are expected to function chiefly over the 400 MHz to 11 GHz frequency range. Small antennas require measurement in isolation to get an accurate picture of final performance, and the new facility features a wireless RF-to-optical link using an electro-optic transducer for this purpose. The development of O2's 3G network was assisted by research at NPL's previous antenna facility, whose measurement chamber was used to guarantee that O2 selected the proper gear before proceeding with an expensive infrastructure upgrade.
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Indian Researcher's Improved Anti-Hacking System for Wireless Networks
Asian News International (09/04/08)

Florida Atlantic University researchers Avinash Srinivasan, Feng Li, and Jie Wu have developed the Probabilistic Voting-based Filtering Scheme (PVFS), which they say can protect and help improve the viability of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are vulnerable to two types of cybersabotage, according to the International Journal of Security and Networks. The first is the fabricated report with false votes attack that sends phony data to the base stations with a forged validation. The second type of attack adds false validation votes to genuine incoming data, which labels genuine data as being false. Most WSN systems have built-in software to prevent false data from being given valid credentials, but the second type of attack is more difficult to detect. The researchers say the PVFS can counter both of these attacks simultaneously. To protect the WSN while maintaining normal filtering, the researchers use a general en-route filtering scheme that breaks WSNs into clusters and locks each cluster to a particular data encryption key. As data reaches the headquarters from the clusters, the main cluster-heads check the report together with the votes, acting as the verification nodes in PVFS. Should a saboteur compromise one or more of the sensors on a WSN, the PVFS will apply probability rules to determine the likelihood that the network was compromised, using data from other sensors in different clusters before reporting incoming data as false.
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Hotline to the Cowshed
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (09/08)

Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg have developed a wireless system for monitoring the health of livestock. The wireless measuring system makes use of a tiny sensor that is placed in the rumen of a cow. The pH level and the temperature inside the cow's rumen is wirelessly transmitted to another receiver module attached to the animal's collar, and the data is forwarded to a central database via a network of sensors. A reading below a certain reference value serves as the first sign of disease for a farmer. The wireless measuring system does not need special infrastructure or supervision. Capable of autonomous networking, the system also uses little energy. There are plans to test the wireless measuring system on pilot farms. The developers of the system say the technology could have other uses in agriculture and forestry.
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Wireless Sensors Learn From Life
ICT Results (08/25/08)

The European Union-funded WINSOC project is working to find ways of organizing wireless sensor networks to make them more durable and prevent problems such as node failures and large-scale traffic jams. WINSOC, which involves researchers in Europe and India, is unique in that it draws from discoveries made while studying living organisms to help develop self-organizing networks of wireless sensors. "Living systems are intrinsically robust against cells dying or being damaged," says WINSOC's scientific coordinator Sergio Barbarossa of the University of Rome. "The behavior of most organs is an emerging feature, resulting from the interaction of many cells, where no cell is particularly robust or even aware of the whole behavior." Barbarossa says the starting point in the WINSOC project was to provide mathematical models of biological systems and translate those models into algorithms that could be used to determine how the sensor nodes should interact with each other. A prototype sensor node is under development, but the main challenge is to make the network able to sustain operations even when several sensors fail. WINSOC's approach is to have sensor nodes communicate with each other to create a consensus on what data is being recorded. The network then finds the best path through available nodes to relay information to a control center. A prototype network of geological sensors has been installed in the Idduki rainforest of Kerala, India, to detect landslides during the monsoon season.
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World's Smallest UWB Antenna Introduced
Newswise (09/15/08)

An efficient compact ultra-wideband antenna (CUA) has been created by Virginia Tech researchers for various applications, and electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student Taeyoung Yang says the device has achieved a close to ideal performance for size and bandwidth. "To our best knowledge, our invented antenna is the world's smallest with more than a 10:1 bandwidth," Yang says. "It has more than 95 percent efficiency for signal transmission, and a fairly constant omni-directional radiation pattern." Yang presented a theory for producing an ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna as close as possible to the theoretical limit on antenna size and performance at the XXIX General Assembly of the International Union of Radio Science. UWB antennas support low energy, short-range transmission of large data volumes, and one potential application is wireless transmission of data from a mobile phone or digital camcorder to a computer. In order to shrink the size and boost the adaptability of the antenna, Yang and his co-inventors configured the device as a structure that can be printed on the inner side of the protective housing, which can be composed of light plastic. The antenna also can be fabricated simply and inexpensively thanks to its design, while Yang cites the device's convenience of installation and disassembly.
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Software Notebook: Microsoft Test-Driving Wi-Fi Use in Vehicles
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (08/24/08) Bishop, Todd

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Microsoft, and the University of Washington are developing Vi-Fi, a community Wi-Fi system that can be used in moving vehicles. The researchers discovered that hiccups can occur in the Wi-Fi signal as a vehicle moves through a wireless network, particularly when the vehicles move from the range of one wireless base station to another. Vi-Fi allows computers and devices to take advantage of multiple base stations at once to smooth the transition between base stations. The researchers say the technique makes it noticeably easier to perform tasks that require a steady Internet connection, such as running interactive software applications or making Internet voice calls. The researchers presented their findings at a meeting of ACM's Special Internet Group on Data Communications. Using Vi-Fi, a device or computer in a moving vehicle chooses one base station at a time to act as an anchor, or primary reception point, but also allows other base stations to act as auxiliaries. The key is an algorithm that uses probabilistic reasoning to determine the chance that a packet received by an auxiliary base station was not received by the anchor. The auxiliary base station can then relay the packet to the anchor if needed. The system also allows the auxiliary base station to relay a packet to a vehicle if the algorithm determines that the packet sent by the anchor station was not received.
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Schools Develop Quake Monitoring Systems
Cebu Daily News (Philippines) (08/21/08)

Five schools and universities recently presented the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) with prototypes of low-cost earthquake monitoring systems designed for data acquisition. Smart Wireless Engineering Programs (Sweep), in collaboration with Phivolcs, is working with its partner schools to develop low-cost seismometers and intensity meters to augment Phivolcs' network of 64 seismic stations. The prototypes were developed by Adamson University, University of Baguio, Ateneo de Davao University, University of San Carlos, and Western Visayas College of Science and Technology. Phivolcs director Renato Solidum says that with further modifications and improvements the prototypes will be of great use to schools and communities. "It is important for the schools to document the processes and procedures undertaken in the development and testing of the prototypes," Solidum says. "These are critical in evaluating the device and the validity and reliability of the data generated." Project participants will meet again in October to discuss the modifications made to the prototypes, observations on their performance, and to select a prototype for all participating Sweep schools.
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Web 2.0 Goes Mobile--The New Platform Brings Web Services to the Mobile Phone and Telephony to the Web!
Fraunhofer Institute (08/08)

Fraunhofer FOKUS has developed a new platform that will allow mobile phone users to take advantage of Web services and enable Web users to gain telephony functions. At IFA 2008, Fraunhofer FOKUS demonstrated "Mobile Car Sharing" and "Location-based Digital Notepads" as model applications for Mobile Widget Runtime. The platform for mobile Web 2.0 offers shared user experience, mobility, and location-dependency as key features, and Web 2.0 services can be quickly implemented and easily changed, says Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS researcher David Linner. Users do not need permanent Internet connectivity to access the services provided by Web applications. For example, Web applications will be able to use Bluetooth, satellite navigation, MMS, instant messaging, and telephone conferencing. Mobile Widget Runtime can serve as a standalone platform for complete applications, or can be used with existing applications to extend them further, even without knowing all the technical information about the base application.
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KU Researchers Hoping to Improve Broadband Wireless Services
University of Kansas News (08/19/08) Ward, Michelle

The University of Kansas' Information and Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC) is leading a multidisciplinary research effort to correlate the performance of millimeter wave communication systems with weather events that can weaken signals and disrupt transmissions. The research could aid in the widespread deployment of high-speed wireless access. Millimeter wave systems can transfer up to a billion bits of data per second and reduce the cost and improve the performance of broadband wireless services. The ITTC researchers will develop resilient network technologies that can redirect data around impacted links. Sprint Nextel and Sunflower Broadband are collaborating on the effort. The researchers have placed weather stations that collect meteorological data at Sunflower Broadband sites around Lawrence and on the university's campus. Onsite cameras will take pictures every 30 seconds to provide additional observations. The Sunflower cable network will transport the weather data back to the ITTC, where researchers will analyze the different weather measurements. "A variety of substances in the atmosphere may affect network performance," says professor Donna Tucker. The researchers also will test the range of millimeter wave systems, which are typically used only in close proximity to one another. Initial results from the study have found that millimeter wave systems work well over a relatively long distance in clear weather and are accessible most of the time.
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Standards Still Emerging for Military Wireless Nets
Defense Systems (08/11/08) Vol. 3, No. 6, Carr, David F.

In the near future, military wireless networks could incorporate civilian technologies such as Wi-Fi, while simultaneously accounting for ways the network on a battlefield differs from a civilian or municipal wireless network. Military system architects continue to struggle with the fundamental issues of security and reliability that must be solved before wireless technology can be deployed on a wider scale and for more critical missions. The goal is to support the network-centric ideal of information superiority. The voice, video, and data that warfighters need for situational awareness ranges from the ability to locate and identify friendly forces on a moving map, to watching video feeds from unmanned aerial vehicles and ground-based robots. Attempting to adapt commercial technologies for the military using equipment based on 802.11 (Wi-Fi) and 802.16 (WiMax) creates significant security concerns, along with determining how to provide wireless networks that support a high degree of mobility when nodes might be on helicopters, tanks, trucks, or troops. These networks need to be able to operate with little or no reliance on a centralized infrastructure, and must fit the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), the next-generation architecture that the Defense Department has been trying to define for a decade. JTRS is structured around software-based radio that can be reprogrammed to work with a variety of protocols and different modes of communication. Telos' Tom Badders says that no standard has been defined yet, which means vendors are building mesh networking solutions using proprietary technology that may or may not be loosely aligned with the proposed standard. He says work is underway on 802.11s, a wireless standard for mesh networks, but it has not been ratified.
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