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ITEE College Board Report
by Peter Hitchiner
 The College Board met on 7 and 8 May
2010. The Board recognises that there is a wide range of activities of
interest to members across the discipline. This is reflected in the
diversity of programs in each Division. While resources available to the
Board are limited (reflected in its priorities), acknowledgement has
been given to other activities where resources allow and volunteers have
come forward to support those initiatives. I encourage ITEE College
Members in Divisions to become involved in College activities by
contributing to Division groups and perhaps by responding to this
column.
The Board discussed an Operational Plan, which will form
the basis for the 2011/12 plan due for consideration at the Board’s
October meeting. If you feel the College needs greater involvement in
some areas, for instance broadcast engineering, please let me know. The
ITEE group in WA has formed a software engineering forum to address the
needs in this area; others may wish to consider similar initiatives.
Changes
to the method of delivery of Monitor were agreed by the
College Board. eMonitor will be distributed in a similar manner
to Engineers Australia’s eNews. Archive copies will be held
for all non-current issues. A link to archives will be provided with each issue
of eMonitor. It is hoped that the new format might encourage
Division groups to submit regular short items relating to their
activities.
The Board is seeking nominations from Northern,
Newcastle and Tasmanian Divisions for membership of the Board. If you
are interested in filling one of these positions, please contact your
Division president or executive director.
The Board agreed to
develop guidelines for a new award in which technologists and associates
would be eligible, utilising funds available from the IREE Foundation.
This award would complement the existing IREE Neville Thiele Award. The
award guidelines will be considered at the Board’s October meeting.
The
College Board confirmed the importance of facilitating conferences in
relevant areas and the importance of local ITEE Membership involvement.
In particular, see the Space Engineering Symposium (Adelaide, July); EMC Symposium 2010
(Melbourne, September); and the 35th Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology
(ACOFT). There was discussion about the absence of general
conferences covering ITEE matters and this will be further discussed at a
future Board meeting.
The Board noted the new College
Regulations approved by Council on 5 May 2010. In particular, the Board
noted its responsibilities under those regulations. One of the Board’s
roles is to undertake periodic reviews of competency standards. The area
of Software Engineering competency standards needs particular attention
and encouragement of the importance of the engineering approach in
software projects. The National Committee on Software Engineering will
lead consideration on this.
The Board agreed that the opportunity
presented by the Asia-Pacific
Software Engineering Conference in Sydney in November should be
used as a launch pad for a “Software Engineering Forum” in the Sydney
Division modelled on a successful group running in WA Division. Software
engineers interested in the formation of this group should contact me.
The Board aims to have a significant ITEE College presence at this EA
sponsored conference.
Plans are advancing for presentations in
the second half of 2010 by Eminent Speaker Terry Stephenson of Raytheon.
More details will be provided soon.
The Board elected Jennifer
Murray, chair of the National Committee on Software Engineering as the
second deputy chair of the College Board. Congratulations Jennifer!
The
Board discussed various other matters including the proposed Royal
Charter and By-law changes
This column also appears in the ITEE College Board Chair blog. Please post your
feedback.
Peter Hitchiner is the ITEE College Chair 2010
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Electrical engineer receives medal
The
Electrical College and the ITEE College have jointly awarded the M A
Sargent Medal to Dr David Skellern at the Electrical College’s Annual
Awards Dinner on 21 May in Perth.
The M A Sargent Medal is named
in honour of Dr Michael Anthony (Mike) Sargent, an outstanding
Australian electrical engineer and former president of Engineers
Australia. Sargent has previously said that creativity and a disciplined
approach to problem solving are the hallmarks of a great engineer.
Skellern
received the medal “for the breadth and depth of his contribution to
technical innovation, his eminence in the practice of electrical
engineering and his exceptional management and leadership in Information
and Communications Technology”, the citation said.
Highlights
of his career include co-founding Radiata in 1997, which built wireless
LAN chips in collaboration with CSIRO, and then went on to develop the
world’s first IEEE 802.11a chip-set in 2000 after which it was acquired
by Cisco Systems.
Skellern has been CEO of National ICT Australia
(NICTA) since 2005. |
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Update on broadband network
Speaking
at the CeBIT National Broadband Network Conference in May in Sydney,
NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley provided an update of NBN Co’s progress and
outlined details of the planned national broadband network.
In
terms of the NBN’s structure, Quigley said that there would be fixed
wireless networks to cover those areas outside of fibre deployment.
These wireless networks would have a committed capacity of 12Mbit/s (as
opposed to a peak capacity) and would emulate a layer 2 network.
Adaptive coding modulation would be used as a measure against poor
reception due to rainfall patterns.
In addressing speed concerns,
Quigley showed that following the current trend for internet speeds,
100Mbit/s would be required by 2015-2020 and 1Gbit/s by 2020-2025. In
the case of insufficient capacity in the future, he said that the
slowest point of interconnect would be the electronics at either end of
the fibre, which could be upgraded, but the fibre infrastructure would
always be required.
Quigley stated that long term evolution (LTE)
wireless technology should be used in conjunction with fibre to provide
the network, rather than alone due to its non-ideal scaling properties.
A greater number of users and interference would reduce capacity to
inadequate levels. Fibre, on the other hand, would provide set
capacities at any distance from a point of interconnect.
“We’re
planning to have reaches of at least 15km and the network will be
designed so that if you subscribe, for example, to a 20Mbit/s service,
you’ll get that 20Mbit/s whether you are right at the centre of the
node, or at the furthest reaches,” he said.
In providing a
comparison between the top countries with fibre to the home, Australia
did not even make the list, with less than 1% of premises connected via
fibre. Japan, in comparison, had more than 20%.
The conference
was part of the CeBIT Australia 2010 expo, which had 605 exhibitors.
Mike
Quigley believes the fibre infrastructure will allow internet speeds
limited only by the electronics at the end points.
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Video receives an open-source
alternative codec
On2 Technologies has developed a
video codec called VP8 which, after the company was purchased by
Google, has been released as an open-source and royalty-free alternative
to existing video codecs.
Until now there has been no
open-source video codecs available to content distributors and
developers. This is in contrast to images and audio, which have at least
one alternative format such as PNG (Portable Network Graphics) or Ogg
Vorbis.
One of the more common video codecs, H.264 does not
currently charge royalties for its use, but owners MPEG-LA will begin to
do so beginning 2015.
In order to make use of the codec, Google
has developed WebM, a new container file format based on the open-source
multimedia container Matroska. The WebM format (.webm files) would only
support the VP8 video format and the Vorbis audio format.
While
the VP8 codec could be incorporated into other container file formats,
including Matroska itself, the WebM project team’s decision to limit
codecs to VP8 and Vorbis ensures that no confusion exists as to what
codecs are required to view a .webm file.
Android will receive
support for WebM by the end of the year and Adobe has pledged support
for the format in Flash. A number of high-profile companies are also
collaborating on the WebM project such as hardware manufacturers Nvidia,
Qualcomm and AMD. WebM will benefit from any hardware acceleration
these manufacturers may implement as part of their support for the
format. |
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NBN: New possibilities for
consumers and businesses
The National Broadband
Network will introduce new possibilities for Australian consumers and
businesses, according to Sydney research and consultancy firm Telsyte.
In
its April 2010 white paper titled “Australia’s National Broadband
Network: Possibilities Abound”, sponsored by ECI Telecom, Telsyte
believes IPTV will become widespread, our health system will change and
businesses will adopt cloud computing as the prevalent way to run their
IT systems.
The paper envisions offerings that include fixed voice,
mobile, broadband, and subscription-based television as a means for
telecommunications operators to increase revenue streams and maintain
loyalty of their subscriber base for some time.
Telsyte consider
the uptake of IPTV in countries where fibre-to-the-home is more readily
available an indicator for the demand of similar services in Australia
once the NBN is established. Examples of where IPTV has firmly taken
root include Japan, Korea, and parts of the United States.
In April
this year, Australia’s third-largest ISP iiNet has announced its
intention to enter the IPTV market with its FetchTV offering.
Operators
aiming to increase consumer spending following deployment of the NBN
may take advantage of IPTV entertainment services such as interactive
television, on-demand movies, and on-demand games.
The paper also
predicts that self-managed aged care, through such solutions as
telemetry, remote video cameras, movement sensors and vital sign
monitoring, may change the way healthcare is delivered and health
information is managed.
Patient and medical records, and images
such as x-rays and ultrasounds, could be delivered in a seamless manner,
the paper pointing towards how the UK Department of Health has migrated
the National Health Service to a single, electronic care record for
patients and connected 30,000 general practitioners to 300 hospitals.
At
the Australian Telecommunications User Group conference NBN Co chief
Mike Quigley said that in the short term, businesses had the most to
gain and that NBN Co intends to provide speeds of up to 1Gb/s for
certain corporate and government users.
Telsyte believes that an
ubiquitous high-speed network will accelerate the adoption of cloud
services by Australian businesses and become the dominant way to run IT
systems. The paper states that it will provide capital savings by
eliminating cyclical hardware replacement and operational cost savings
through reduced project implementation, support and maintenance costs.
The
full report can be viewed at: http://img.en25.com/Web/ECI/100mbps-whitepaper.pdf. |
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Triple Zero to track mobile
location
The Australian Communications and Media
Authority (ACMA) has put forth a proposal to amend the emergency call
service rules and require mobile carriers to provide caller location
information during an emergency call to emergency service organisations.
According
to ACMA chairman Chris Chapman, 63% of all calls made to Triple Zero
are made from a mobile phone, but unlike landline phones, emergency
operators are not automatically given accurate details about the
caller’s location.
“This is not an issue for the vast majority of
mobile calls made to Triple Zero as in most cases the caller can tell
the emergency operator where they are located. But there are
times—estimated at less than one per cent of calls—when people are too
distressed or unfamiliar with their environment to report their
location. It is in such instances where access to enhanced location
information will assist emergency service organisations locate callers,”
he said
In addition, the ACMA is concerned that the community
may have unrealistic expectations about the current ability of mobile
technology to help them in an emergency situation. A recent ACMA survey
found that 52% of people believed they could be located automatically
via mobile phone.
“This is not the case. There is currently no
single and widely-available method that can accurately pinpoint a mobile
phone user’s location and then pass the information to emergency
operators. Such accuracy is not expected to be made available on a
reasonable cost basis for some years to come and will always be
difficult in a country with the land mass and sparse population of
Australia,” Chapman said.
The ACMA previously released a
discussion paper on its proposal, addressing four key issues:
- Mandating the provision of best
available location information about a mobile emergency call upon
request from an emergency service organisation.
- Identifying the operational arrangements
for implementing an enhanced mobile location solution.
- Managing unrealistic expectations of the
provision of mobile location information in an effort to correct the
belief some people have that current mobile location identification
techniques can provide ‘pinpoint’ accuracy anywhere in Australia.
- Determining a temporary exemption
process to give carriers reasonable time to upgrade their technology
where required.
A
copy of the mobile location information study and consultation paper can
be found at www.acma.gov.au. |
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Hotline to report SMS spammers
The
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has launched a new
tool to combat spam received via text message.
Launched in June
this year, “Spam SMS” provides Australians with a convenient way to
report text spam message by forwarding them to 0429 999 888. The new
method of reporting is in response to concerns that web-forms or
telephone reporting may discourage the community from alerting the
correct authorities due to the time and inconvenience necessary to do
so.
Users do not need to register to use the service, but doing
so will help the ACMA if it needs to contact users for more information.
The
ACMA received 3947 reports and complaints in the 2008/09 financial
year, a 71% increase on the previous year.
The tool will assist
the ACMA in its investigations into breaches of the Spam Act. To comply
with the Spam Act, text messages must be sent with the recipient’s
consent, identify the sender and how they can be contacted, and include
an unsubscribe option.
A third of SMS spam reports received by
the ACMA are about scam activity, indicating that scammers are
increasingly using SMS to contact potential targets.
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Framework for NBN telephony access
Communications
Alliance has released a draft framework for wholesale telephony
services that are expected to be available via the National Broadband
Network (NBN).
The National Broadband Network Wholesale Service
Definition Framework – Telephony Access Service is anticipated to be
used by wholesale and retail service providers as well as suppliers of
telephony and network equipment.
The paper considers architecture
options for telephony, signalling protocols, telephony features, and
codecs for telephony services. It specifies the telephony features that
will need to be supported by the NBN wholesale service, including
Calling Line Identification, the National Relay Service, TTY (teletype)
services, and Calling Number Display.
Communications Alliance CEO
John Stanton said: “This paper will help define the telephony services
to be offered to end users and ensure that consumers can be confident
that their telephone services will migrate smoothly to the NBN. It sets
the scene for the transformation of Australia’s telephony environment
from copper wire to fibre.”
The paper is focused on the access
link from the end user premises to a point of interconnect, with the
retail service provider taking responsibility for long haul transport
from the point of interconnect and the switching of calls.
The
draft paper is available from the Communications Alliance website at: http://commsalliance.com.au/Documents/public-comment |
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Search engine receives overhaul
Google
has updated its web indexing system to provide faster and fresher
results for web searches than its old indexing system.
According
to software engineer Carrie Grimes on the official Google blog, the new
system, dubbed Caffeine, was developed in response to the growth of rich
webspages that incorporate video, images, news and real-time updates.
Google’s
previous indexing system was built on several layers, each of which
could take a significant amount of time to be updated at the search
engine analysed content on the web. Caffeine on the other hand does this
analysis in smaller portions and updates the global index on a
continual basis to provide results that are 50% fresher.
In her
keynote speech on day two of the Search Engine Strategies conference in
Toronto in early June, Google senior developer programs engineer Maile
Ohye compared the old index as having to do an entire load of laundry
and caffeine as having the ability to wash a single article of clothing.
The
new index processes so many pages in parallel that it can add several
hundred terabytes of data to the massive caffeine databases each day.
The size of a single database is currently about 100 petabytes, or 100
million gigabytes. |
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Portable 3G
wifi router
Broadband technology developer
NetComm has launched a mobile 3G wifi router called MyZone.
The
MyZone fills the grey area between 3G USB modems and 3G routers. It
performs as a traditional USB modem, but has the ability to connect
multiple devices, supporting up to ten wireless devices concurrently
such as the iPad, notebooks, smartphones, cameras and gaming consoles.
Netcomm
claims to have concentrated the development of the MyZone around
maximising its battery life. It has an integrated lithium-ion battery to
provide power for up to six hours of operation and 40 hours whilst
idle. Users can charge the MyZone via the included micro USB cable and
continue using its wireless function at the same time.
It is
compatible with all Australian 3G networks and approximately 150 global
3G networks, users can move their Internet connection anywhere there is
mobile network coverage. The MyZone comes pre-loaded with carrier
connection information to reduce configuration.
The MyZone is
capable of delivering download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and upload speeds
of 5.76Mbps and supports 3G Tri-band 850MHz, 1900MHz, and 2100MHz.
myzone.netcomm.com.au
The NetComm MyZone allows
users to connect mobile wifi devices to a 3G connection.
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Portable hard
drive adapts to interfaces
Hard drive
manufacturer Seagate has introduced a new portable drive that is able to
adapt to different interfaces or devices.
The FreeAgent GoFlex
storage family has an array of interchangeable cables and desktop
adapters that allow users to operate the same drive across different
interfaces.
The GoFlex cable system enables GoFlex and GoFlex
Pro drives to be upgraded to USB 3.0, eSATA or FireWire 800 connections
by switching out the cable adapter.
Additionally, certain GoFlex
upgrade cables provide more applications for usage, for example as a
continuous full-system backup.
The FreeAgent GoFlex is available
in capacities ranging from 320GB to 2TB.
www.seagate.com
The FreeAgent GoFlex has
interchangeable cables to adapt to interfaces including USB 3.0, eSATA
and FireWire 800 (pictured). |
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Productivity
software updated for 2010
Microsoft has released
the next version of its productivity software suite, Office 2010.
Some
of the more notable improvements over the previous version of Office
are:
- PowerPoint
2010 has received new video and photo editing features and the ability
to deliver presentations over the internet with PowerPoint Broadcast
Slideshow.
- Word
2010 has received new text effects and table formatting options.
- Outlook 2010 features a new Social
Connector function.
Microsoft appears to have acknowledged the trend of users to
shift to cloud services and an increasing amount of collaborative work.
Word, PowerPoint and OneNote now have co-authoring features and their
files can be uploaded to Windows Live SkyDrive.
Users that have
grown to hate the controversial “ribbon” introduced in the 2007 version
of Office may be disappointed to find that this feature is still being
used to organise commands for working in a document (eg changing fonts
and margins). However, Microsoft has replaced the Office Button with a
new feature – Office Backstage, which in contrast to the ribbon,
organises commands applied to the document as a whole (eg printing and
saving).
Also updated for 2010 and now available are Visio 2010
and Project 2010.
Trials of Office 2010 are available from
Microsoft’s website.
www.office.com
Microsoft Office receives
an update for 2010. |
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Engineering
Education Australia
- Contract management (2
days) Gladstone 24 Jun, Newcastle 19 Jul, Hobart 26 Jul, Canberra 9 Aug,
Sydney 16 Aug. Darwin 8 Nov
- Slide rule thinking in the internet age (half
day) Perth 27 Jul, Hobart 13 Sep
- Project management practice -
module 2 implementing projects (2 days) Melbourne 27 Jul, Perth
29 Jul
- Finite
element analysis for success (1 day) Perth 28 Jul
- Mentoring skills (1
day) Melbourne 10 Aug
- Asset management (2 days) Brisbane 24 Aug
- Engineering planning and design
(1 day) Melbourne 9 Sep, Adelaide 20 Oct, Perth 11 Nov
- Fear free presentations
(1 day) Brisbane 25 Nov
For further information on these and other events organised by
Engineering Education Australia go to www.eeaust.com.au.
Engineers Australia conferences
The
86th National EESA Conference and Trade Exhibition will be
held in Sydney 1-3 Sep. Inquiries: www.eesa.asn.au/events.
The
17th Asia Pacific software engineering conference will be held
in Sydney 30 Nov to 3 Dec. Inquiries: www.apsec2010.com.
The
19th Australian Institute of Physics Congress incorporating
the 35th Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology
(AIP/ACOFT 2010) will be held in Melbourne on 5-9 December.
Inquiries: www.aip2010.org.au.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 9 July.
The
15th International conference for women engineers and scientists
will be hosted by Engineers Australia's National Committee for Women in
Engineering and the International Network for Women Engineers and
Scientists in Adelaide 19-22 Jul 2011. Inquiries: www.icwes15.org. The
deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 December 2010.
For a
more comprehensive list of Engineers Australia's conferences, visit www.engineersaustralia.org.au/conferences.
Other events
The Electromagnetic
Compatibility Society of Australia in conjunction with the IEEE EMC
Society Victorian Chapter will hold its 9th Annual Symposium on
EMC in Melbourne on 8-10 Sep. Full details are on www.emcsa.org.au.
The
2011 World Engineers' Convention will be held on 4-9 Sep 2011
in Geneva, Switzerland. Titled "Engineers power the world - Facing the
global energy challenge", the convention seeks to encourage innovative
engineering aimed at solving the problem of globally sustainable use of
energy. For more information go to www.wec2011.org or contact info@wec2011.org.
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