Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the IEEE Sweden VT/COM/IT Chapter in collaboration with Lund University, we would like to invite you to the following IEEE Technical seminar by Prof. Laurent Schmalen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany.

Title: "Machine Learning in Digital Communications – Some Applications"

Time: 14:15 - 15:00 Friday, November 25, 2022

Place: Lund University, Room E:3211, Ole Römers väg 3, 22363 Lund


Abstract:
In the past decade, the field of machine learning has seen tremendous advances, in particular driven by the fields of computer vision and language processing. The techniques used in machine learning can also be successfully employed in digital communications, where inference techniques have been successfully employed for more than six decades. In this talk, we use modern machine learning methods to improve several parts of digital communication systems. First, show how to reduce the complexity of channel decoders for short block codes while at the same time improving their performance. Afterwards, we improve symbol detection in channels with inter-symbol interference using gradient-based optimization techniques for graphical models. We then investigate options to carry out joint channel estimation and equalization without requiring pilot symbols based on variational inference techniques. The talk concludes with an outlook to the optimization of modulation formats.

Biography:
Laurent Schmalen (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Diploma-(Ing.) degree in electrical engineering and information technology and the Dr.-(Ing.) degree from the RWTH Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany. From 2011 to 2019, he was a member of Technical Staff at the Bell Laboratories and also the Department Head of the Coding in Optical Communications Department from 2016 to 2019. From 2014 to 2019, he was a Guest Lecturer at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He is currently a Full Professor with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he heads the Communications Engineering Laboratory (CEL). His research interests include forward error correction, modulation formats, and information theory for future optical networks. He was a recipient and a co-recipient of several awards, including the E-Plus Award for his Ph.D. thesis, the Best Paper Award of the 2010 ITG Speech Communication Conference, the 2013 Best Student Paper Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Systems Workshop, and both the 2016 and 2018 Journal of Lightwave Technology best paper awards. He serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Communications.

Welcome!

Best regards,
Michael Lentmaier, Chair of the VT/COM/IT Sweden Chapter