The emergence of, and progress in, Portable Information Devices (PIDs) have revolutionized the telecommunications, information engineering, and entertainment systems of this decade and have become an essential part of our everyday life and business culture. PIDs allow vastly enhanced lifestyles from basics like reading, taking notes, or listening to music, to crunching numbers, watching video, and keeping up with news and sports events on the go. Today's PIDs include cellular phones, palm-sized personal digital assistants, medical devices, intelligent clothing, iPODs, and others. Some devices have built-in organizers for to-do and shopping lists, scheduling and appointments, phone numbers, address book, customer contacts, even games, and video display. Both hardware and software are equally important in the design, use and reliability of these devices which should be easy to handle and operate, and last for a long time.

Like PORTABLE 2007, held in Orlando, Florida, in March 2007, PORTABLE 2008 will bring together electrical, materials, mechanical, optical, reliability, industrial and manufacturing engineers and business leaders involved or interested in various types of PIDs, to address and discuss the state-of-the-art, challenges, attributes and pitfalls in PID related areas of engineering and applied science, with an emphasis on the interaction of the hardware and software in the PIDs, as well as on their functional and physical (mechanical) performance, reliability and durability.

PORTABLE 2008 is sponsored by the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS), IEEE Electronic Device Society (EDS), Components Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society (CPMTS), and IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (SMCS). PORTABLE 2008 is technically co-sponsored by the Nokia Corp., University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), the University of Maryland at College Park (UMD), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) and IEEE Women in Engineering Society (WES). We are seeking the cooperation with, and participation of, several non-IEEE societies and government agencies.

Call for Papers

Scope:
PORTABLE 2008 is looking for technical paper contributions (initially, in the form of extended abstracts, and then in the form of full-length papers), coupled with tutorial, panel discussion, and demonstration (trade show type) proposals on the different aspects of the Portable Information Device engineering, including, but not limited to, the following topics, standards, technologies and areas (directions):
Topics: Cell Phones; �??Smart�?? Cell Phones (containing ICs); Medical Devices; Intelligent Clothing; Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs); Portable Musical Devices (MP3 Players); Portable Video Devices; Portable Multimedia Devices; Global Positioning Systems (GPS); Handheld (�??Wearable�??) Computers (HHC); Multi-function entertainment and communication terminals.
Standards: �??Digital Video Broadcast, Hand-Held�?? (DVBH); Reliability and Quality Standards
Technologies: New and Emerging PID Technologies; Wireless Technologies (antennas, RF Circuits, Signal Processing, Security); Microwave Technologies; Input/Output (user interfaces, displays); Distributed Networking (peer-to-peer, wireline-wireless); Battery/Power (micro fuel cells, others): Sensors; Display Technologies
Areas (Directions): Packaging, Physics, and Mechanics of various PIDs; Functional (electrical, optical) Design; Physical (mechanical) Design; Manufacturing; Mobile Devices and Related Areas; Materials (and, particular, Nano- and Polymeric Materials); Reliability and Performance in Harsh Environments; Hardware/Software Interaction; Power Generation, Supply and Conversion; Multi-Modal Man-Machine Communication; Anywhere/Anytime Access to Information; Voice and Image Recognition and Processing; Audio and Video Processing; Shock Protection; Bio-Medical Applications; Nanotechnology Applications; Advanced Experimental Techniques, Experimental Evaluations and Testing; Predictive Modeling; Economics and Business Related problems; Government/Regulatory; Homeland Security Related Issues; Impact on the Society and other Social Areas; Home Entertainment Systems and Networks.

Duration and Content: Eight half-day tutorials (short courses) will be held on Sunday, August 10. Key-note presentations, invited talks, technical sessions and business-related panel discussions will be held on Monday through Wednesday, August 11-13. An IEEE Pavilion featuring technology exhibits and demonstrations will be open on August 11-13.

Anticipated Attendance: 150-200 participants.

Chairs:
General Co-Chairs: Ephraim Suhir (University of California, USA),
Jyrki Joutsensalo (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)

Administrative Co-Chairs:
Dr. Yi Zhang (UCSC, USA),
William Yeager (USCG, USA)

Technical Program Co-Chairs:
Timo Hamalainen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland),
Claire Gu (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA),
Kanji Otsuka (Meisei Univ., Japan),
Hideo Itoh (AIST, Japan),
Ricky Lee (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HK, China)

Keynote/Panel Sessions Co-Chairs:
Ephraim Suhir (UCSC, USA),
Bernd Michel (Fraunhofer Institute, Germany),
Jorma Kivilahti (Technical University, Finland)

Tutorial (Short Course) Co-Chairs:
Danko Antolovic (University of Indiana, USA),
Ramesh Harjani (University of Minnesota, USA),
Sundaresan Jayaraman (Georgia Tech, USA),
Ricky Lee (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HK, China)

Publicity Co-Chairs:
Mario El-Khoury (CSEM, Switzerland),
Kikuo Kishimoto (University of Tokyo, Japan)

Publications Co-Chairs:
Jyrki Joutsensalo (University of Jyväskylä, Finland),
Timo Hämaläinen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland),
Tom Krupenkin (Wisconsin-Madison University, USA)

Exhibits/Demonstrations Co-Chairs:
Petri Savolainen (Nokia, Finland),
Helge Kristiansen (Conpart, Norway),
Petri Mähönen (RWTH Aachen University, MobNets, Germany),
Rohit Prasad (BBN Technologies, USA)

Webmaster: William Yeager (USCG, USA)

Liason with other IEEE and non-IEEE Organizations and Societies:
Ephraim Suhir (UCSC, USA)

Organizing Committee Members (Partial List): Danko Antolovic (Univ. of Indiana, USA), Joe Barrett (Intel, USA), Tim Buennemeyer (University of Vermont, USA), Phil Chan (HKUST, Hong Kong), Bernard Courtois (CMP-TIMA, France), Danilo DeRossi (University of Pisa, Italy), Mario El-Khoury (CSEM, Switzerland), Alex Gelman (Panasonic, USA), Reza Ghaffarian (NASA, USA), William Gruver (Intelligent Robotics Corporation, USA), Vida Ilderem (Motorola, USA), Kipp Jones (Gatech, USA), Ronald Kelley (Motorola, USA), Jorma Kivilahti (HUT, Finland), Tom.Krupenkin (WMU, USA), Ricky Lee (HKUST, Hong Kong), Petri Mähönen (RWTH Aachen University, MobNets, Germany), Wataru Nakayama (Japan), Johann Nicolics (Technical University-Wien, Austria), Yoshifumi Nishida (Sony, Japan), Shlomo Novotny (AAVID, USA), Kanji Otsuka (EI MEISEI-U, Japan)

Abstract Submission: Extended abstracts written in English should consist of a minimum 1000 words and a maximum of 1500 words, with relevant figures and tables describing results. Abstracts should include the following sections: 1) background/incentive/motivation; 2) objective(s); 3) approach; 4) major results; 5) conclusions and recommendations; 6) future work; 7) references. The abstracts will be reviewed by the Technical Program Committee. The preliminary decision on including a talk into the Workshop program will be based on the submitted abstract. The final decision will be made based on the full-length (typically 6-page long) paper.

Schedule for Abstract and Paper Submissions:
Deadline for Submission of Extended Abstract: February 1, 2008
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: March 1, 2008
Full-Length Paper Due: June 1, 2008
Notification of Full Paper Acceptance: July 1, 2008
Submit you abstract and paper to Dr. Yi Zhang at yzhang@lvsensors.com, and to Dr. Claire@soe.ucsc.edu, with a copy to E.Suhir at suhire@aol.com.


CALL FOR TUTORIALS (SHORT COURSES)

Proposals for half day tutorials are also solicited based on the topics above or others related to issues and opportunities for the future of portable information communications, systems and applications. Tutorial presenters will receive compensation. Please submit the tutorial proposals by e-mail to Danko Antolovic (University of Indiana, USA) at dantolov@indiana.edu, to Ramesh Harjani (University of Minnesota, USA) at harjani@ece.umn.edu and/or to Sundaresan Jayaraman (Georgia Tech, USA) at sundaresan.jayaraman@gatech.edu. Questions, if any, should be directed to one of the tutorial co-chairs or to Ephraim Suhir (UCSC), General Co-Chair, at suhire@aol.com or to Dr. Yi Zhang, Administrative Co-Chair, at yzhang@lvsensors.com .
�?� Acceptance notification deadline: April 1, 2008
�?� Tutorial handouts/materials deadline: July 1, 2008
�?� Registration deadline: July 15, 2008

CALL FOR TECHNOLOGY/BUSINESS APPLICATION PANELS

Proposals are also solicited for Technology / Business Application Panels in the topical areas above or others related to business and policy-related issues and opportunities for the portable information communications industry. Enquiries should be sent to Dr. Suhir, General Co-Chair and Technology/Business Application Panel Co-Chair, at suhire@aol.com and to Dr. Yi Zhang, Administrative Co-Chair, at yzhang@lvsensors.com.
�?� Panel proposal deadline: March 1, 2008
�?� Panel acceptance notification deadline: April 1, 2008
�?� Panel speaker confirmation deadline: July 1, 2008
�?� Panel materials/hand out deadline: July 15, 2008
�?� Registration deadline: August 1, 2008


CALL FOR DEMONSTRATIONS (EXHIBITS)

Submissions should be in the form of a proposal describing the main contributions of the demonstration and the merits of the proposed ideas. Authors should indicate if their demonstration presentation is a prototype or a poster. Proposals that demonstrate actual prototypes should include space, power and networking requirements. Submission details, including proposal templates, can be found on the conference web site at:
Questions should be directed to one of the Helge Kristiansen, Exhibition/Demonstration Chairs at helge@conpart.com and/or Petri Savolainen at petri.jo.savolainen@nokia.com, with a copy to Dr. Yi Zhang, Administrative Co-Chair, at yzhang@lvsensors.com.
�?� Demonstration proposal submission deadline: April 1, 2008
�?� Demonstration acceptance notification deadline: July 1, 2008
�?� Final camera-ready two-page paper submission deadline: July 15, 2008
�?� Registration deadline: August 1, 2008