Opportunistic Integrated Communication and Weather Sensing

Abstract:  The concept of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is gaining attention in the signal processing community, especially in the context of 6G technologies. In this talk I will review the state of the art of the technology of weather sensing using existing measurements from wireless commercial microwave links (CMLs). This technology, first introduced in 2006, can be interpreted as opportunistic ISAC or as opportunistic IoT.

The fact that CML sensors are randomly distributed, and each of them samples the 2-D field of interest (e.g., rain field) as a nonlinear projection along a line, raises interesting practical and theoretical questions to their use for reliable reconstruction of the field.  In this talk I will review the state-of-the-art of the CML technology for weather sensing and will focus on future trends and on open problems.

Besides dealing with its scientific and technological challenges, I will discuss it as a test case for the interplay between academic research results and their utilization for the public good.

Bio:  HAGIT MESSER-YARON received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University (TAU), ISRAEL, and after a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University, she joined the faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University in 1986, where she is The Kranzberg Chair Professor in Signal Processing at the school of Electrical Engineering. On 2000-3 she has been on leave from TAU, serving as the Chief Scientist and the head of the Science Directorate at the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport. After returning to TAU she was the head of the Porter school of environmental studies (2004-6), and the Vice President for Research and Development (2006-8).  Then, she has been the President of the Open University (2008-13), and from Oct. 2013 till January 2016 she has served as the Vice Chair of the Council of Higher Education, Israel. She was also one of the co-founders of ClimaCell.

Hagit Messer-Yaron, a Life Fellow of the IEEE, is an active researcher in the field of Statistical Signal Processing, with applications to environmental monitoring. She is also interested in various aspects of higher education and science policy, including science-society interplay, women in science and technology, and commercialization of academic research. Prof. Messer-Yaron is a member of COMEST, UNESCO committee for ethics in Science and Technology, a member of the Executive Committee of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, and a member of IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee (EMCC).

***Event will take place in hybrid format. The location for in-person attendance will be room 1008 EECS.   Attendance will also be available via Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting https: https://umich.zoom.us/j/91414297851

Meeting ID: 914 1429 7851

Passcode: XXXXXX (Will be sent via e-mail to attendees)

Zoom Passcode information is also available upon request to Michele Feldkamp ([email protected]).