RCA’s 2016 Technical Symposium in New York City

This year we have another very interesting Technical Symposium, with another “Wireless Wow”, found

only with RCA!

Our Wireless Wow for this year’s Technical Symposium is a presentation by Professor Tom Perera.

Professor Perera has spent much of his professional career searching for German World War II Engima

cypher coding machines-even though Winston Churchill at the end of the war said they had all been

destroyed! Most of the German Enigma-encoded messages were carried on wireless to the U-boat

submarine fleet, or to German army units. Breaking the code was vital to the Allies winning the war,

and the machine has been featured in two films, Enigma and The Imitation Game. Professor Perera has

a unique collection of rebuilt and working Enigma machines, and he will bring one to display at our

event!

Our agenda for this year is an exciting one, with unique topics that you will only find in RCA’s Tech

Symposium, such as software defined radios (SDR) for the military, and RAN hardware that allows for

rural deployments of LTE broadband services.

This year, we also have two panels of experts discussing timely wireless topics including 5G, and in-

building wireless for both cellular and public safety.

For those that are registered professional engineers, or others who require CEUs (Continuing Education

Units), attendees can obtain a certificate from a recognized university attesting to the CEUs they have

received, for a modest fee (note that RCA makes no money on this endeavor-this is for the convenience

of our members who are PEs).

The agenda is below, followed by abstracts on the presentations, and then detailed bios on the speakers

or panelists.

2016 Technical Symposium Agenda

7:30 8:30 Continental Breakfast served to all attendees*

8:00 8:15 Welcome & Introductions John Facella, P.E.

8:15 9:00 “Developing Secure Tactical Multi-Role, Multi-Mission, Mulit-Channel Radios with increasing demands for data everywhere”, Harris Corp.

Charles Datz

9:00 9:45 “Removing Economical Constraints of Rural Deployments with RAN hardware Innovation”, Parallel Wireless

Rajesh Mishra

9:45 10:00 Break*

10:00 10:45 “Maj. Edwin H. Armstrong: Student Inventor to Great Radio Engineer”, Columbia Univ.

Prof. Mischa Schwartz, Ph.D.

10:45 11:30 “Reactive to Pro-Active, Using the Rasberry Pi computer to build a Home Sensor Network”, Youth Presentation

Divyam Mishra

11:30 12:15 Progress Report on RCA’s Youth Initiative Carole Perry 12:15 1:30 Lunch (outside of NYAC) **

1:30 2:15 Panel #1: “5G-What, Why, and When?” Andy Seybold, Prof. Ted Rapport, Ph.D.

2:15 2:35 Break*

2:35 3:45 Panel #2: In-building communications Rob Lopez, P.E., moderator; panelists Doug Fishman, Bassem Iskander, Alan Leffler, Scott Schober, Rich Touroonjian

3:45 4:30 “INSIDE ENIGMA: Breaking the Top Secret Enigma codes of WW-II”

Prof. Tom Perera, Ph.D, W1TP

4:30 4:45 Wrap up John Facella, P.E.

Notes:

* Breakfast and two coffee breaks (morning and afternoon) are provided for all attendees and speakers

at no cost.

** Unfortunately lunch at the NYAC is cost prohibitive, so we will have a 75 minute lunch break to allow

everyone to go offsite. A list of nearby restaurants and fast food places will be provided. Food cannot

be brought back into the NYAC per their rules of use.

2016 Technical Symposium Presentation Abstracts

8:15 – 9:00 “Developing Secure Tactical Multi-Role, Multi-Mission, Mulit-Channel Radios with

increasing demands for data everywhere”, Harris Corp.”

In this presentation we will explore some of the complex trade-offs encountered in the design and development of military tactical radios using a software defined radio (SDR) architecture. As the need for more and more situational awareness is pushed all the way to the individual on the battlefield, our radios are being required to implement a much richer feature set of capability while still being constrained by size, weight and power. The RF section(s) must be built to enable wide bandwidth high data rate capabilities, but in their multi-role application must also be designed to support narrowband, as well as advanced counter measure capabilities. And in all cases, these radios must be built to provide the highest level of information security and meet very high environmental specifications. Maximizing the radio’s ability to perform across this varied requirements space involves leveraging the latest technologies, as well as incorporating years of communications experience gained from having iteratively improved the designs for over 40 years.

9:00 – 9:45 "Removing Economical Constraints of Rural Deployments with RAN hardware

Innovation "

This session will explain how cellular network operators can use new software defined network (SDN)

architectures to help simplify network build out and reduce maintenance costs while connecting hard to

reach areas. The speaker from Parallel Wireless will discuss how the company has developed and

deployed (in the UK, US and Asia) a unique low-cost rural solution, nominated by Global Mobile Awards

by GSMA as a finalist of Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough of 2014. It brings 3G /4G to areas that

previously had no coverage – all at a fraction of the cost.

Session attendees will benefit from exploring how the solution solves challenges of delivering cost-

effective backhaul connections with wireless and satellite backhaul. The session attendees will learn

how this technology helps manage the complexity between the access side and the evolved packet core

(EPC) sides of the network while making the radio access network (RAN) self-configurable, self-

optimizing and self-healing which reduces installation and maintenance costs.

10:00 – 10:45 “Major Edwin H. Armstrong: Student Inventor to Great Radio Engineer”

This talk describes Armstrong’s great contributions to radio: First, while an electrical engineering

student at Columbia University, and shortly thereafter while with the U.S. Army Signal Corps during

WWI. Then much later on, while an unpaid electrical engineering professor at Columbia. The first set of

contributions contributed in a major way to AM radio. The latter contributions, the invention of low-

noise FM in 1933, resulted ultimately in the widespread adoption of FM radio.

10:45 – 11:30 Youth Presentation on Wireless: “Reactive to Proactive, Using the Rasberry Pi

computer to build a Home Sensor Network”

My idea of building a home sensor network first emerged during my research at the University of

Colorado at Boulder. This network includes a Raspberry Pi that acts as a centralized computer that both

collects data and evaluates the data, a plethora of Arduino microcontrollers that have temperature

sensors attached to them, and a wireless 422 MHz transceiver. Currently, this is just a basic prototype of

what this product will eventually become. This product will be able to transform our lives from reactive

to proactive by predicting problems with our devices ahead of time. For example, if there is a problem

with a heater, then the customer will be notified of a possible furnace failure in the future. Initially I

have implemented a basic system where data is gathered and sent to a cloud storage client. Now I am

focusing on making a phone application that can show the customer the potential problems with the

temperature distribution in the house via augmented reality. If for some reason the temperature

exceeds a certain temperature (indicating a possible fire), radios will be used to communicate to first

responders in a matter of seconds. This will require the integration of Raspberry Pi computers and

radios in a way that is revolutionary. This project ended up becoming a Dinc product named ProBoT.

11:30 – 12:15 Progress Report on RCA's Youth Initiative

All of us in wireless realize that our industry is going through a ‘graying phase’, and the industry is in

desperate need of a new generation of technicians, engineers, scientists, and other wireless savvy

professionals to lead the next wave of wireless progress. Carole Perry, an RCA Director, and Chair of

our youth program, will update us on the progress of her vital youth program.

1:30 – 2:15 Panel #1: “5G-What, Why, and When”

The wireless industry hype on Fifth Generation (5G) cellular systems has continued, even though 4G LTE

systems are not completely built out yet among the major public carriers. But what is 5G, when the

standards are still in flux, why does the industry need this technology, and when will it begin to be

implemented? The panel will address all of these issues with experts that are helping to make 5G a

reality.

2:35 – 3:45 Panel #2: “In-Building Communications”

As smart devices proliferate, the demand for “data everywhere” is driving the cellular carriers to expand

their networks both in terms of overall data capacity, and in terms of “coverage everywhere”. Further,

carriers are evolving to meet the increasing data demands by offloading from the macro outdoor sites to

in-building systems. Additionally, the public expects first responders (police, EMS, fire) to go into any

building and provide immediate aid regardless of how difficult that location may be from an RF

propagation standpoint. In recent years, the major venues such as sports stadiums have been built out

by either the cellular carriers or the venue owners. But now a ‘middle tier’ of office buildings,

apartment complexes, and smaller entertainment venues need to be built out. It is not clear who will

pay for this, and how and when it will be accomplished. Our panel of experts, including consultants and

vendors, will examine these difficult issues occurring in the next stage of buildout, and provide some

insights. This panel is moderated by Rob Lopez, P.E.

3:45 – 4:30 "Inside Enigma: Breaking the Top Secret Enigma Codes of WW-II"

The German military used Enigma cipher machines to encode all of their important wireless and wired

communications. The breaking of these Enigma codes is credited with shortening the war by two years,

saving thousands of lives, and perhaps keeping Hitler from developing the Atomic bomb. This talk will

explain how the Enigma works and trace the fascinating history of the cracking of the Enigma Codes.

The Real Story behind the "Imitation Game" movie will be explained. A working Enigma machine will be

on display outside the Technical Symposium presentation room.

2016 Technical Symposium Speakers / Moderators Biographies

Charlie Datz, Harris Communications:

Mr. Datz received his BS in Computer Science from St. John Fisher College, and has worked mainly in an engineering capacity at Harris Corporation for over 26 years developing military communications solutions.

John Facella, P.E., C.Eng., Panther Pines Consulting

John Facella, P.E., C.Eng., is a Principal at Panther Pines Consulting, specializing in public safety

communications consulting, and general management consulting. He has over 30 years in the wireless

industry, including 28 years working for both Motorola and Harris, and over 2 years as a senior vice president

with a national consulting company. He has held positions including product management, systems

engineering management, and Director of Public Safety markets. He has also held general management

positions in a number of high tech startup companies. Mr. Facella has been a frequent presenter at wireless

industry trade shows, and written numerous articles. He was a 10 year member of the International Assoc. of

Chiefs of Police Communications Committee and of the International Assoc. of Fire Chiefs Communications

Committee, and is a member of the NPSTC Broadband EMS Working Group, and the National Fire Protection

Association 1221 and 1802 committees. He has a BSEE from Georgia Tech, an MBA in marketing from Georgia

State University, is a registered professional engineer in the U.S., and a Chartered Engineer in the UK. Mr.

Facella served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a platoon leader. He is a life member of the IEEE, and is a

Fellow, Life Member, and on the Board of Directors of the Radio Club of America, and received the President’s

award in 2014. He also has 30 years of experience as a part-time fire fighter and EMT, and has numerous

certifications. In addition he is a life member of the ARRL, the QCWA, and the Antique Wireless Association.

Doug Fishman, PMP, Director of DAS Design and Implementation, Squan:

Doug Fishman is a seasoned wireless industry professional with a successful track record in technical and

leadership roles in consulting, service provider and vendor environments. He is currently responsible

for engineering and implementation of I-DAS and O-DAS networks, business development and

operational oversight. Mr. Fishman has significant experience working with wireless service providers

utilizing 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. His areas of expertise include DAS Design / Performance, RF

Engineering Management, Project Management. Mr. Fishman has a BSEE from Lehigh University and a

MSEE from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Bassem Iskander, Senior Systems Engineer, JMA Wireless:

Bassem Iskander is a Senior Systems Engineer at JMA Wireless. He has 17 years of experience in the

wireless industry. Bassem has seen the telecommunications industry from several varying perspectives:

internal to the wireless carriers; engineering consultant to enterprise customers; as a wireless

integrator; and from an OEM's unique perspective. This gives him keen insight into the inner and outer

workings of the industry. At his core, Bassem is a RF engineering expert. He specializes in site design,

capacity, optimization, In-Building DAS, and outdoor small cell engineering. Bassem is a champion of

value engineering and finding the most cost effective and technically sound solution available. He

previously held engineering management positions at T Mobile, RCC Consultants and Henkels and

McCoy Networks. He is IBWave level 3 certified, and has a BSEE in Electronics & Communications

Engineering from Ain Shams University.

Alan Leffler, National Sales Manager, EMR Corp.:

Alan F. Leffler is with the RF filtering and In-Building Booster/Amplification systems designer/manufacturer EMR Corp. where he is the Sales Manager. A 40 year land-mobile radio industry veteran, Leffler is also a Radio Club of America Fellow. He has authored articles, white papers and publications about applying wireless radio solutions to increase safety, efficiency and productivity in various applications. He is also a licensed radio amateur- N7WYE. He lives with his wife Karen in Austin, TX.

Robert Lopez, P.E, Owner and Principal of RLA Communications Engineering, LLC:

Rob Lopez is the owner and principal of RLA Communications Engineering, LLC (RLA) a private consulting

engineering company established in 2016. Rob has been in the wireless telecommunications industry

for 31 years. He began his career in public safety/mission critical land mobile radio (LMR) at Motorola in

1985. At Motorola he started as an engineering intern while completing his BSEE degree at the New

Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), followed with his Master’s degree in Engineering Management also

from NJIT. In 1989 he joined RCC Consultants. He rose to become a Senior Vice President at RCC,

before joining Black & Veatch as Director of Public Safety Consulting and Distributed Antenna Systems

(DAS). Rob is a member of RCA, IEEE, APCO and the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE),

and holds an active Level 3 certification for iBwave© DAS design software.

Divyam Mishra, student:

Divyam Mishra is a senior at Peak to Peak Charter School and has a passion for technology and entrepreneurship. He has an Extra Class ham radio license and has been doing research at the University of Colorado Boulder with a Computer Science professor on the Internet of Things (IoT). He has also been interning at a couple of companies so that he can make use of skills to develop his own IoT business in the future. In addition, he is starting a ham radio club at his high school next year where he will be encouraging kids to get their ham licenses and realize the potential in future technologies. In addition, he is passionate about serving others and is trying to harness the power and potential of technology to make the lives of people better.

Rajesh Mishra, Founder, President, CTO, Parallel Wireless Inc.:

Rajesh Mishra is a visionary who, together with the other Parallel Wireless, Inc.’s founders, accurately identified the need for easy to deploy, resilient and cost effective network architectures that would overcome many of the legacy technical challenges associated with wireless communications — the foundation upon which Parallel Wireless was born. As one of the industry’s pioneers in convergence technologies, he led the development of next-gen VoLTE and 3G/4G Femtocell convergence servers at Tatara, led transformation of first commercial softswitch into a Wireless MSC product at Bell Labs/Lucent, reimagined cable industry leading IMS servers at Cedarpoint, and led a commercial mobile ad hoc networks (MANETS) development at Powerwave Cognition.

Rajesh’s background also includes designing an enterprise Unified Communications System (Whaleback); developing a next-generation soft switch (Excel Switching). At the beginning of his career, Rajesh was involved in early development of analog and digital wireless base stations at Steinbrecher/Tellabs and Hughes Network Systems.

Mr. Mishra has been awarded many industry awards including: Lucent Technologies/ Bell Lab Distinguished member award, IEEE paper presentation awards. He also has experience as a spokesperson with industry and business press, analysts and as a presenter at industry conferences. He has a portfolio of over 25 US and international patents pending and issued.

Rajesh holds a BS in Computer Science from IIT.

Carole Perry:

Carole Perry, WB2MGP, worked as an executive secretary in an electronics manufacturing company,

Rapidcircuit inc. for 16 years. In 1980, she returned to Intermediate School 72 in Staten Island, NY

where she worked until her retirement in 2004, teaching “Introduction to Amateur Radio” to 6th, 7th,

and 8th graders for 30 years. Carole wrote the curriculum for “Introduction to Amateur Radio” a very

successful program which had 950 students a year coming through it.

Carole Perry is the recipient of the prestigious 1987 Dayton Ham of The Year Award, the 1987 ARRL

Instructor of The Year Award, the 1991 Marconi Wireless Memorial Award, the 1993 QCWA President’s

Award, the 1996 RCA Barry Goldwater Amateur Radio Award, and the 2009 RCA President’s Award, the

2012 RCA President’s Award, and received in 2015 the RCA’s new Vivian Carr Award for women who

have contributed to the wireless industry.

Carole is an RCA Fellow, and in 2007 she was elected to the RCA Board of Directors; a position she still

holds, and she created the Youth Activities Committee which she now chairs. She also created the RCA

Young Achiever’s Award, given to students in grade 12 and below who have demonstrated excellence

and creativity in wireless communications. Seventy six youngsters have received this award along with a

stipend, so far.

Under Carole’s leadership, the Youth Activities Committee goes into schools across the country to set up

radio/technology programs. Equipment, cash grants, books, and supplies are donated to the chosen

schools, museums, or youth groups. Carole also initiated the practice of bringing a talented Young

Achiever to give a presentation at the annual RCA Technical Symposium.

Carole has moderated the Dayton Hamvention Youth Forum and Instructors’ Forum for 28 years. She is

a Director of QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Association) and chairs their Youth Activities committee;

she is a member of ARRL (American Radio Relay League); DARA (Dayton Amateur Radio Association);

AWA (Antique Wireless Association); and Brandeis Women. She is also a columnist for CQ magazine.

.

Professor Tom Perera, Ph.D., W1TP:

Dr. Tom Perera is a retired professor of neuroscience who specialized in research on the coding of

information in the human brain and nervous system. He has been hunting for, collecting, researching,

restoring, and writing about Enigma cypher coding machines and their history for over 25 years. He

located and restored the Enigma that stars in the "Imitation Game". He provides extensive Enigma

information through his Enigma book, his lectures and his website: www.EnigmaMuseum.com

Professor Ted Rappaport, Ph.D., David Lee/Ernst Weber Professor of Electrical and Computer

Engineering; Prof. of Computer Science, New York University

Professor Rappaport is the Founder and Director, NYU WIRELESS. He is the chaired professor of

Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Professor of Computer Science, and Professor of Radiology.

He is also Chairman of TSR Consulting, which performs technical consulting, expert witness services in

patent and product litigation, engineering and design services in the field of wired and wireless

communications systems, equipment, and devices.

Prior to his time at NYU, he was the William and Bettye Nowlin Professor of Engineering at the

University of Texas in Austin for 9 years, and was the James Tucker Professor of Engineering at Virginia

Tech for 14 years. Professor Rappaport was also Chairman, President, and CEO of Wireless Valley

Communications Inc., which designed and manufactured hardware and software products for the

design, management, maintenance, and adaptive control of Cellular/PCS and enterprise Wi-Fi networks

in and around buildings and campuses. The company also pioneered the concept of site-specific

propagation prediction and network design and management. Wireless Valley was acquired by

Motorola Solutions, Inc. in late 2005. He was also President and CEO of TSR Technologies, which

designed and manufactured cellular and paging drive test equipment and software (CELLSCOPE 2000,

PAGETRACKER 2000, PACKETBLASTER 2000, NAVTRACKER, PROMAP) for over-the-air intercept, drive

testing, fraud detection, and law enforcement using a software defined radio architecture. The

company was acquired by Allen Telecom in 1993.

Professor Rappaport’s expertise is in multiple areas including wireless communications systems,

antennas and propagation, circuits, signal processing, networks, with active work in 5G millimeter wave

wireless communications. He has BSEE, MSEE, and a Ph.D in electrical engineering, all from Purdue

University. He has written numerous textbooks in the wireless field including “Millimeter wave Wireless

Communications”, “Principles of Communications Systems Simulation in Wireless Applications”,

“Wireless Communications Practices and Principles”, and many others.

Professor Mischa Schwartz, Ph.D., Columbia University:

Professor Mischa Schwartz is the Charles Batchelor Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering,

Columbia University, where he was the founding Director, in 1985, of the NSF-sponsored Center for

Telecommunications Research (CTR). Prior to joining Columbia, he was a Project Engineer at Sperry

Gyroscope Company, working in the field of radar, then professor of Electrical Engineering at the

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, where he served as Department Head for four years.

He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE; a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the

AAAS, and a Fellow of the International Engineering Consortium. He is a member of the Society for the

History of Technology (SHOT). He is a Past President of the IEEE Communications Society as well as a

former Director of the IEEE. His publications include 10 books and over 180 papers in communication

theory and Systems, signal processing, wireless systems, computer communication networks, and the

history of communications. The awards he has received include the 1984 IEEE Education Medal, the

Cooper Union Gano Dunn Medal for contributions to technology, IEEE Edwin Armstrong Award for

contributions to communication technology, NYC Mayor’s Award for excellence in technology, Eta Kappa

Nu Eminent Member award, the 2003 Japanese Okawa Prize for contributions to telecommunications

and engineering education, and the IEEE EAB Vice-President’s award in 2009 for outstanding

contributions to EE education, theory, and practice in the fields of communications, signal processing,

and computer networking.

Professor Schwartz was the founding Chair of the IEEE Communications Society History Committee and

founding Editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine History Column, serving in those capacities from

2008-2010. He is a former member of the IEEE History committee, serving on the committee from 2007-

2009, then again from 2012-2015.

Andrew Seybold, CEO and Principal Analyst, Andrew Seybold Inc.:

Andrew M. Seybold, CEO and Principal Analyst of Andrew Seybold, Inc., is one of the most respected and influential analysts in the wireless industry today. For more than twenty-five years, he has served the industry and shaped initiatives for world leaders of the wireless industry, including Verizon, Nokia, AT&T, Motorola, and Qualcomm. His firm has provided wireless consulting and education services for startups to Fortune 1000 companies such as Dow Chemical, Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft.

Andrew Seybold has consulted to some of the industry’s most talented and successful entrepreneurs. He was a key consultant to a number of companies that introduced products and services that have had a significant impact on wireless including Research In Motion’s popular BlackBerry, Hewlett-Packard’s first handheld device, first two-way pager, Good Technologies’ first products, and AT&T’s push-to-talk offering. He also introduced RadioMail to Dell for the first-ever notebook wireless email offering. He has served on the Motorola Research Visionary Board, IBM’s Mobile Computing Advisory Board, and a number of other prestigious advisory boards. Mr. Seybold is a Fellow in the Radio Club of America in recognition of his contributions to the wireless industry, he co-founded and served as a board member of the Personal Computing and Communications Association (PCCA), and he currently serves on the board of CommNexus San Diego.

Andrew Seybold’s Outlook for Mobile Computing newsletter and his Andrew Seybold/Forbes Wireless Outlook newsletter were must-read’s and today his COMMENTARY and PUBLIC SAFETY ADVOCATE are arguably the most widely read e-newsletters among executives of leading wireless network operators. He co-founded Andrew Seybold Wireless University in 1995, which has been attended by thousands of industry professionals and continues to be the only in-depth educational program of its kind in the wireless industry. As a trusted authority on wireless technology and business issues, Mr. Seybold has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Using Wireless Communications in Business and several other books, and contributes regularly to Mobile Enterprise Magazine, FierceWireless and FierceContent, and Wireless Week.

Andrew Seybold is among the wireless industry’s foremost speakers and is recognized worldwide for his keen perspective and track record for accurately predicting trends in mobile technology and convergence and is a featured speaker at major industry and customer events and conferences.

Scott Schober, President & CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems:

Scott Schober is the President and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, a 39-year-old provider of advanced wireless solutions for the telecommunications and security markets. He has appeared on the Fox Business Channel, Fox News Live and News 12 NJ. He has presented as a subject expert at numerous conferences around the globe. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Kean and thereafter attended graduate studies in telecommunications at New York University.

Richard (Rich) Touroonjian, Principal and Owner, Allegiant Wireless:

Rich is the Principal and owner of Allegiant Wireless. Since 1983, Rich has designed two-way radio communications systems for public-safety entities, utility companies (Con Edison of NY), and large transportation companies (NJ Transit, NYCTA). After graduating with a BSEE from Fairleigh Dickinson University, he worked for four years for Motorola in Glenrock, NJ, and then with the Motorola Product Group in Schaumburg Illinois. One of his earliest projects, while working for Motorola, was lead engineer in the design and implementation of the New Jersey State Police trunked simulcast system in its earliest configuration. After leaving Motorola, and for the next 28 years, Rich worked for RCC Consultants, Inc., on a wide variety of radio system projects from an engineering and/or engineering director position. Since May of 2015, Rich has ventured out on his own as an independent radio communications subject matter expert (SME). As an independent radio communications consultant, Rich is not affiliated with any provider of telecommunications vendor or service.