Draft Call for paper of the workshop: 

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) has recently become a prominent area of research in the field of acoustic communications. Acoustic waves are the most accurate means of achieving adequate transmission range and data rate in underwater communications. New progresses achieved in UWSN communications make reliable data transmission across several meters conceivable. Many studies have been investigated on developing networking solutions for underwater networks, including acoustic channel modeling and physical layer transmission analysis as well as networking protocols. In radio channels, path loss depends on link length; whereas acoustic waves in underwater experience both frequency and link length dependent path loss. Furthermore, reflections from the water surface and sea bottom increase channel fading. All these factors are considered in the design of UWSN wireless systems. Hence, in UWSN communications, range and bandwidth are important bottlenecks. Noise in the underwater environment is related to signal carrier frequency. Also both path loss and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) in underwater communications are distance and frequency dependent. Researches are trying to improve UWSN systems by applying new schemes borrowed from radio communications. UWSNs exhibit many unique constraints like slow propagation speed, variable link quality, low available bandwidth, high end-to-end delay and energy constraint. These constraints present big challenges in devising energy-efficient and delay-efficient routing protocols for UWSNs.

Sensor nodes which are implanted inside or attached to the body, constitute a WBAN. Core concept of WBANs is to provide the inaccessible observing of human body’s functions and its contiguous environment. Advancements in technology make it possible to integrate the whole system on a single chip which is affordable and comfortable for the person under observation. Another fascinating aspect of WBANs is the integration of such networks with the emerging technologies like mobile phones and PDAs etc., which makes their use more appealing in terms of quick, reliable and accurate delivery of information. Provisional to the desired factors to be sensed, various nodes and network topologies are needed. WBANs are required to perform correctly for long periods without any battery replacements, particularly for implanted (in-body) nodes. Hence, energy management is a primary concern for WBAN schemes. Continuous data monitoring and broadcast, and large separations between communicating sensors cause more energy utilization. One of the major challenges in designing efficient routing protocols is to maximize network lifetime and stability period by using the merits of both multi-hop and single-hop communication. Efficient selection of forwarding nodes is done on the least hop count mechanism. Another performance parameter that needs to be enhanced is throughput. Major issues in WBANs are energy management and reliable data delivery. Due to small dimensions, sensor nodes have limited energy resources. In WBANs, sensors are small in number and it is uncomfortable to replace them frequently.

Deadline for submissions: [13th June, 2018]

Lead Guest Editor
[Dr. Sheeraz Ahmed, Iqra National University, Peshawar, Pakistan]

[sheeraz.ahmad@inu.edu.pk]

Download : Sheeraz CV

Dr. Sheeraz Ahmed did his graduation in Electrical Engineering (Communication Group) from University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan with Honors in 1997. He then did his Masters in Mathematics from University of Peshawar in 1999. In 2006, he got enrolled in MSCS program in City University of Science and Technology, Peshawar and completed his MS program with major in Computer Networks. He then got enrolled in second MS in Electrical Engineering in UET Peshawar.

He then got enrolled in PhD program in Electrical Engineering in COMSATS Islamabad in Spring 2012 and completed his Doctoral degree in Spring 2015. During his stay in Ph.D program, he published a total of 17 publications both in IF journals of international repute and IEEE conferences. His supervisor was Dr. Nadeem Javaid who has been awarded as the Best Researcher of Pakistan for 2015. His thesis title was “Towards Cooperative Routing in Underwater and Body Area Wireless Sensor Networks”.

Dr. Sheeraz has been engaged in serving various universities of Peshawar first as lecturer, then as Assistant Professor and active researcher. He has been serving for 1 year as Dean Faculty of Engineering and Technology in Gomal University, D.I.Khan, Pakistan in 2017. Currently he is serving as Director ORIC, Iqra National University, Peshawar. Till date, he has 78 publications to his credit with more than  10  IF journals, 12 non-IF journals and rest IEEE conferences. He has the honor to be the first researcher to establish a Research Academy in Pakistan by the name of Career Dynamics Research Centre. His research interest areas include Underwater Sensor Networks, Body Area Networks, Vehicular Adhoc Networks, Smart Homes, Smart Grid etc. Tentative List of TPC Members: