The IEEE ComSoc Lahore Chapter, in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos IT (SQIT) Chair, organized a one-day “5G and IoT Summit on Future Trends 2018” on 23 February 2018. The event was hosted by Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS), a research center at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore, Pakistan.
In the context of recent ongoing research on 5G and its deployment in IoT-based scenarios, this summit was organized to fill in the scientific-awareness gap in Pakistani academia and industry, especially among M.S. and Ph.D. students. Both students and faculty from different parts of the country participated in this event, notably UET Lahore, the Institute of Space Technology Islamabad, and Bahria University Lahore. There was also a very healthy participation by industry as well, most notably National Engineering Services Pakistan (pvt.) Limited (NESPAK).
The event started with the recitation of Quran followed by the very first speaker from industry, Mr. Muhammad Aatique (Radio Network Architect) from Telenor Pakistan. His talk on “Industry Challenges for 5G” covered a wide range of topics, 5G new radio and RAN architecture, and government policies. Next, Dr. Ijaz Haider Naqvi (Assoc. Prof.) and Dr. Momin Uppal (Assoc. Prof.) from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) delivered their talks on “Automatic Network Management and Network Health Estimation of Mobile Cellular Networks” and “NOMA for 5G Networks,” respectively. Dr. Ijaz talked about RF optimization of mobile networks where network health is monitored by making use of key performance indicators (KPIs) collected through crowd sourcing. Dr. Momin covered NOMA strategies in both LTE-Advanced and 5G. Dr. Omer Waqar (from UET Lahore) presented his talk on “Information Theoretic Framework for Relay Networks with Wireless Power Transfer (WPT)” and discussed microwave energy harvested relay network. Dr. Ubaid Ullah Fayyaz (from UET Lahore) proceeded with his talk on “Channel Codes for 5G.” He introduced the participants with Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) and polar codes and discussed their future trends. In the final talk of the session Dr. Ghalib A. Shah from UET Lahore spoke about “IoT Communication Challenges and its Support in 5G.” He highlighted the characteristics of IoT applications and their communication requirements, and discussed mobile network technologies as the potential solution and its evolution toward supporting IoT requirements.
In the final session, a panel discussion was held where the panel was comprised of members from both academia and industry. It started with Dr. Ghalib moderating and questioning panelists on how to promote research in Pakistan.
At the conclusion of the event, Dr. Waqar Mahmood, Chair Sultan Qaboos IT Chair and Director KICS, gave a closing speech sharing his experience with the students and admiring the IEEE Comsoc Lahore chapter and all those who created this event and the participants as well for their motivation to learn about the new trends. Finally, all the speakers were presented with shields and participants were awarded with a certificate of participation.