MINUTES OF THE 2004 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NONLINEAR CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE, THE IEEE CAS SOCIETY
(ISCAS 2004 - May 25th, 2004, Vancouver, Canada)

LIST OF ATTENDEES (#27):
Mario di Bernardo
Ahmed S. Elwakil
Rui de Figueiredo
Luigi Fortuna
Rob Fox
Douglas Frey
Marci Gilli
Leonid Goldgeisser (Past-Chair)
Michael Green
Martin Hasler
Tohru Kohda
Ljupco Kocarev
Geza Kolumban
Adrian Leuciuc
Gian Mario Maggio (Chair)
Wolfgang Mathis
Tetsuo Nishi
Yoshifumi Nishio (Chair-elect)
Kohshi Okumura
Tamas Roska
Toshimichi Saito
Gianluca Setti (NCAS Track Chair at ISCAS 2004)
Mamoru Tanaka
Ljiljana Trajkovic
Chi K. Tse
Joos Vandewalle (Secretary)
Armen Zemanian
A G E N D A
1. Adoption of the agenda.
2. Chair's report on the TC-NCAS past year's activities (2003-04)
3. Technical activities promotion: Forthcoming workshops, special sessions, special issues, technical publications, etc.
4. Status/maintenance of the TC-NCAS Web page and mailing-list.
5. Discussion about possible NCAS Best Paper Award.
6. Procedure for becoming TC-NCAS members.
7. Discussion on the role of TCs in the IEEE-CAS Society.
8. Election of the new TC-NCAS officers (term ending at ISCAS 2005).
9. Any other business.
  • 1. Opening of the meeting and adoption of the agenda.
    The Chair welcomes the new members:
    Prof. Mario di Bernardo
    Dr. Shahin Farahani
    Dr. Ljupco Kocarev
    Prof. Adrian Leuciuc
    Dr. Johan Suykens
    Prof. Chi Kong Tse
    Prof. Xiaofan Wang
    Introductions: Mario di Bernardo, Ljupco Kocarev, Adrian Leuciuc, and Chi K. Tse.

  • 2. Chair's report on the TC-NCAS past year's activities (2003-2004).
    TC-NCAS 2003-2004 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE IEEE-CAS SOCIETY (April 2004)

    During the period 2003-2004, the members of the Nonlinear Circuits and Systems Technical Committee (TC-NCAS) edited 2 special issues in related journals, Published, 6 technical books in the field of nonlinear circuits and systems, organized several special and invited sessions, and participated in numerous major conferences and workshops.

    Special Issues in CAS-related Journals:
    [1] M. di Bernardo, H.S.H. Chung, C.K. Tse, A. Ioinovici, M. Kazimierczuk, and T. Saito, edited a Special Issue on "Switching Circuits and Systems," in the IEEE Trans. CAS-I, August 2003.
    [2] G. Chen and X. Liu, Special Issue on: "Chaos Control and Synchronization," Dynamics of Continuous, Discrete and Impulsive Systems, vol. 10, no. 6, Dec. 2003.

    Our Technical Committee members published the following Books:
    [1] G. Chen, D. J. Hill and X. Yu (eds.), "Bifurcation Control: Theory and Applications," Springer-Verlag, 2003.
    [2] G. Chen and X. Yu (eds.), "Chaos Control: Theory and Applications," Springer-Verlag, 2003.
    [3] D. Liu and P.J. Antsaklis, Editors, "Stability and Control of Dynamical Systems with Applications," Boston, MA: Birkhauser, 2003.
    [4] F.C.M. Lau and C. K. Tse, "Chaos-Based Digital Communication Systems," Springer-Verlag, 2003.
    [5] C.K. Tse, "Complex Behavior of Switching Power Converters," CRC Press, 2003.
    [6] H. Zemanian, "Graphs and Networks: Transfinite and Nonstandard," Birkhauser-Boston, Cambridge, MA, 2004.

    Our committee members organized or is in the process of organizing the following special and invited sessions and tutorials at conferences:
    [1] ECCTD'03 - Special Session on: "Chaos and Signal Processing". Organizer: Yoshifumi Nishio.
    [2] GLOBECOM'03 - Tutorial on "Discrete-Time Chaotic Systems: Mathematical Tools and Communication Applications," San Francisco, December 2003. Organizers: G. Mazzini, R. Rovatti, G. Setti.
    [3] ISCAS'04 - Special Session on: "Behavioral Modeling and Analog and Mixed Signal Simulation". Organizer: Leonid Goldgeisser.
    [4] ISCAS'04 - Special Session on "Nonlinear Dynamics and Complexity in Network Traffic Modeling and Control". Organizers: G. Setti, G. Mazzini, and R. Rovatti.
    [5] MTNS 2004 (Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems 2004) - Special Session on: "Network modelling and control", to be held in Leuven, Belgium, July 2004. Organizer: M. di Bernardo.

    Conferences, Workshops, Schools:

    Our Technical Committee co-sponsored the following international conferences or workshops:
    [1] The Second Asia-Pacific Workshop on Chaos Control and Synchronization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, June 7-8, 2003.
    [2] Shanghai International Symposium on Nonlinear Science and Applications, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, June 9-13, 2003.
    [3] The International Conference on Physics and Control, 20-22 August 2003, St. Petersburg, Russia.
    [4] The Second Asia-Pacific Workshop on Chaos Control and Synchronization, 7-8 November 2003, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
    [5] The International Conference on Nonlinear Science and Applications, 9-13 November 2003, Shanghai, China.
    [6] International Workshop on Nonlinear Circuits and Signal Processing (NCSP'04), Honolulu, U.S.A., March 5-7, 2004.
    [7] The 12th International IEEE Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics of Electronic Systems, NDES: 9-13 May 2004 Evora, Portugal.
    [8] The International Conference on Communications, Circuits and Systems, 27-29 June 2004, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
    [9] The Third Asia-Pacific Workshop on Chaos Control and Synchronization, 18-19 July 2004, Melbourne, Australia.
    [10] International Workshop on: "Nonlinear Dynamics and Complexity in Information and Communication Technology," Bologna, Italy, September 6-8, 2004.

  • 3. Technical activities promotion: Forthcoming workshops, special sessions, special issues, technical publications, etc.

    * Forthcoming conferences/workshops:
    - The International Conference on Communications, Circuits and Systems, 27-29 June 2004, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
    - The Third Asia-Pacific Workshop on Chaos Control and Synchronization, 18-19 July 2004, Melbourne, Australia.
    - International Workshop on: "Nonlinear Dynamics and Complexity in Information and Communication Technology," Bologna, Italy, September 6-8, 2004.
    - NOLTA 2004 (November 29-December 3, 2004, Fukuoka, Japan)
    - ISCAS 2005 (May 2005, Kobe, Japan)

    * Project: "Advances in Circuits and Systems" (by Prof. Hasler VP Technical Activities). A novel information service that is intended to alert CAS members about new important developments (papers, patents, standards, etc) in the area of CAS research and development. The format is quite simple: an informative title of ±10 words and a descriptive content of 30-60 words. It will be distributed freely by an email to all CAS members. They can unsubscribe if they wish. It will also be announced on the CAS webpage of the TC and in the CAS magazine. It will start around July 2004 and will be appear quarterly. Our TC will contribute to this project under the responsibility of the past chairman, and in interaction with the TC-NCAS officers who verify the quality of the proposals.

    * Procedure for endorsement of TCAS Special Issues by the TC-NCAS
    Prospective Guest Editors send to the TC-NCAS officers (Chair or Secretary) a proposal including:
    a) Description of Scope, Significance, Timeliness.
    b) Call for Papers (draft).
    c) Short biography of the Guest Editor(s).
    The proposal is examined by TC-NCAS Officers. If approved, the TC-NCAS Chair or Secretary sends to the TCAS Editor-in-Chief a recommendation.

  • 4. Status/maintenance of the TC-NCAS Web page and mailing-list.
    The TC-NCAS Web page contains TC news, TC meeting minutes, conference reports, useful information regarding past and future conferences, and links to other sites of interest. The contents/format of the Web page have been analyzed and (partially) reviewed, according to the standard requirements set by the CAS in 2003. Webmaster: Prof. Ljiljana Trajkovic

    Open issues:
    - Add info on how to become TC member: agreed
    - Max number of members? No
    - TC member list protected by password? No
    - Bylaws need to be updated
    - Upload tutorials/reference papers online? IEEE press books in soft version may be attractive. It was in the past successful, but not recently anymore. It contains a number of papers an introduction or overview on a mature topic. IEEE has not yet decided about it.

    The TC-NCAS maintains a majordomo list (automatic mailing system) for the NCAS members and guests. The list is private and supports geographically diverse membership. It currently consists of 74 subscribing members. The TC-NCAS email address is: ncastc-ieee@cs.sfu.ca.

  • 5. Discussion about NCAS Best Paper Award.
    The TC on Sensors has already a procedure in place for an award for the best paper at ISCAS. That consists of a simple certificate. Our TC has agreed to also give such an award, under the responsibility of the NLCAS track chair. Although it will not be explicitly announced, and cannot be strictly implemented a preference will be given to an author that is a PhD student.
  • 6. Procedure for becoming TC-NCAS members.
    * Send a short resume (with key publication list, if applicable) to the TC-NCAS Chair or Secretary for consideration.
    * Minimum requirements: PhD or > 4-year experience on related subject.
    * The membership of the TC implies a commitment to actively contribute to the activities of the TC by reviewing e.g. papers of the NLCAS track at ISCAS.
    * The application will be processed by the TC-NCAS officers and the Chair will communicate the outcome directly to the applicant. This procedure was agreed unanimously, and will be announced on the Web for new prospective members.
  • 7. Discussion on the role of TCs in the IEEE-CAS Society.
    See agenda items 3-5.
  • 8. Election of the new TC-NCAS officers (term ending at ISCAS 2005).
    Since Dr. Gianluca Setti had kindly agreed to serve as Track Chair for ISCAS 2004, but did not intend to climb the hierarchy once again, both a track chair and a secretary had to be elected this year. Ljupco Kocarev and T. Saito were unanimously elected respectively as track chair ISCAS 2005 and as secretary.

    TC-NCAS OFFICERS (Term ending at ISCAS 2005)
    * Chair: Yoshifumi Nishio (nishio@ee.tokushima-u.ac.jp)
    * Past-Chair: Gian Mario Maggio (maggio@ieee.org)
    * Chair-elect: Joos Vandewalle (joos.vandewalle@esat.kuleuven.ac.be)
    * Secretary: Toshimichi Saito (tsaito@k.hosei.ac.jp)
    * Track Chair for Nonlinear Circuits and Systems at ISCAS 2005: Ljupco Kocarev (lkocarev@ucsd.edu)

  • 9. Other business.
    As program chair and member of our TC, Ljiljana Trajkovic thanked the members for the reviews for ISCAS papers in our track and especially Gianluca Setti for the excellent work.

    The meeting was adjourned at 2 PM.

    Prepared by: G. M. Maggio, Y. Nishio, J. Vandewalle, and Lj. Trajkovic. (A copy of these minutes will be posted on the TCNCAS Web site: http://eecs.berkeley.edu/~ljilja/tcncas/writeups.html.)