IEICE ESS Subsocieties and Technical Groups

System and Signal Processing Sub-Society (SSP)
- [CAS] Technical Group on Circuits and Systems
  As a long-established technical group in the institute, our mission is to continue fundamental research on theories on circuits and systems, and to analyze and develop new applications in this field in order to meet changing times and needs.
  
  The technical group provides researchers with opportunities to make profound studies on basic and applied researches on theories on circuits and systems. Special themes are set for promotion of revitalization of technical groups in cooperation with VLSI Design Technologies, Digital Signal Processing, and Concurrent System Technology that belong to the same subsociety, as well as related technical groups such as Nonlinear Problems and Communication Systems.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Circuit theories (Linear and nonlinear, passive and active, time variant and time invariant, and lumped constant and distributed constant)
  - Modeling and simulation
  - Circuit CAD
  - Various types of filtering
  - Analog and digital circuits
  - AD and DA converters
  - Applied electronic circuits
  - Signal theory and signal processing algorithms
  - Analog and digital signal processing circuits
  - VLSI system
  - Neural net
  - Combinatorial algorithms
  - graphs and networks
  - Systems and controls
  - Operations research
  - Large-scale systems
  - Electrical energy applications of circuits and systems
- [VLD] Technical Group on VLSI Design Technologies
  The development of recent VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology has achieved a remarkable breakthrough, and it is said that 10 billion transistors will be included on one chip by 2015. As designs of VLSI chips become more complicated and large-scaled in accordance with the development, it will become indispensable to address all issues in VLSI design in a comprehensive manner. Our mission is to make contributions to society through extensive research activities on VLSI Designing Technology with consideration of developments in both basic and new applied fields.
  
  On designing future VLSI, specifically on designing a system LSI that integrates a whole information system into one chip, fusion of various technologies, such as consolidated digital/analog technology and software technology, is indispensable. The research fields to be covered are parallel and distributed algorithms as VLSI applications, methodology for VLSI designing, EDA (Electronic Design Automation) method and CAD (Computer Aided Design) method including system-level designing to layout designing, as well as basic algorithms and data structures that support them. Researchers from these fields are brought together to engage in lively discussion. Also, special themes are set for promotion of revitalization of the technical group, in cooperation with such technical groups as "Architecture", "Circuits and Systems", "Digital Signal Processing", "Reconfigurable", "Integrated Circuits", and "Dependable Computing", as well as related technical groups in Information Processing Society of Japan and Japan Society of Applied Physics.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - VLSI designing methodology
  - VLSI architecture
  - Hardware/software core design
  - Function synthesis
  - Logical synthesis
  - Low power consumption design
  - Simulation (system level, function, logic, circuit, process, device, etc.)
  - Hardware/software core simulation
  - Format validation
  - Design for testability (test pattern generation, test simplification design)
  - Floor planning, layout, outline wiring, and detailed wiring
  - Layout validation
  - Analog circuit design
  - Cell/module design
  - CAD framework
  - Other fields related to VLSI design and CAD algorithm
- [SIP] Technical Group on Signal Processing
  The Signal Processing Technical Group aims to promote signal processing researches by providing opportunities for researchers and engineers in businesses and universities to freely discuss latest ideas on signal processing in general including algorithm, application and realization technology.
  
  Signal processing is considered scholarly if you look at its history, thus its applied fields cover a broad range, such as audio, video, medicine, communication, mechatronics, and measurement. Therefore, the underpinning mathematics is diversified among not only the traditional fields as stochastic process theory, system theory and optimization theory, but also those fields as nonlinear analysis and algebraic calculation. With these backgrounds, we aim to establish a technical group that researchers and engineers in signal processing with different backgrounds can easily participate in.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Basic signal processing
  - Mathematics of signal processing
  - Digital filtering and filter bank
  - Multidimensional signal processing
  - Adaptive signal processing
  - Nonlinear signal processing
  - Intelligent signal processing
  - Signal processing processor
  - Realization technology of signal processing system
  - Audio and acoustic signal processing
  - Image and video signal processing
  - Signal processing in living organisms
  - Signal processing for communication
  - Application of signal processing
- [CST] Technical Group on Concurrent System Technology
  Our mission is to integrate and establish approaches listed below as Concurrent System Technology for important engineering issues for the future, such as cooperative and flexible system integration through intellectual autonomy and intercommunication focused on decentralized management, which will be realized by systematically studying concurrent modeling of distributed cooperative systems, autonomous decentralized systems, nonprocedural human-mechanical system such as groupwares, parallel/asynchronous/cooperative motion analysis, performance evaluation and methods for their realization, and by seeking concurrent control mechanism that enables effective, open and strategic operation of distributed asynchronous system including humans.
  - Net theoretical diagram approach
  - Object-oriented linguistic and algebraic approach
  - Cognitive and biological approach such as artificial intelligence and synergetics
  Keeping these research objectives in scope, there are a broad range of fields in information system that are based on computer science, mathematical science and social science.
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Parallel and distributed system theory (e.g. parallel calculation model, net theory, distributed AI), design method (e.g. object-oriented, network-oriented), performance evaluation and simulation, and development examples
  - Concurrent engineering
  - Discrete event system
  - Autonomous decentralized system
  - Production system（e.g. Factory Automation (FA), Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS)）
  - Office automation
  - Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), groupware
  - Engineering workflow
  - Cooperative engineering
Fundamentals on Information and Communication Sub-Society
- [IT] Technical Group on Information Theory
  The Information Theory Technical Group works for the promotion of researches on broad range of information theory in general, such as basic to applied information theories.
  In workshops held in May, July, September, December and March every year, latest results of researches are introduced and discussions on technologies are held. In July's workshops, there is a session for freshmen, in which new university graduates give presentations. Also, in workshops in December, young researchers are invited to lectures by front-line researchers explaining latest research themes clearly. Anyone is welcome to participate in all these workshops. Besides workshops, we carry out planning of general and society conferences, and editing of special topics on latest technologies.
  
  The following are the fields related to the Information Theory Technical Group.
  
  Information theory, information basic theory, basic mathematics, information source coding, data compression, image coding, audio coding, channel coding, record coding, error-correction and error-detection coding, coding modulation, time-space coding, repetition and turbo decoding, stochastic process, prediction and filtering, control theory, combination theory, cipher theory, information security, signal theory, signal detection theory, signal process, communication methodology, intelligent information theory and inference mechanism, optical information theory, and application of information theory.
- [ISEC] Technical Group on Information Security
  With rapid spread of the Internet of recent years, the social structure itself is changing greatly.
  For example, there is a growing trend in computerizing services such as commercial transactions that have been done in person. Computerizing would improve convenience, however, on the other hand a mechanism would be necessary that ensures transactions are done with proper parties. Moreover, because the services are provided under open environments represented by the Internet, a mechanism will be necessary that prevents various fraudulences by unspecified number of attackers. To realize these mechanisms, information security is indispensable.
  
  The Information Security Technical Group covers broad research fields from basics to application such as cipher theory and its application and secure system architecture. Through these activities, we are aiming to contribute to realization of secure and reliable information society.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Cipher theory
  - Calculation method and application of mathematical theory
  - Cipher method
  - Cipher analysis
  - Key distribution and key management
  - Secret dispersion
  - Privacy and scrambling
  - Authentication and digital signature
  - Cipher protocol
  - Zero-knowledge proof
  - Access control, information streaming control, and inference control
  - Personal identification technology
  - Network security
  - Database security
  - Software protection, and copyright protection
  - Privacy protection
  - Security management
  - Computer crime
  - Applied fields of cipher technology
- [WBS] Technical Group of Wideband System
  In Wide Band Systems Group, we discuss about communication systems and the around areas using wide band, such as spread spectrum (SS), code division multiple access (CDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), ultra wide band (UWB) radio system and so on.
  By spreading the spectrum to wide band or using wide band, high communication quality and new functions are produced, i.e., high data rate transmission, anti-fading fluctuation, anti-jamming, random (asynchronous) multiple access, and mary other aspects. To realize these systems, fundamental theories, simulations, experiments and applications including code sequence design, communication systems, circuit techniques, radio propagation, antennas and the around other techniques. Main areas are as follows:
  - Theory of code sequence design (construction method of spreading code, error correcting code, etc.)
  - System design/evaluation theory (system design for any applications, comparison and evaluation to other systems, etc.)
  - Modulation & demodulation techniques and theories modulation & demodulation methods, acquisition & tracking, circuits, devices, multi-carrier transmission, time-space signal processing, etc.)
  - Synchronization systems/devices (carrier synchronization, code acquisition & tracking, synchronization circuits, synchronization methods, synchronization devices, etc.)
  - Multiple access techniques (CDMA, SDMA (space division multiple access), TDMA, FDMA, and hybrid techniques, etc.)
  - Radio propagation and antennas related with WBS systems (propagation, analysis of transmission characteristics, antenna techniques, input-output interface techniques. etc.)
  - Application areas (public communication, personal communication, wireless LAN, power line transmission, consumer communication, multi-media communication, ITS (intelligent transport systems), distance measurement, software radio, optical CDMA, optical space processing, quantum communication, OFDM, digital broadcasting, wired communication, xDSL, and UWB based on wide band techniques), and other boundary areas to apply the same principle and phenomenon.
Acoustics and Ultrasonics Sub-Society
- [US] Technical Group on Ultrasonics
  Ultrasonic waves and vibrations are widely utilized for measurements and devices in the scientific and industrial fields of telecommunication electronics, ultrasonics, applied physics and chemistry, mechanical engineering, development and engineering of materials, nondestructive testing, medicine, and pharmacy. The Ultrasonics Group would like to handle comprehensive research subjects covering from fundamentals to applications as listed below, to promote information exchange and interaction among researchers and engineers, and to make a contribution to advance of the ultrasonic technology. The meetings will be sometimes planned to be held in cooperation with other scientific organizations.
  1. Ultrasonic Fundamentals and Physical Ultrasoniics
  2. Ultrasonic Materials
  3. Measurements and Instrumentation
  4. Nondestructive Evaluation and Testing
  5. Acousto-optics
  6. Bulk Wave Devices and Sensors
  7. Surface Acoustic Wave Devices and Sensors
  8. Medical Ultrasound
  9. High Power Ultrasound
  10. Sonochemistry
  11. Nonlinear Ultrasonics
  12. Underwater Ultrasound
- [EA] Technical Group on Engineering Acoustics
  Sound is indispensable to humans as a media for communication among humans and natural world, and for cultural activities such as music.
  Also, with advancement of multimedia technology, opportunities for simultaneously using sound and video are increasing, leading to increasing importance of technology to handle sound. Recently, sound is used for various measurements and devices, not just having an aspect of being audible. Thus, acoustic science and acoustic engineering have a broad array of their applied areas with increasing importance.
  The Engineering Acoustics Group would like to promote information exchange and interaction among researchers from various fields listed below, and contribute to advance of the engineering acoustics technology.
  - Systems for audible signal, acoustic wave and machinery vibration, and technologies related to these elements.
  - >Technologies for acoustic reception, acoustic transmission, signal transmission, processing, recording, and reproduction equipment.
  - Technologies for devices, components and materials.
  - Human-machine interface technology.
  - Technologies for acoustic field and acoustic environment.
  - Technologies related to musical acoustics and instrument.
  - Technologies for audible signal analysis, processing and software related.
  - Technologies for acoustic measurement and instrumentation.
  - Basic theories of acoustics and newly applied technologies.
Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications Sub-Society
- [NLP] Technical Group on Nonlinear Problems
  Nonlinear phenomena such as chaos, self-excited oscillation and bifurcation phenomena, from electrical and electronic circuits and devices, and control systems to natural phenomena and life phenomena, occur in a multitude of places. With technological and social development, opportunities for humans to face dynamic and complicated phenomena are dramatically increasing, and therefore the importance of sciences and technologies addressing nonlinear problems are increasing.
  
  The Nonlinear Problems Technical Group would like to disclose the latest results of researches on nonlinear problems in the various areas listed below, as well as to promote information exchange and interaction among researchers and contribute to the advance of basic theories and applied technologies. Also, we encourage young researchers' active participation, to also contribute to fostering of them.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Nonlinear problems in electrical and electronic circuits, electromagnetics, machinery, control, etc.
  - Nonlinear problems in electronic devices such as semiconductor and laser
  - Nonlinear problems in physical and chemical areas and border areas
  - Bifurcation phenomena
  - Chaos
  - Solitons
  - Applied mathematics related to nonlinear problems
  - Theories and applications of neural networks and others
  - Nonlinear time series analysis and signal processing
  - Nonlinear phenomena and numerical analysis in VLSI system
  - Nonlinear problems related to biological, psychological, economic and social phenomena (such as cybernetics, responsiveness diffusion, morphogenesis, and systems biology)
- [NOLTA] Research Society of Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications (NOLTA) (--March 2010)
  This society provides results of nonlinear theory and its application in many research fields. Furthermore, the objective is to hold the international symposium NOLTA in various parts of the world in order to exchange useful information on nonlinear problems.
Other Technical Groups that do not belong to any sub-societies
- [R] Technical Group on Reliability
  Technical Group of Reliability started it activity in 1960 as Technical Group of Reliability and Quality Control with the aim of securing reliability and quality improvement of systems and their components, such as communication network, etc. The Group changed its name in 1966. It has been contributing to the establishment of reliability engineering theories and to the progress and advancement of their applications through such researches as failure physics, reliability tests, collection and analyses of failure data, assessment of reliability and maintainability of systems, and reliability managements.
  
  With the increasing size and complexity of systems in present-day society, system failures influences extensively upon the society so that there is a strong demand for reliability engineering. Technical Group of Reliability will continue and expand its activities by adding such new research areas as software reliability, human reliability, risk, security, etc to encompass the broader sectors in order to basically support today's society.
  
  Major research areas:
  Theory of reliability and maintainability
  Reliability design
  Reliability test
  Models for reliability growth and prediction
  Prediction and diagnostics of failures
  Failure analysis
  Software reliability
  Maintainability
  Data collection and analysis
  Reliability and maintainability management
  Reliability evaluation
  Reliability assessment
- [TL] Technical Group on Thought and Language
  The Thought and Language Technical Group mainly seeks the nature of thought and language that is deeply related to the fundamentals of human intelligence and to the whole concept of its operation by human. Additionally, we seek their application to education and welfare as well as technological applications, that would utilize the knowledge acquired.
  
  Language is a tool for thought as well as for communication, and a means for sharing information. And thought is not only a logical calculation in an individual, but also is a broad process including understanding and inferring the thought process of others.
  
  Therefore, both language and thought are essential to clarifying human intelligence, however, its nature is not yet fully understood. One cause is that despite thought and language are both produced in the information processes of a human brain and are inevitably linked to each other, there was a tendency that researches on each were done separately.
  
  Because of these circumstances, our primary goal, based on basic and interdisciplinary stands, is to provide opportunities for introducing and discussing advanced,pioneering, and even groundbreaking results of researches relative to nature of thought and language, and to ensure the further development of this field. Through our activities, we hope that functions and mechanisms of human brain will be clarified, and symbiosis of human and machinery that improves and fully utilizes intellectual capacity will be realized.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows:
  - Clarification of mental process of thought and language
  - Clarification of brain functions that control thought and language
  - Clarification of language and non-language functions that support smooth communication
  - Systematic clarification of process of thought and language
  - Study and development process, disorder and aging phenomena, effect of rehabilitation, healing and education, and observation, formulation, modeling and consideration of other various activities, related to thought and language for clarifying the above
  - Language process system, information search system, thought support system, and so on, based on the above knowledge
- [SITE] Social Implications of Technology and Information Ethics
  The SITE Technical Group was first established as "Information and Telecommunications and Ethics" in 1995, concerned and regretted that with exclusive devotion to technology it might be impossible to resolve various issues that might happen in upcoming information society.
  Later, in 1998, it was renamed as "Forum for Advanced Communications Environments and Ethics (FACE)", and in 2002 as "Social Implications of Technology and Information Ethics (SITE)".
  In the SITE Technical Group we give presentations and exchange ideas on various fields such as information literacy, intellectual property right, and information security with the focus on ethical issues in information and telecommunications and technology in general.
  We welcome presentations on subjects in electronics, information and telecommunications fields as well as other fields.
  
  Major research fields to be covered are as follows (fields not included here are also covered).
  
  Information and telecommunications and ethics, computer ethics, ethics, thought and philosophy, computerization and human transformation, privacy and personal information protection, coding and ethics, intellectual property right and ethics, Product Liability Law and ethics, communication secrecy and ethics, mass media and ethics, code of ethics for information and telecommunications, professional ethics, medical information ethics, business ethics, ethics education for information and telecommunications, network society and its institution, information literacy, multimedia contents and ethics, security policies, and digital divide.
- [SSS] Technical Group on Safety
  In the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), a technical group specializes in safety related issues has been formed as a second-class technical group since May 1987. It has become a first class technical group in April 1998, and since then it has been conducting research and surveys on various kinds of safety issues, which has been classified into "Safety and Reliability", "Safety and Economics", "Transportation related Safety", "Industrial Machinery Safety", "Environmental Health related Safety", etc.
  However, car accidents are still happening every day, and also approximately 2,500 people die of industrial accidents each year. Even deadly aircraft accidents sometimes make news, as well as unforgettable fire and other deaths. Not only similar accidents as ever are still happening, but also environmental health issues that may be a threat to lives become a topic of conversation lately. Internationally, functional safety has been taken up as ISO standards to increase the safety by improving electrical function in practice, though it is not stipulated.
  For the above reasons, the IEICE has established "Safety Technical Group" within the Engineering Sciences Society group to play an active role in increasing the safety.
- [ITS] Technical Group on ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) Technology
  It is desired to integrate information flows (communication networks) and automotive flows (traffic networks) to realize a better society by solving multiple problems in the social life, such as environmental, urban, disaster-prevention, welfare, and aging problems. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is an integrated system of information communication networks and transportation networks that helps reduce congestion, improve transport efficiency, increase safety, and preserve the environment, by integrating people, roads and vehicles into a single system using the cutting-edge information and communications technology. However, presentations and discussions on various technologies necessary for realization of the ITS, such as information and communications, navigation electronics, positioning and ranging, network control, information security, and image processing, have been somewhat limited by those studies being based on existing fields. Therefore, the present situation is that the organic integration and systemization of all these technologies are still incomplete and the academic improvements are desired.
  The ITS Technology Technical Group works to put together presentations and discussions in various fields and provide opportunities for promoting organic collaboration of researchers and technologists from different fields. Through this, we would like to promote information exchange and interaction among researchers from various fields, and contribute to advance of the ITS technology.
- [SIS] Smart Info-media System
  With rapidly developing digital technologies since 1980, systems have been highly developed, and information media systems have become more and more complicated. For example, if you consider the next generation personal systems, it will be necessary to develop and realize highly adaptive and flexible communication systems or information processing systems that have excellent human interfaces.
  
  Introducing forefront technologies of information processing and communication processing and correctly applying nature of their applied area can develop such information and communication processing systems. Through these, specific performance and advantages by systemization, other than elemental technology, are verified, thus it shows original novelty and effectiveness. The Smart Infomedia System Technical Group (SIS) has been established in order to provide new opportunities for introducing results of researches on systemization as explained above.
  
  Our specific theme is to design, develop and realize highly advanced systems that can meet various requirements in broad fields, such as user-friendly systems, seamless systems in communication and information technology, and software system with flexibility. And we provide opportunities to discuss these realization and standardization as well.
  
  Our themes are as follows:
  
  A. Smart personal system
  Research field that aims realization of user-friendly system, as well as development of sophisticated system that has flexible media recognition and understanding, seamless interfaces, etc.
  
  B. Soft Computing
  Research field for realizing adaptive and flexible information processing by incorporating human brain structure and thought process into information processing.
  
  C. Intelligent Multimedia Processing System
  Research field that is targeted for multimedia processing, and that considers application with high availability based on adaptive and flexible information.
  
  D. System on Silicon
  Research field in collaborative design of software and hardware aiming to develop a complicated system on a large-scale that is oriented toward real-time processing and low-power consumption, as well as to realize an adaptive and flexible system.
- [MUMIN] Multi-dimensional Mobile Information Network (July 1996--June 2008)
- [ITC-CSCC] International Technical Conference on Circuits/Systems, Computers and Communications (April 1998--June 2002)
  We have been holding the International Technical Conference on Circuits/Systems, Computers and Communications (ITC-CSCC), which was kicked off in 1986 and is open especially for Asian and PanPacific researchers/engineers, in collaboration with Korean and Thai institutes.
  
  Related to the conference, the editorial committee of the IEICE Transactions of Fundamentals publishes the special section of ITC-CSCC in every June.
- Hybrid Dynamical System Theory and Its Application
- [ImQ] Image Media Quality
  The Image Media Quality is a Type 2 term limited technical group, that has been established in June 2004, with the aim of research and information exchange, interaction and development among researchers and engineers in image media quality, thus promoting efficient research and development. Workshops and international conferences are held several times a year, where researchers do brainstorming.
  
  Specifically, image media quality on imaging, communication, broadcasting, accumulation, display, printing and generation as follows are covered.
  1. Imaging device, image input device, three-dimensional image input, and intelligent sensor.
  2. Transcoder, scalable coding, QoS control, VoIP, Mobile terminal.
  3. Terrestrial and satellite broadcasting system, digital broadcasting, bi-directional broadcasting, digital matter transmission, stereoscopic television, and extra-high-definition television.
  4. Archive, database, and Web system.
  5. Display device, display unit, three-dimensional display, and holography.
  6. Hardcopy and print technology.
  7. Image replay, image restoration, image accumulation, computer graphics and vision, animation, and three-dimensional image generation.
  8. Visual Psychology and physiology, chromatology, color reproduction, high realistic sensation, and sensitivity information.
  9. Image coding, subjective assessment method, objective assessment method, and security.
  10. Human interface and welfare.
  For more information, please see http://www.ee.kagu.tus.ac.jp/imq/.
- Sensor networks Term Limited Technical Group
  Sensor networks that connect many micro sensor devices embedded with sensor, processor, and communications have attracted much attention. The sensor networks are expected to be applied in many areas, such as merchandise control, logistics, transportation, rescue, security and environmental monitoring, and so on.
  The technical committee on sensor networks has been established in 2004. Our objective is to provide researchers with a forum to exchange ideas, techniques, and applications in the field of sensor networks. We welcome researchers working in sensing, information transmission and detection, signal processing, information theory, networks and other related field of sensor networks.

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