Overview of the UComms conference series
The UComms conference series is focused on working towards a deep understanding of the propagation of communication signals underwater and the performance of necessary higher-level protocols with the objective of supporting the intelligent choice of network-wide standards, as a foundation for interoperability.
Interoperability is increasingly in the center of discussion for underwater communications. Not long after the end of the previous UComms, we saw the release to the community of the watermark channel simulator: An invaluable tool for standardized protocol performance assessment. Then, in 2017 we saw the promulgation of the first ever standard for digital underwater communications - JANUS - that will hopefully open the way for interoperability. Both landmark achievements are great testimonies of the work coming out of the UComms community throughout the last 8 years.
The conference aims to actively engage not only the research and engineering communities, but also UW communication equipment designers, manufacturers and users, as evidenced by the diverse sponsorship that the meeting attracts.
Optical and Radio RF communications are specifically included, with a particular interest in performance modelling and their potential integration into hybrid multi-modal UW communications systems.
The conference is open to scientists and engineers involved in research and development in the different fields that relate to underwater communications. From waveforms to transport protocols; From signal processing to protocol performance assessment; from simulation to sea trials only one condition is required: To bring the best of your work and the latest of your findings and be ready to discuss them with the top contributors from the field, for three days in the coast of Italy.
While UComms is not the venue where you expect to see student presentations, students are encouraged to attend UComms and take part in the discussions and networking.
The conference is organised in a series of structured sessions that are coordinated by key people in the field, aiming at gathering top quality contributions that can lead to vibrant exchange of knowledge and increased common understanding of the state-of-the-art. The multiple sessions are handled in a single track (no parallel talks) so that everyone can be fully immersed in the conference.
Contributions to the conference will be in the form of short papers of no more than 4 pages plus references. These papers will undergo technical screening (through plagiarism checking tools ) and rigorous peer review by an international technical committee. Accepted and presented papers will be made available in the conference proceedings and will be submitted for publication in the IEEE Xplore digital library. Papers may also be expanded into full articles for submission to the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering and publication in a special collection after the event.
One of the core missions of UComms is to promote high quality discussions regarding cutting edge developments in the field. For the cases where such developments may be subject to sensitivities of a commercial nature (or others), we offer the possibility of submission without publication. Off-the-record contributions must still go through the regular submission and review. The contributions will not be published in the proceedings or IEEEXplore.
