INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GENERATION CLOUD COMPUTING WIRELESS NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

JANUARY-APRILthe 2013 the Bullettin ofBIT Information Technology

TECHNOLOGY 4G A Dream from “Always Connected” to “Always Best Connected” PAGE 4

FACULTY CORNER TRAFFIC FAULTY visit ROUTER For Tcp Congestive Loss Control Over Wireless Network PAGE 5

NEW @ IT TRENDING NEW TECHNOLOGIES PAGE 18 http://rajagiritech.ac.in

Department of Information Technology Rajagiri School of Engineering & Technology Rajagiri Valley, Kakkand, Kochi HOD’S MESSAGE Way To Excellence – Role Of Alumni

Alumni are the ambassadors of an educational institution in society and industry. They are impor- tant stakeholders of college and lifelong family members of an institution working at various fields thethe Bullettin of Information BIT Technology and at wide geographical locations.

Alumni can support the institution and its students by giving truthful feedback on design and scope of the courses, promote entrepreneurship, enlarge outreach, promote industrial interaction and research, training to students, placement, scholarship etc. They can give guidance for orga- ON CREATIVE DESK nizing college programs like teaching, research, innovation and technology transfer to meet the present market and industry needs.

Alumni support is very important for the growth and prosperity of the college. They can give valu- Editors able and trusted feedback along with newer ideas needed from time to time to keep the insti- Prof. Kuttyamma A.J. tute in top gear ahead of time. The college and its alumni can function together as one family to (HOD- Department of Information Technology) reach excellence.

Mariam Varghese Alumni can support the institute in many ways: Assistant Professor • They can contribute to make education quality and cost competitive. Chinchu Krishna S Assistant Professor • They can bring latest professional advancement in college.

• They can bridge the gap between industry and institute. Student Editors • They can bring best within the students. Ashwin Thomas • They can contribute to bring world class professional vision and mission to college. Smitha J There are various methods to grab the support of alumni: Akhitha M.D • By associating alumni in attaining the goal or vision of the institute.• Having active alumni association. Illustrations • Arranging alumni meet every year in the institute. Krishnadas Naduvath Programmer • Including alumni in the body of governors of the institute.

• Arrange faculty members from college to associate with alumni for organizing activities. Photo Courtsey • Build up centres of excellence like patent and IPR, incubator, research park, venture fund etc Images under alumni initiative.

“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress, and working together is a success”

KUTTYAMMA A J PROFESSSOR & HOD, DIT contents

4 4G Technology A Dream from “Always Connected” to “Always Best Connected” . 5 TRAFFIC FAULTY ROUTER DETECTION For Tcp Congestive Loss Control Over Wireless Network. page 4 6 NEW GENERATION CHIPSET- TEGRA 4 Nvidia has announced their next generation Tegra 4 chipset for simfree smartphones, tablets and notebooks.

7 SIXTH SENSE FOR SALE!! ‘Sixth Sense’ as we all know, is the ‘Godly’ ability to understand the cause and relationship behind many events, which is beyond the understanding of the intellect. 9 GOOGLE GLASSES Google’s Project Glass is Google’s attempt to make wearable computing mainstream page 14 11 DIGITS – WRIST WORN SENSOR Digits is a wrist-worn sensor that recovers the full 3D pose of the user’s hand. This enables a variety of freehand interactions on the move. page 5 page 20 13 ROLLTOP LAPTOPS This newly designed laptop uses flexible OLED display on the panel and keyboard. 14 VIRTUAL KEYBOARD Virtual Keyboard is just another example of today’s computer trend of ‘smaller and faster’. 15 MULTI-TASKING MICRO-LIGHTS Tiny LED Lights now being developed could deliver wi-fi like Internet communications 16 BUYING A SMARTPHONE Everyday new Smartphones are launched. page 13 18 TRENDING NEW TECHNOLOGIES Virtual Keyboard is just another example of today’s computer trend of ‘smaller and faster’. 20 Department Activities

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4G Technology A Dream from “Always Connected” to “Always Best Connected”

PREETHA KG Assistant Professor, DIT

OR FOURTH GENERATION mobile systems focus on seamlessly integrat- ing the existing wireless technologies including GSM, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth. 4G systems support com- 4Gprehensive and personalized services, providing stable system performance and quality service.

The 4G wireless uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Ultra Wide Radio Band (UWB), and Millimeter wireless. Data rate of 20mbps is employed and mobile speed will be up to 200km/hr. The high performance is achieved by the use of long term channel prediction, in both time and frequency, scheduling among users and smart antennas combined with adaptive mod- at each unit time for every single service turns out to be a ulation and power control. Frequency band is 2-8 GHz. It gives herculean task. Vertical handoffs, billing frauds, service theft, the ability for worldwide roaming to access cell anywhere. It sup- privacy attacks and the like may also create nuisance in effi- ports interactive multimedia, voice, streaming video, internet and cient selection of network and its utilization. Network architec- other broadband services, high speed, high capacity, and low cost tures will play a key role in implementing the features required per bit, better scheduling and call admission control techniques, to address these issues. infrastructure to handle pre existing 3G systems along with other wireless technologies. One of the most challenging problems facing deployment of 4G technology is how to access several different mobile and 4Gsystems aim at implementing a global communication network wireless networks. by integrating all existing telecommunication standards. The main expectation about 4G is the freedom for the users to choose and Three possible architectures are : switch between services provided by various service providers integrated into the 4G network. A prominent aspect of 4G systems (a) Using a multimode device- A multimode device lets the is the network selection scheme by which the users can choose the user, device, or network initiate handoff between networks best connected network available for each of the services required. without the need for network modification or interworking devices. Major issues which are delaying the commercial release of 4G devices include network selection, vertical handoff, pricing & billing (b) An overlay network—consisting of several universal access issues, jamming and spoofing, location privacy, location coordi- points (UAPs) that store user, network, and device informa- nation, network failure & backup and QoS support. To choose the tion—performs a handoff as the user moves from one UAP suitable technology for each service at a particular place and time, to another. assessing services provided by each of the service providers can be a tedious and complicated task. Because of the heterogeneous (c) Common access protocol -A device capable of automati- nature of the 4G system network selection became a NP-hard cally switching between networks is possible if wireless net- problem. The Network Selection in 4G depends on various crite- works can support a common protocol to access a satellite- ria like bandwidth, security, cost of service, performance in het- based network and another protocol for terrestrial networks. erogeneous network, user preference and so forth. Thus analyz- ing each of these parameter values for all the networks available

4 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Faculty Corner

Traffic Faulty Router Detection for Tcp Congestive Loss Control Over Wireless Network

MUJEEBUDHEEN KHAN A.I Assistant Professor, DIT

An idea to sort out these problems is to compromised router. develop a compromised router detection HE INTERNET IS not a safe protocol that dynamically infers the precise DESTINATION DETERMINATION: place, unsecured routers are number of congestive packet losses that easily compromised within a will occur. Once the congestion ambiguity In destination determination we imple- minute in internet and even is removed, subsequent packet losses can ment AES algorithm for encrypt/decrypt well secured computers are be safely attributed to malicious actions. process. In this system we use asym- Talso attacked by denial of service. Indeed, Apart from traffic validation here we imple- metric key to evaluate the destination. through combinations of social engineer- ment distributed detection and response. The advantage of the AES is 128-bit ing and weak passwords, attackers have In distributed detection we implement block cipher. The use of this algorithm seized control over thousands of Internet confidentiality using AES encryption algo- prevents hacker attack. routers. Once a router has been com- rithm by asymmetric key. In response we promised in such a fashion, an attacker are using CBUHash hashing technique for This maintains user message confidential- may interpose on the traffic stream and validating integrity verification. Through ity, because if user is sending some infor- manipulate it maliciously to attack others integrity verification we are checking mation to destination it passes through by selectively dropping, modifying, or whether the message was modified or not. several routers. There is a chance that rerouting packets. Several researchers If are modified we just block the middle router buffer will handle that have developed distributed protocols to router message. On that time there is a chance detect such traffic manipulations, typically hacker will attack the router, he can down- by validating the traffic transmitted by one TRAFFIC VALIDATION: load the message and he can view that router is received unmodified by another. message also. Private signature keys are However, all of these schemes struggle in Traffic validation calculates current traffic, the private keys of asymmetric (public) key interpreting the absence of traffic. While for this purpose three values are needed pairs that are used by public key algorithms a packet that has been modified in transit packet size, time-delay and tcp flows. to generate digital signatures with possi- represents clear evidence of tampering, a With the help of these values we avoid ble long-term implications. When prop- missing packet is inherently ambiguous: the congestion in network. Before we send erly handled, private signature keys can it may have been explicitly blocked by a message we take three parameters to cal- be used to provide authentication, integ- compromised router or it may have been culate the network congestion If network rity and non-repudiation. dropped benignly due to network conges- congestion has occurred in router we put tion. In fact, modern routers routinely drop the message in waiting state. After our RESPONSE: packets due to bursts in traffic that exceed traffic clearance we will send the message their buffering capacities, and the widely to destination. This phase finds the alternative path used Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) because of attack. This system identifies is designed to cause such losses as part of It’s important to validate and clear the and removes the conjunction packet loss. its normal congestion control behavior. traffic because there is two types of packet If any packet loss occurs after the conjunc- Thus, existing traffic validation systems loss that can happen in router. One is traffic tion is removed, we can easily identify it must inevitably produce false positives for occurrence and another one is malicious will happen by hacker attack. If we iden- benign events and/or produce false neg- action. If we clear congestion, there is tify attack in any of the system we have to atives by failing to report real malicious another possibility to loss packet is mali- identify the alternative path also. packet dropping. cious action. So we can easily identify

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INTEGRITY CHECKING: CONCLUSION and buffer sizes, the number of congestive packet losses that will occur. Subsequent Finally, we have to verify message integrity This is a serious attempt to distinguish packet losses can be attributed to malicious to identify whether the packet loss is occur- between a router dropping packets mali- actions. Because of non determinism intro- ring or not. In this system we have to imple- ciously and a router dropping packets duced by imperfectly synchronized clocks ment hash algorithm for integrity Checking. due to congestion. Previous work has and scheduling delays, protocol uses user- approached this issue using a static user- defined significance levels, but these levels In integrity checking, we use cbu hash algo- rithm to get hash value for client message. Hash value is important for message because hash value is important for integrity verifi- cation. Integrity verification is important for Traffic Faulty Router Detection for Tcp identifying whether the router is malicious or not. Congestive Loss Control Over Wireless

Hash-based verification ensures that a file Network has not been corrupted by comparing the file’s hash value to a previously calculated value. If these values match, the file is pre- defined threshold, which is fundamen- are independent of the properties of the sumed to be unmodified. Due to the nature tally limiting. Using the same framework as traffic. Hence, protocol does not suffer from of hash functions, hash collisions may result our earlier work (which is based on a static the limitations of static thresholds. in false positives, but the likelihood of col- user-defined threshold), we developed a lisions is often negligible with random traffic faulty router detection that dynami- corruption. cally infers, based on measured traffic rates

Alumni Corner NEW GENERATION CHIPSET- TEGRA 4

VIVEK E.K 2008-2012 BATCH Nvidia has announced their next generation Tegra 4 chipset for simfree smartphones, tablets and notebooks. Like its predecessor, the Tegra 4 includes four high-speed processor cores as well as a fifth low- power companion core. The idea is that the four main cores are used for intensive tasks, while the companion

6 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Alumni Corner

core takes over for easier tasks like playing on just a small number of devices, including strengths and weaknesses. Either way, video or music. This offers a best-of-both- an unnamed Windows RT tablet for a both look to be strong upgrades from the worlds balance between processing power demonstration of HDR photography, Vizio’s previous generation and will no doubt form and power consumption. 10″ 2560 x 1600 tablet running Android the core of flagship mobile devices in 2013. and Nvidia’s own Project Shield. This is a The fourth-generation chip is built on a new handheld games console that includes a Tegra 4 Key Features 28 nm architecture, which offers greater 5″ 720p display mounted above an Xbox • GeForce GPU with 72 custom cores efficiency than the previous 40nm process of 360 style controller, within which the Tegra Tegra 3. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has 4 chipset lurks. • Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU, plus a called the Tegra 4 the world’s fastest mobile 2nd Generation Battery Saver Core processor, although he hasn’t yet confirmed It’s not yet known how the Tegra 4 chipset will specifics in terms of CPU frequency and compare to Qualcomm’s newly announced • Computational Photography Architecture details of the on-chip graphics processor. 600 and 800 series architecture – while It’s rumoured that the quad-core CPU runs both companies will hold that their mobile • LTE capability with optional Icera i500 at 1.9 GHz and that the GPU contains 72 processor is superior, it won’t really be until chipset CUDA cores – which should result in fittingly we see the first benchmark results with • 4K ultra-high-def video support brilliant performance. Tegra 4 and Qualcomm 800 devices that we’ll really be able to judge the platform’s So far, Tegra 4 has been shown off

Students Corner SIXTH SENSE FOR SALE!!

ASHWIN THOMAS S8 IT

‘Sixth Sense’ as we all over millions of years to thing and which is in- know, is the ‘Godly’ sense the world around creasingly all available ability to understand us. When we encounter online. the cause and rela- something, someone Although the tionship behind many or some place, we use miniaturization of com- events, which is be- our five natural senses puting devices allows yond the understand- to perceive information us to carry computers ing of the intellect. about it; that informa- in our pockets, keeping But in the modern era tion helps us make de- us continually connect- of technology, ‘Sixth- cisions and chose the ed to the digital world, Sense’ is something right actions to take. there is no link between else. But arguably the most our digital devices and ‘SixthSense’ is a wear- useful information that our interactions with able gestural interface can help us make the the physical world. In- that augments the right decision is not formation is confined physical world around naturally perceivable traditionally on paper us with digital informa- with our five senses, or digitally on a screen. tion and lets us use nat- namely the data, infor- SixthSense bridges this ural hand gestures to mation and knowledge gap, bringing intangi- interact with that infor- that mankind has accu- ble, digital information mation. We’ve evolved mulated about every- out into the tangible

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world, and allowing us magnifying glass sym- to interact with this in- bol takes the user to formation via natural the map application or hand gestures. ‘Sixth- drawing an ‘@’ symbol Sense’ frees informa- lets the user check his tion from its confines mail. The SixthSense by seamlessly integrat- system also augments ing it with reality, and physical objects the thus making the entire user is interacting with world your computer. by projecting more in- The SixthSense formation about these prototype is comprised movements and ar- on any surface by objects projected on of a pocket projector, a rangements of these fi- tracking the fingertip them. For example, a mirror and a camera. ducials are interpreted movements of the us- newspaper can show The hardware compo- into gestures that act er’s index finger. live video news or dy- nents are coupled in as interaction instruc- SixthSense also recog- namic information can a pendant like mobile tions for the projected nizes user’s freehand be provided on a regu- wearable device. Both application interfaces. gestures (postures). lar piece of paper. The the projector and the The maximum number For example, the Sixth- gesture of drawing a camera are connected of tracked fingers is Sense system imple- circle on the user’s to the mobile comput- only constrained by the ments a gestural cam- wrist projects an ana- ing device in the user’s number of unique fidu- era that takes photos log watch. pocket. cials, thus SixthSense of the scene the user is The SixthSense tech- The projector projects also supports multi- looking at by detecting nology is definitely visual information en- touch and multi-user the ‘framing’ gesture. something that will link abling surfaces, walls interaction. The user can stop by the physical world to and physical objects The SixthSense proto- any surface or wall and the digital world. The around us to be used type implements sev- flick through the pho- time when everyone as interfaces; while eral applications that tos he/she has taken. clicks a picture with a the camera recognizes demonstrate the use- SixthSense also lets the simple hand gesture and tracks user’s hand fulness, viability and user draw icons or sym- and watches movies gestures and physical flexibility of the sys- bols in the air using the anywhere is not dis- objects using comput- tem. The map applica- movement of the index tant. Let us wait for this er-vision based tech- tion lets the user navi- finger and recognizes interesting future. niques. The software gate a map displayed those symbols as in- program processes on a nearby surface teraction instructions. the video stream data using hand gestures, For example, drawing a captured by the cam- similar to gestures sup- era and tracks the lo- ported by Multi-Touch cations of the colored based systems, letting markers (visual track- the user zoom in, zoom ing fiducials) at the tip out or pan using intui- of the user’s fingers tive hand movements. using simple computer- The drawing applica- vision techniques. The tion lets the user draw

8 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Students Corner GOOGLE GLASSES

EARABLE TECH- SMITHA. J S8 IT NOLOGY IS going to be the hottest thing in the coming months Wand years, especially when Google’s “” units start making it into the wild, turning us all into members of the Borg Collective. Google’s Project Glass is Google’s attempt to make wear- able computing mainstream, and it’s effectively a smart pair of glasses with an integrated heads-up display and a battery hidden inside the frame. It is an augmented reality headset that allows users to view information such as map directions and social media notifications through a head-mounted display. It also includes a camera with which the user can take pictures and engage in Google+ Hangouts. But for those already own specs, Google is experimenting with designs that will fit over existing glasses so we don’t have to wear two lots of specs. It looks as though Project Glass will see a public release in 2014 at the earliest but devel- opers have got a look with the ‘explorer edition’ units in the last week of January 2013.

▶ How it works

According to well-informed Google Seth Weintraub, “Google’s Project Glass” glasses will probably use a transparent LCD or AMOLED display to put information in front of our eyeballs. It’s location-aware thanks to a camera and GPS, and we can scroll and click on information by tilting our head, something that is apparently quite easy to master. Google Glasses will also use voice input and output.

Specifications

The New York Times says that the glasses will run Android, will include a small screen in front of our eye and will

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have motion sensors, GPS and either 3G or 4G data connections. reality, with information that’s directly relevant to our surroundings Weintraub says that the device is designed to be a stand-alone appearing in front of us whenever you need it. For example, our device rather than an Android phone peripheral: while Project glasses might tell us where the nearest decent restaurant is, book Glass can connect to a smart phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 4.0, “it our table, invite our friends and show us how to get there, or they communicates directly with the cloud”. There is also a front-facing might provide work-related information when we’re at our desk. camera and a flash, although it’s not a multi-megapixel monster, and the most recent prototype’s screen isn’t transparent. Price

According to Google’s own video, we’ll be a super-being The NYT says: according to “several Google employees with the ability to familiar with the have tiny people project who asked talking to us in not to be named,” the corner of our the glasses are eye, to find our Expected Features: Google Glass features expected “to cost way around using around the price sat-nav, to know laser projected virtual keyboard that of current smart when the subway’s phones.” So that’s closed, to take and could be projected onto user’s arm around £500, then, share photographs. possibly with the The idea is to help of a hefty deliver augmented Google subsidy.

10 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Students Corner DIGITS – WRIST WORN SENSOR

RENJAN SAJU S6 IT

IGITS IS A wrist-worn sensor is placed so that the upper part of the palm a ring of modulated IR LEDs to uniformly illu- that recovers the full 3D pose and fingers are imaged as they bend inwards minate the user’s hand. We demonstrate how of the user’s hand. This enables towards the device. Two separate infrared to robustly extract the 2D positions of finger- a variety of freehand interac- (IR) illumination schemes are used to sim- tips from this IR image, with an associated tions on the move. The system plify signal processing. The use of IR allows coarse depth estimate, by modeling the light Dtargets mobile settings, and is specifically the illumination to be invisible to the user, fall off from the IR LEDs. This fingertip sensing designed to be low-power and easily repro- and offers a level of robustness to ambient approach can be coupled with the laser line ducible using only off-the-shelf hardware. visible light. Both illumination schemes use sensing method to derive a new inverse The electronics are self-contained on the low cost, readily procurable, and low-power kinematics (IK) based algorithm for com- user’s wrist, but optically image the entirety components. puting the full joint-angle configuration of of the user’s hand. This data is processed the hand. This method allows for even more using a new pipe- realistic reconstructions of the line that robustly hand. These methods work samples key parts together to help constrain the of the hand, such otherwise ill-posed problem as the tips and of recovering the full 3D hand lower regions of pose from a 2D image. Because each finger. These each method may be useful by sparse samples are itself, we keep the description fed into new kine- of the two approaches sepa- matic models that rate. This also aids in under- leverage the bio- standing the underlying con- mechanical con- cepts, techniques and algo- straints of the rithms presented in this paper. hand to recover Finally, an inertial measure- the 3D pose of the ment unit (IMU) can be used to user’s hand. The approximate wrist and forearm proposed system motions in 3D. works without the First, an IR laser line generator projects a thin need for full instrumentation of the hand IR line across the user’s hand which intersects Digits application scenarios: (for example using data gloves), additional with the fingers as they bend inwards. This sensors in the environment, or depth cameras approach can be used to robustly sample a A+B) Extending interaction space around a which are currently prohibitive for mobile single 3D point on each of the fingers and mobile device into 3D. scenarios due to power and form-factor con- thumb. From these five sparse samples, and siderations. We demonstrate the utility of by exploiting biomechanical constraints, we C+D) Nonvisual UIs allow users to manipulate Digits for a variety of application scenarios, derive a forward kinematics (FK) algorithm application parameters without looking at or including 3D spatial interaction with mobile to reconstruct a fully articulated hand skel- touching a physical device (GUI elements are devices, eyes-free interaction on-the-move, eton. This initial approximation allows us to for illustration only). and gaming. support a variety of 3D hand poses. However, each fingertip is essentially reduced to a We envision Digits will expand the System overview single dimension of input, limiting its motion physical interaction area of mobile devices to curling either towards or away from the beyond the display. In one application sce- Digits is a small camera-based sensor sensor. To more faithfully replicate the pose of nario (see Fig. A+B) the user holds and inter- attached to the wrist that optically images a the hand, more features need to be sampled acts with a tablet (or phone) using the domi- large part of the user’s bare hand. The camera on the hand. A complimentary method uses nant hand and uses the non-dominant hand

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invisible UIs, such as dials, sliders, or buttons without visual output (see Fig. C+D). For example, we can leverage both proprio- ceptive knowledge and spatial memory to allow the user to set the volume on a mobile phone by directly reaching out and interact- ing with a virtual dial; turning their hand to the right of the body and performing typing gestures on a virtual number pad to place a call; or moving the hand to the left of the body and touching their thumb and indi- vidual fingers to activate other phone functions. One interesting possi- bility here is to detect the type of action by the to provide 3D input to the applica- initial 3D shape of the tion. For example, semantic zooming hand. For example, if the is initiated with an in-air pinch user requires to change gesture, and the zoom factor is con- the volume, they simply trolled with the remaining digits. configure their hand as if An interesting possibility here is to they are holding a virtual support on-screen interactions and dial, which can then be simultaneous freehand interactions. rotated to set the desired For example, dividing between fine- level. grained interactions on the touch- screen and coarser navigation tasks touching the target and then performing an using the non-dominant hand and Digits. in-air pinch-based zoom. Finally, the display Our tracker is gloveless and enables the could be removed entirely in an eyes-free user to interact with the mobile device and interaction sce- operate Digits with the same hand. This nario. The 3D allows standard 2D touch gestures to be input capabil- coupled with above-the-surface interac- ities of Digits tions in 3D. For example, for quickly chang- can allow spatial ing the Z-order of a selected object by first interactions with

12 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Students Corner ROLLTOP LAPTOPS

AKHITHA MD - S6 IT

a laptop with a 13-inch screen. Flattened out, it becomes a graphics tablet for use with the enclosed stylus pen. On the back the Rolltop laptop is a stand that can be pulled out into a 17-inch display for viewing videos. A webcam, loudspeaker and power/data supply are included in the core cylinder.

The Orkin laptop can also transform into a tablet PC operable with a stylus, or become a standup flat screen display. A power adapter and other features fit with the car- rying canister that comes with a convenient holding strap.

While there really isn’t anything unique from a technology perspective (it does however feature fabulous packaging), it is All-In-One Rolltop Laptop : COMPONENTS: only made possible and constructed with the broad range of rare metals: rare earth This newly designed laptop uses flexible Most of the components for the Rolltop magnets in the voice coils, indium-tin-oxide OLED display on the panel and keyboard. already exist within the modern day designs in the OLED screens, tantalum in the capaci- such as the main board, processor, memory tors, lithium in the batteries, beryllium in the • It replaces the conventional physical key- (flash), working memory, etc. The Rolltop connectors and wires etc. board so the 13” laptop transforms into the does not have a CD/DVD reader or Floppy graphics tablet with its 17” flatscreen disc because they’re obsolete. Other compo- BENEFITS OF ROLLTOP: nents, such as the loudspeaker, Internet, web • It’s a new concept in notebook design with cam, USB ports and power supply are based • One, the Rolltop combines the laptop, a flexible display in the cylinder in which the screen would monitor and graphic without any roll around. The Rolltop’s success hinges problem (such as small display in monitor • The OLED-Display technology has a multi on the utilization of OLED Technology, or modus or fold on screen in graphic tablet touch screen organic light emitting diode. This technology modus). would be the main component of the lap- • All computer utilities from power supply top’s monitor. It is tough, flexible and energy • Secondly, the Rolltop is an all-in-one gadget through the holding belt to an interactive saving, flexible to roll it, tough to draw on it, that integrates the power supply, loud pen are integrated into this rolltop and energy saving to have a smaller battery speaker, laptop bag and mouse into one. You than what is already being implemented. don’t have to carry extra accessories. • The shutter also incorporates the system’s hardware itself STRUCTURE OF ROLLTOP: • Lastly, due to the new available technol- ogy, the design is very compact. • The wireless station can recharge the PC The Rolltop laptop incorporates energy- which provides two USB ports for connect- efficient flexible OLED technology and a • Provide ease in carrying ing peripherals. multi-touch screen. As you unroll it, you get

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 13 Students Corner movement when fingers are pressed down. Those movements are measured and the device accurately determines the intended key- VIRTUAL KEYBOARD strokes and translates them into text. This is a set of clips that fit into your hand and try to sense the motion of the fingers and the hands ELDHO PETER S4 IT (wrist) and translate them into keystrokes. The translation process also uses artificial intelligence. Once the keystroke has been decoded, it is sent to the portable device either by cable or via wireless.

IRTUAL The Virtual Keyboard uses light to KEYBOARD project a full-sized computer keyboard is just another onto almost any surface, and disap- example of pears when not in use. Used with Smart today’s com- Phones and PDAs, the VKey(TM) pro- Vputer trend of ‘smaller and vides a practical way to do email, word faster’. It uses sensor tech- processing and spreadsheet tasks, allow- nology and artificial intelli- ing the user to leave the laptop computer gence to let users work on at home. VKey technology has many any surface as if it were a applications in various high-tech and keyboard. Virtual Keyboard industrial Sectors. These include data is a small Java application entry and control panel applications in that lets you easily create hazardous and harsh environments and multilingual text content on medical markets. almost any existing platform and output it directly to web pages. Virtual Keyboard, It is also a superior desktop computer keyboard featuring dramatically being a small, handy, well-designed and easy to use easier to learn touch-typing and leaving one hand free for mouse or application, turns into a perfect solution for cross phone. Combination key presses (“chords”) of five main and two extra platform multilingual text input. control keys allow users to type at 25-60 words per minute, with possi- bly greater speeds achieved through the use of abbreviation expansion The main features are: platform-independent software. Most users, however, will find memorizing the chords easy multilingual support for keyboard text input, built-in and fun, with the included typing tutorial. The scanner can keep up with language layouts and settings, copy/paste etc. the fastest typist, scanning the projected area over 50 times a second. operations support just as in a regular text editor, The keyboard doesn’t demand a lot of force, easing strain on wrists already existing system language settings remain and digits. Virtual keyboards solve the problem of sore thumbs that intact, easy and user-friendly interface and design, can be caused by typing on the tiny keyboards of various gadgets like and small file size. Virtual Keyboard is available as PDAs and cell phones. An infrared adapter allows PC usage without Java applet and Javascript. It uses a special API to any driver software being necessary. The standard coin-sized lithium interact with a web page. You can invoke its public battery lasts about eight months before needing to be replaced. methods from Javascript to perform certain tasks such as Launch Virtual Keyboard, Move the Virtual The Virtual Keyboard uses an extremely durable material which is Keyboard window to exact screen coordinates, etc. extremely easy to clean. The Virtual Keyboard is not restricted to the The application also uses a bound text control to QWERTY touch-typing paradigm, adjustments can be done to the soft- transfer the text to/from the page. Brother set had ware to fit other touch-typing paradigms as well, such as the DVORAK private his letters keyboard. It will work with all types of Bluetooth enabled devices such as PDAs and smart phones, as well as wearable computers. Virtual typing: Virtual Devices have developed a Applications include computer/PDA input, gaming control, TV remote flashlight-size gadget that projects an image of a control, and musical applications. Canesta appears to be the most keyboard on any surface and let’s people input data advanced in this class of technology and the only one who is shipping by typing on the image. This system comprises of product. Other products are KITTY, a finger-mounted keyboard for data three modules, the sensor module, IR-light source entry into PDA’s, Pocket PC’s and Wearable Computers and KITTY, a and the pattern projector .The device detects finger-mounted keyboard for data entry into PDA’s, Pocket PC’s and Wearable Computers. Thus virtual keyboards will make typing easier, faster, and almost a pleasure.

14 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Students Corner MULTI-TASKING MICRO-LIGHTS

ANJALI THOMAS S4 IT

micron-sized LEDs which potentially offers a number of major advantages: Firstly, the tiny LEDs are able to flicker on and off 1,000 times quicker than the larger LEDs this also means they can transmit data more quickly. Secondly, 1,000 micron-sized LEDs would fit into the space occupied by a single larger 1mm2 LED, with each of these tiny LEDs acting as a separate communication channel. A 1mm2 sized array of micron-sized LEDs could therefore commu- nicate 1,000 x 1,000 (-i.e. a million) times as much information as one 1mm2 LED.

Moreover, each micron-sized LED would act as a tiny . So one large LED array display (e.g. used to light a living room, a meeting room or the interior of an aircraft), could also be used as a screen display- ing information at exactly the same time as provid- INY LED LIGHTS now being developed could ing internet communications and the overall room lighting. deliver Wi-Fi-like internet communications, while simultaneously displaying information, Eventually, it and providing illumina- could even be pos- tion for homes, offices sible for the LEDs to Tetc. Developing this innovative tech- incorporate sensing nology will help unleash the full poten- capabilities too. tial of ‘Li-Fi’ – the transmission of For example, your internet communications using visible mobile phone could light rather than the radio waves and be equipped with a microwaves currently in use. flash that you point at a shop display Underpinning Li-Fi is the use of light where everything emitting diodes (LEDs), a rapidly has been given an spreading lighting technology which electronic price tag, is expected to become dominant over and the price of all the next 20 years. Imperceptibly, LEDs the items and other flicker on and off thousands of times a information about second. By altering the length of the them would show flickers, it is possible to send digital up on your phone’s information to specially adapted PCs and other electronic display. devices. This would make the visible part of the electro- magnetic spectrum available for internet communications. This innovative technology can help tackle the many formidable challenges involved – in electronics, computing But rather than developing Li-Fi LEDs around 1mm2 in and materials, for instance – in making this vision a reality. size, which other researchers around the world are con- This technology could touch every aspect of human life centrating on, the EPSRC-funded team is developing tiny, within a decade.

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 15 Students Corner

BUYING A SMARTPHONE

PARVATHY RAMESH - S1S2 E

HESE DAYS MARKET is flooded with one with good performance. lot of Smartphones, every single day 1. Processor: Processor is the core functioning element a new smartphone is launched, that or brain of the smartphone. You can find processors as makes you confused about which one single core or double core or quad core in smartphones. you should buy. If you are planning Having four different cores allows your phone to do Tto buy a new smartphone basic thing you look for is its more things at once without slowing down. Quad-core camera, screen size, looks, builds and lastly its price. But processors are also more efficient and have better battery after buying the phone, you find it a little slower in pro- life than some dual-core CPUs. When it comes to the cessing or the phone freezes often that can disappoint fastest processor speed, the HTC one X+ wins, with it’s you. So instead of going for the looks, better go for the over clocked 1.7GHz quad-core processor.

16 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Students Corner

2. RAM: RAM is also among the most important factor make sure that the battery capacity is such that it does as the processing speed or the rate of multitasking. not drain quickly. Samsung Galaxy Note II is powered by Smartphone performance depends on RAM or physical a 3,100 mAh battery. memory of the smartphone. These days smartphones 4. Operating System: The iOS 6 and Andriod 4.2 (Ice come with up to 2 GB RAM. Samsung Galaxy S III and Cream Sandwich) are two of the best operating system LG Optimus G have a 2 GB RAM. available now. Windows 8 is also becoming popular now.. 3. Battery: Battery is an important factor as later on you find that your smartphone battery finishes very early, it will ruin your Smartphone experience. Battery capacity is specified in mAh. So when you are buying Smartphone,

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 17 New @IT Trending new TECHNOLOGIES

Iphone 5

It is the sixth generation of the iPhone and succeeds the iPhone 4S. The phone is a slimmer, lighter model that introduces a higher-resolution, 4-inch screen to the series with 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

Google Nexus is the newest tablet from Google. With the world’s highest resolu- tion tablet display, all new multi-user support, immersive HD content and the best Google apps – Nexus 10 has something for everyone.

Voice control The novelty of Siri on the iPhone 4S - which allows you to send texts, cre- ate reminders, search the Web and much more using just your voice was just the start of a new trend in voice controlled devices. Google with its new is a strong competitor in the area. Though not as advanced as Siri, Google voice is definitely coming up with more features pow- ering devices run on .

Android 4.1 Android 4.1 takes the speed and simplicity of Android to a different level – a com- pletely new camera experience that’s beyond smart, a new form of typing that helps you power through your messages, and much more.devices run on Android Jelly bean.

18 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology Microsoft Surface

It took a while, but Microsoft blasted into the tablet market with Surface, which is not quite a tablet, nor is it a computer. In fact, it’s a PC in tablet’s clothing.

Flexible screens These awesome new bendable interfaces will let you zoom in, zoom out and scroll around a page simply by twisting your phone or tablet. Nokia and Samsung have both hinted they may release phones with bendable displays in 2012. The really exciting stuff, however like paper-thin devices that roll up to fit in your pocket is still years away.

Windows 8 In the works for years, Microsoft officially rolled out the golden master of Windows 8 on Oct. 26. A dramatic departure from Windows 7, it introduced the controversial Start Screen, eliminating that start orb that many had gotten so accustomed to.

HTML5 The fifth iteration of the HTML standard.It lets developers create richer, more inter- active applications than ever. As developers tire of building applications for every operating system out there - from Android to iOS to Windows Phone and beyond - HTML5 offers the opportunity to build an app once and have it work everywhere.

Google Fiber Google Fiber is a combination broadband and television service that’s lighting up the Kansas City, with an unheard 1Gb-per-second connectivity. Residents are paying a mere $70 a month to take part in this unprecedented experiment. Now, Google spread it all over everywhere.

Kindle Paperwhite Graced with a built-in light with a series of LEDs that evenly illuminate its 6-inch display, its excellent performance and Amazon’s established ecosystem of products and services are tough to beat.

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 19 DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES iTRAX i-TRAX(2012-2013), Association of duties for better performance of i-TRAX Mr. Jimmy Mattew, Assistant Professor Informa¬tion Technology Department, were called upon by the HOD, Prof from Department of IT and Ms. Abey was inaugurated by Mr. Gopalakrishnan Kuttyamma A.J. Abraham Assistant Professor from Prakash (Senior HR Manager) of Department of IT were the coordina- UST Global Technologies, Kochi on Chairman -Aleena Nazar (S8 IT) tors of this program. 13th August 2012. He inaugurated Vice Chairman -Menokil Nirmal (S8 IT) I-TRAX, the also conducted a the activities of iTRAX by deliver- Treasurer -Haripriya (S6 IT) Technical video presentations on latest ing a talk on “The importance of life trends and events in IT industry on beyond Studies” which was presided Secretary -Milan Koshy(S6 IT) 10th September 2012. The talk shed by our principal Dr J Isaac. Student Documentation In Charge -Parveen (S4 IT) light upon the new generations upcom- representatives were selected for the Student Rep. -Don Thottan (S4 IT) ing” Sixth Sense Technology” this was year 2012-2013 and have assigned delivered by Mr. Jimmy Mattew.

20 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCES IN COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS (ICACC 2012)

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ECO-FRIENDLY COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (ICECCS)

The second International Conference on Advances and Registration Shri.Anoop Jacob. In his inaugural in Computing and Communications (ICACC-2012) address he wished all success for the institution and con- International conference on Eco-friendly Computing and ference, and made an impressive talk on the strength of Communication untapped power of Systems will and knowledge (ICECCS) in youth. was hosted by Department of IT and CS Dr.Raju during August, Narayana Swamy 9-11, 2012 at IAS, offered felic- Rajagiri School itations and also of Engineering released the confer- & Technology ence proceedings, (RSET) Kochi, Kerala, India. The conferences focussed which is published by IEEE. Rev. Fr. Jose Alex, CMI, on Advances in Computing and Communications Green Provincial and manager, offered Presidential address. He & Eco-friendly Computing”. The conference witnessed stressed on the importance of gaining knowledge about and provided a forum for sharing insights, experiences new technologies and producing results by exchange and interaction on various facets of evolving technologies and development of new ideas. and patterns related to Computer Science, Information Technology, Electronics and communication. The confer- Shri. K.S.Jamestin, Director of HR and Business ence proceedings are published in IEEE and Springer. Development, ONGC was also presented on the occa- sion and released the conference proceedings published The conferences were inaugurated by Honourable by Springer. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 21 DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

Rev. Dr. Antony Kariyil CMI, Director, of Science, Bangalore. RSET, addressed the gathering and The collocated workshops are talked about the importance of spe- 1.International Workshop on Green Energy Technologies (I-WGET 2012)

2. National Workshop were reviewed, each by three expert on Software Defined Radio in Signal reviewers and 116 papers were finally Processing- by accepted. 90 research papers were Amritha Viswa presented in the conferences by cialization in each area in the present Vidyapeetham, Coibatore researchers. era. 3. International Workshop on Advances in Wireless and Microwave The conferences financially supported The workshop proceedings were Technology (I-AWMT 2012) by Oil & Natural Gas Corporation released by Dr.Jimson Mathew from (ONGC) and Kerala State Council for University of Bristol, UK. Dr. Jimson 4. International Workshop on Science Technology and Environment Mathew also gave a brief overview of Mathematical Modeling and Scientific (KSCSTE) the two conferences. Computing (I-MMSC 2012) by IISER, Trivandrum Plenary sessions were given by Dr. Raju Narayana Swamy,IAS, Dr. 5.International Workshop on Florian Schatz, Christian-Albrechts- Applications of Signal Processing university, Germany, Dr. Rakesh (I-WASP 2012) Kumar Bajaj, Jaypee University of A conference banquet was held on the Information And Technology, Dr. second day and Sri Murali Narayanan Tuhina Samanta, BECS, Calcutta, and his team impressed the audience Dr. Vijay Kumar CTO, ASSYST, by his magical flute performance. Of Dr. S K Sinha,IISc, Dr. K. P. Ray, the total 600 plus received papers SAMEER, Bombay, and Prof. for ICACC conference, 360 papers Govindan Rangarajan, Indian Institute

22 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES

WORKSHOP ON NETWORK PROGRAMMING LAB

A one day workshop on network The workshop included sessions programming lab was conducted by which discussed the course con- Department of IT for faculty members tents, tools and experiments. At the of IT Department of Engineering end of the session experiments to Colleges under MG University on be included in the lab was finalized. 23rd January, 2013. This was inau- The session on Java Network gurated by Rev. Fr. Dr. Antony Kariyil Programming and Network CMI, Director, RSET. Simulation Tool was handled by The objective of the workshop was JishaG, Assitant Professor, RSET. to maintain uniformity in the conduct Arun Soman, Assistant Professor, of Network Programming lab ses- RSET gave an idea on UNIX sions for S6 students among IT network Programming and simula- Departments and to design a lab tion of network protocols. 21 Faculty cycle which covers all the concepts members from 11 Engineering within the time constraint of this Colleges attended the workshop. semester.

the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology 23 DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES REPORT ON CYBER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AT SCHOOLS

Department of Information Technology, RSET initiated the cyber awareness work- shop for school children (tar- geting 11th and 12th stan- dard). The first drive was at Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Ernakulam on 4th January 2013. The program was organized in asso- ciation with Cyber Crime

Investigation Cell, Kochi and leading newspapers of Ernakulam managements were really support- CDAC, Trivandrum. The formal edition. Also there were live pro- ive and the students were highly inaugural function was presided by grams on all FMs regarding the interactive. The immense success Rev. Dr. Antony Kariyil, CMI and program. of the program is attributed to the inaugurated by Deputy Mayor of team work of the entire faculty The students at school num- Kochi, Ms Bhadra. The program group of IT department. had excellent coverage in all bered to around 450. The school

24 the BIT, the Bullettin of Information Technology