[IEE EC3 News] IEE EC3 Lecture Reminder

[Bill Pechey]

Dear Colleague,

You are being sent this reminder message because either you gave your
email address at one of our previous lectures or you signed up on the
web site associated  with this email list
(http://www.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/iee-ec3-news).

I have appended the details of our next lecture and hope to see you there.

Details of our other lectures may be found at - 
http://www.iee.org/OnComms/Branches/UK/England/SEastE/EC3/

This lecture is on a fascinating topic that has important implications
for digital broadcasting and the Internet. David is a very
entertaining speaker and can make complex subjects easy to understand.

Best wishes,

Bill Pechey
IEE Thames Valley Specialised Section

++++++++++

October Lecture

IEE Thames Valley Specialised Section
Electronics, Control Computing & Communications

Fountain Codes - amazing codes for erasure channels

David MacKay, University of Cambridge

Thursday 27th October 2005 at 19:30

Palmer Building, Whiteknights Campus, The University of Reading

Light refreshments available from 19:00-19:30

In this talk I will explain fountain codes, which are record-breaking
codes for reliable communication over channels with erasures. Channels
with erasures are of great importance. For example, files sent over
the Internet are chopped into packets, and each packet is either
received without error or not received. Standard methods involve
retransmissions of the erased packets. Fountain codes offer a much
more efficient and elegant solution that requires no feedback channel
from receiver to sender.

Fountain codes have a remarkable property: they are "rateless", and
automatically perform near the capacity of any channel, whatever the
statistics of erasures.

If you want to know more, come along. All are welcome and no ticket is
required. Simply turn up on the night. For more details please contact
Dr Richard Mitchell at rjmitchell@iee.org, or 0118 378 6790

Directions: Enter the University at the main entrance from the A327
Shinfield Road. Follow the road until until it bends right, when you
turn left and almost immediately right. Go straight on when the road
goes to the left and park adjacent to the Palmer Building, no 26, on
http://www.info.rdg.ac.uk/maps/maps-display.asp