THE 2022 IEEE 6th SYMPOSIUM ON FUTURE TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (SOFTT 2022) NOVEMBER 14-16, 2022. HOTEL RAMADA BY WYNDHAM MERIDIN, JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA
Praise the Almighty that the IEEE Symposium on Future Telecommunication Technologies 2022 (SOFTT 2022) was held in a hybrid format on November 14-16, 2022, at Hotell Ramada by Wyndham Meridin, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. SOFTT2022 brought together the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter and the IEEE Malaysia Comsoc/VTS Joint Chapter for the first time by organizing a co-located conference of the IEEE International Symposium on Telecommunication Technologies 2022 (ISTT 2022). SOFTT is annually organized by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Telkom University, Indonesia, supported by Ubiquitous Broadband Access Network (U-BAN) Research Group and the University Center of Excellence for Advanced Intelligent Communication (AICOMS). This conference is also sponsored by IEEE ComSoc Indonesia Chapter, IEEE Malaysia Comsoc/VTS Joint Chapter, and Qualcomm as our gold patron for SOFTT 2022.
The theme of SOFTT 2022 is “Innovations for Future Intelligent Networks experts, academicians, industries, and researchers to discuss crucial future telecommunications issues, share information, and drive innovation. The conference focuses on the selected area of future communication technologies mainly related to AI and the topics covered beyond 5G and 6G communication, advanced communication application in agriculture, biomedical, smart cities, digital communities, etc. The event will have a 1-day tutorial, physical and online keynotes, an industry forum, and a technical paper presentation.
The SOFTT 2022 provides an excellent opportunity for participants to present their research while networking and collaborating with other researchers. This year, we are delighted to have distinguished joint speakers with ISTT from academia and industry to share interesting topics based on their experience and knowledge. Seventy-five participants, including speakers and guests, attended this event. With a 65 percent acceptance rate, 22 papers were presented (14 in physical and eight in virtual) and indexed in the IEEEXplore database. We have received papers that had been presented from Germany, France, India, the USA, Finland, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The Day 1 conference started with a tutorial session at UTM Talent Transformation Centre, Skudai Johor Bahru. There were four combined tutorials with ISTT, which are open to both conference participants. Two parallel tutorials in the morning session were presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Khoirul Anwar, entitled Artificial Intelligence for Channel Coding: From Classic to Quantum, and Dr. Mehran Benjadi & Prof Dr. Rosdiadee Nordin on B5G/6G & Machine Learning: how they complement each other. The evening session tutorials were presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rudzidatul Akmam Dziyauddin entitled 5G Evolution on the Path to 6G: Challenges and Opportunities, parallel with Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Mardeni Rosele with the title Throughput and Fairness Trade-off in NOMA system for 5G/6G Seamless Connection of wireless communication and Networking.
After the tutorial session, the participants were given a tour around the UTM campus, as UTM is known as an edu-tourism campus. They created memories around UTM, such as Masjid Sultan Ismail, UTM recreation park, and Stadium Azman Hashim UTM.
On day 2, the event started with the first keynote speaker from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chee Wei Tan entitled Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Networking: From 5G to Blockchains. It follows with the opening ceremony welcoming remarks from ISTT 2022 General Chair, Prof.Moh Yussof Alias, and SOFTT 2022 conference chair, Ts, Dr. Norulhusna Ahmad. The event was officiated by Prof. Ir. Dr. Abu Sahmah Mohd Supa’at, the Director of the Digital Innovation Research Alliance, UTM. After that, the event continued with the second keynote speaker from Qualcomm, Mr. Ramesh Rao, with his speech entitled 5G + AI: The Ingredients Fuelling Tomorrow’s Technology Innovations.
Then, the industry forum brings together experts in 5G technology from industry and academia to discuss the specific topic of Wireless Communication and Networking in Extreme Environments, which is hosted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhudah Seman. The panelist is Mr. Iskandar Sabri Rahmat, Vice President, Technology & Innovation Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Ts. Juliana Binti Johari, Business Director Managed Security Services/Senior Operations Manager Heitech Padu Berhad, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Khoirul Anwar, Director of AICOMS, Telkom University, Indonesia.
After the lunch break, the event continues for the last keynote speaker. Prof. Mehdi Bennis from the University of Oulu, Finland, presented the Edge Artificial Intelligence Over Wireless: Present and Future. After the keynote, the following agenda was a technical session. SOFTT 2022 accepted 22 papers covering four main tracks for the technical session. The first track is Quantum Communication and Security. This session has four papers and was chaired by Dr. Rudzidatul Akman Dziyauddin (UTM) and co-chair Dr. Budi (Tel-U). This session features three physical papers and one virtual presentation.
Session 2 started after the tea break. This session focussed on Physical Layer Communications and was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Robiah Ahmad (UTM) and co-chair Dr Mohd. Azri Mohd Izhar (UTM). This session had six papers, and three of them were presented physically. After the presentation, the following agenda was a Conference Dinner. During the dinner, all the participants enjoyed delicious Malaysian food.
The best paper awards were announced during the dinner. The dinner ended around 9.00 PM after the networking session.
Day 3 started with Technical Session 3 covered Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Signal Processing. This session has five papers, and four of them are physical presentations. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norliza Mohamed (UTM) chaired this session and was co-chaired by Dr. Yuyun Rohmah. Then, the last technical session covered the Internet of Things, Vehicular Communication, and Aerial Communication. This final session had seven papers, three of which were virtual presentations. This session was chaired by Dr. Eng. Khoirul Anwar (Tel-U) and Ir. Dr. Hazilah Mad Kaidi (UTM). The SOFTT 2022 ended after lunch at 1.00 PM.
Having SOFTT 2022 as the conference after two years of online conferences was a huge success. The conference attendees, who were present in person and virtually, relished the experience before and during the conference. Additionally, the keynote and papers were enlightening and exciting presentations. We hope to see you at the upcoming conference.