Dr. Octavia A. Dobre

Since Mitola’s idea of cognitive radio which arose close to 2000, significant advancements have been made toward applying intelligence in communications networks. While 2020 marks an important milestone in the deployment of 5G wireless networks, planning to deliver enhanced mobile broadband, massive connectivity, ultra-reliability, and lower latency, beyond 5G wireless (B5G) aims to provide a major paradigm shift from connected things to connected intelligence. Besides the synergy between communications and computing, B5G seeks to integrate sensing and support a pervasive intelligence. After 20 years, we can state that the idea of extending cognition to artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of communications has arrived. The next decade is crucial for research and development activities to achieving a native AI-based 6G network, capable of not only advancing the digitalization of vertical industries, but also of addressing human challenges through a connected world.

This talk will provide a brief overview of advances in transitioning from cognition to intelligence in communications networks, with emphasis on the features of 5G, as well as on the envisioned 6G wireless. It will discuss the intelligence integration supported by mobile edge computing in both terrestrial and vertical dimensions of emerging communications networks, along with modalities to developing a deep learning network. Furthermore, applications of machine learning techniques to communications will be presented, e.g., to the identification of the signal types in both wireless and optical communications areas. Finally, the talk will highlight research directions for the application of AI to the field of communications.

Biography:

Dr. Octavia A. Dobre is a Professor and Research Chair at Memorial University, Canada. 
Her research interests encompass various wireless technologies, such as non-orthogonal multiple access and intelligence reflective surfaces, blind signal identification, as well as optical and underwater communications. She has co-authored over 300 refereed papers in these areas.

Dr. Dobre serves as the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society. She was the EiC of the IEEE Communications Letters, as well as Senior Editor, Editor, and Guest Editor for various prestigious journals and magazines.

Dr. Dobre was a Royal Society Scholar and a Fulbright Scholar. She obtained Best Paper Awards at various conferences, including IEEE ICC, IEEE Globecom, and IEEE WCNC. Dr. Dobre is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada and a Fellow of the IEEE.