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Secure Cognitive Mobile Hotspot

Zaheer Ahmed, Habibullah Jamal, Rizwana Mehboob, Shoab Khan, and Muhammad Shahbaz
Abstract The paper presents a novel consumer device that acts as a cognitive mobile hotspot to provide ubiquitous secure wireless WAN and LAN connectivity while on the move. The mobile hotspot acts as a gateway and integrates VHF/UHF radios with multiple wireless WAN and LAN technologies. The device supports GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, CDMA2000 and WiMAX as WAN interfaces for long range communication and 802.11, Bluetooth and VHF/UHF interfaces for short range communication. The cognitive controller in the device seamlessly switches the WAN interfaces to provide optimum connectivity and Quality of Service parameters to the LAN devices and VHF/UHF radio links. In applications where nodes are fully mobile, the cognitive mobile hotspot acts a centroid by adjusting its position dynamically and provides a complete mobile backbone for optimum connectivity to mobile devices in a heterogeneous environment. The unique device opens a new paradigm of mobile backbone and seamless switching between multiple wireless broadband technologies and integration of wireless LAN and VHF/UHF interfaces. The device finds applications in vehicle area networks, mobile branch offices, mobile healthcare, media & broadcasting, sporting competitions, trade fairs, exhibitions and mission critical applications like flood relief operations and disaster recovery1. Index Terms Secure Mobile Hotspot, Cognitive Controller, Mobile Branch Offices, Vehicle Area Network (VAN).

I. INTRODUCTION The ever increasing demand for voice, data, and video or internet communication is giving birth to multiple and diverse homogeneous and heterogeneous, wired and wireless, static and mobile connectivity preferably in handheld devices and laptops. The wishful thinking for a blend of wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) connectivity while on the move is turning into reality. In todays ultracompetitive market, advance data services are migrating from fixed to mobile infrastructure and WAN
1 This work is supported by University of Engineering and Technology Taxila Endowment Fund, Center for Advanced Research in Engineering (CARE) and Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE), Pakistan. Zaheer Ahmed is with the University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan (e-mail: zah67@yahoo.com). Habibullah Jamal is with the University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan (e-mail: drhjamal@uettaxila.edu.pk). Rizwana Mehboob is with the Computer Engineering Department, CASE Pakistan (e-mail: rizwanamehboob@hotmail.com). Shoab Khan is with the Computer Engineering Department, CASE Pakistan (e-mail: shoab@case.edu.pk). Muhammad Shahbaz is with Center for Advanced Research in Engineering Pakistan (email: m.shahbaz.ahmed@hotmail.com)

connectivity is becoming mandatory to extend the enterprise network to mobile infrastructure. The difficult and challenging market conditions have compelled mobile operators in making substantial investments to upgrade their networks for higher capacity technology. In any particular geographical area, different wireless broadband communication technologies are available in patches. These technologies include General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), CDMA2000, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). The early WAN technologies such as GPRS offered average throughputs of 10 Kbps while EDGE delivers average speeds of 100-130 Kbps and bursty traffic provides 200 Kbps. The CDMA technologies such as Evolution Data Optimized (1xEvDO) provide average speeds of 300400 Kbps with bursts up to 700 Kbps [1]. The data rates offered by these applications were sufficient only for low-bandwidth applications such as downloading ring tones and SMS. The growth of broadband data applications such as email or downloading/uploading files with a laptop computer or PDA was at a slower pace. With the unprecedented and accelerated growth in IT applications, the demand for high speed WAN links increased manifolds thus necessitating the growth in broadband technologies. In the last couple of years, not only notebooks and PDAs require WAN connectivity while on the go but many other consumers applications like advertisement, marketing, estate agencies, logistics, recruitment, travel, hospitality, healthcare, media, broadcasting, insurance, finance and temporary events like disaster recovery require wireless broadband connectivity. The WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) offer substantial improvements in data rate and spectral efficiency as compared to 3G technologies like Universal Mobile Telephony System (UMTS), High Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) and CDMA2000. The UMTS utilizes W-CDMA that makes use of a wider spectrum than CDMA; efficiently and rapidly transmits/receives information. In Europe, the 3G W-CDMA networks are known as UMTS and synonymous with WCDMA/3G services. The other 3G standard, CDMA2000 an upgrade of cdmaOne requires wider spectrum than CDMA and transmits/receives information more efficiently and rapidly enabling the triple play services possible. However, the new CDMA2000 variant like cdma2000 3X delivers 3G services while occupying a very small amount of current spectrum as opposed to UMTS that use completely new spectrum. The HSDPA is a new mobile telecom protocol, also known as 3.5G. It is a packet-based data service with data rate of

Contributed Paper Manuscript received April 14, 2010 Current version published 06 29 2010; Electronic version published 07 06 2010.

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10Mbps over a 5MHz bandwidth. The technologies such as WiMAX offer substantial improvements in data rate and spectral efficiency. The mobile version of WiMAX, IEEE 802.16e utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (OFDMA) where spectrum is divided into many subcarriers. Each sub-carrier then uses Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) for modulation. The WiMAX systems for portable/nomadic use will have better performance in terms of interference rejection, spectral efficiency, multi-path tolerance and provide high data quality. For WAN connectivity of the mobile devices across any geographical area, a single broadband technology cannot provide the ubiquitous connectivity. The high speed communication for data, audio or video using either one, few or all of the available WAN and LAN services in a single device is a challenge for the researchers. Similarly, the handling of multiple WAN, LAN and VHF/UHF radio technologies in a single platform is yet another research area. Our proposed device termed as secure cognitive mobile hotspot (SCMH) addresses these challenges simultaneously as it integrates all the available broadband technologies in a geographical area and selects the optimal technology for the peer nodes in a hotspot. The commercially available Mobile Hotspots provide broadband connectivity using wireless broadband interfaces like EvDO or WiMAX on one hand and Wi-Fi interface on other hand to connect wireless devices forming a WLAN [2]. Some researchers are introducing hotspots with EvDO and WiMAX broadband interfaces in a single device to provide 3G/4G broadband connectivity [3]. The presented SCMH device provides optimum ubiquitous connectivity to the WLAN, Bluetooth and VUHF radio enabled devices by dynamically adjusting its position on one hand and renders seamless switching amongst the best broadband network on the other hand. The SCMH forms a cluster with its mobile peers acting as a cluster centroid by dynamically adjusting its position. The concept of SCMH movement along with mobile nodes with heterogeneous wireless interfaces and selection of optimum broadband technology simultaneously, introduces the novel concept of SCMH acting as a mobile backbone. The WLAN devices, VUHF radios and the SCMH are all equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) required for dynamic adjustment relative to the cluster. The proposed SCMH is an extension of our already published work [4][5] and focuses on two broad categories of consumer applications. The first category addresses the extension of enterprise network to mobile branch offices where a variety of computing devices form LAN/WLAN with the SCMH within the mobile branch office and form mobile wireless cluster around the mobile branch office. The SCMH acts as a gateway to connect these devices with the enterprise network via broadband communication link. The second category provides WAN connectivity to mission critical applications, where all the nodes are mobile. The SCMH in

one of the nodes that acts as a centroid; it adjusts its position dynamically to provide optimum connectivity to the other nodes within its hotspot premises. The SCMH security and cognizance features of multiple WAN and WLAN services in a unified device for ubiquitous connectivity working in a heterogeneous static and mobile networking environment have not been reported so far as a commercially available device. Therefore, the mobility of our proposed SCMH is twofold as it provides available WAN connectivity in the area where the device is moving and also dynamically adjusting its position as a gateway node for the peer mobile nodes to provide optimum connectivity. The security, ubiquitous connectivity and optimum connectivity features further enhance its novelty and usefulness. This paper is divided into five sections. Section II explains the SCMH architecture. Section III describes the design of mobile hotspots for mission critical applications. Section IV explains the enterprise network extension for mobile branch office. Section V illustrates example scenario to form mobile hotspots for mission critical applications and Section VI concludes the paper. II. SCMH ARCHITECTURE The design of Wireless Mobile hotspot especially for enterprise network extension and mission critical applications requires optimum and secure connectivity. It involves real challenges like dynamically changing topologies/routes, limited communication bandwidth, variable capacity links, secure and broadcast nature of the network. A critical requirement of mobile applications is the rapid deployment of secure connected network, where each node has ubiquitous connectivity with the enterprise network. The security of enterprise and vehicular networks is very critical to protect networks from malicious activities like disruption in communication, impersonation, masquerading and eavesdropping. The academics and industry paid little attention to provide security in heterogeneous networks. The key sizes, key management, key exchange, authentication and ciphering delays and scalability are few of the challenges that need to be addressed. The Internet usage has accelerated significantly over the past few decades. The companies reliant on Information Technology (IT) are mushrooming with remote site locations/branch offices interlinked by broadband communication links. The transfer of huge amount of data over limited WAN bandwidth results in network congestion and decreases network performance. Data compression significantly increases bandwidth without having to upgrade line connections, bringing significant cost savings immediately. Optimizing the WAN bandwidth by data compression ensures better utilization of bandwidth and improved network performance. In our research, we present the concept of hybrid WAN technologies to incorporate secure mobile backbone for extended coverage. The system level diagram of the proposed SCMH is shown in Figure 1. The configuration & management

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is the top most communication layer in SCMH. It holds configuration of the provisioned network interfaces, ciphering and compression parameters and services like location updates and service area information etc. Crypto engines layer supports standard and proprietary security algorithms necessary for mission critical applications. The crypto layer can be configured for any authentication or encryption algorithm to provide data integrity and confidentiality. The crypto layer supports multilayer of security for a command and control enterprise architecture.

Figure 1: Secure Cognitive Mobile Hotspot Architecture

The crypto layer is optimized to process all algorithms associated with Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) and Internet Key Exchange (IKE). The newer encryption/hashing/public-key algorithms can be readily ported in the architecture achieving rapid time to market. It can be programmed for different authentication (MD5, SHA-1, SHA256, SHAH384, SHA512, RIPEMD-128, RIPEMD-192, TIGER) and encryption (DES, 3DES, AES or any proprietary) algorithms. In our architecture, powerful instruction sets are provided to cater for standard as well as proprietary authentication and encryption algorithms [6]. The crypto layer consists of an optimized Key Generation engine that can be used for key generation and digital signature generation and verification. The compression layer embedded in the device implements lossless data compression algorithm [7] to optimize the WAN bandwidth.

The SCMH architecture integrates heterogeneous networking technologies by a cognitive controller. The controller dynamically selects the optimum available broadband communication link to connect the devices over WLAN and WAN with the enterprise network. The WAN interfaces include GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/W-CDMA, cdma200 and WiMAX (802.16e). The LAN interfaces include Ethernet, 802.11 and Bluetooth interfaces. The controller integrates VHF/UHF radios besides WLAN devices to provide broadband connectivity to the VUHF enabled devices. Cross-layer protocol design in cognitive controller is the extension of the layered network protocol architecture. The cross-layer mechanism gathers information by exchanging parameters between non-adjacent layers and thus controlling the offered flexibility of each protocol layer to adapt to the actual needs of communication. Cross-layer interactions among layers are achieved by a cross-layer information module, which in turn supports vertical communications among the layers. The following steps describe the detailed procedure of our cognitive network management. Step 1: The application configures cognitive controller for QoS parameters, security levels, compression parameters and network interface priorities. Step 2: The cognitive controller configures cryptographic parameters of crypto engines and sets QoS parameters and network interface priorities in the interfaces table. Step 3: The routing protocols dynamically maintain and update GPS info and Link State Table to form the routing table. The routing protocols provide decision variables like end-to-end delay, route errors, route replies etc. The PHY and MAC of all the communication interfaces send their corresponding SNR and traffic information to cognitive layer. Step 4: The Cognitive layer decides the action to enhance performance and reconfigures the relevant routing parameters. The Interface Selection Logic of the Cognitive Controller selects the optimum link for data communication, based on the QoS parameters and interface priorities updated in the Link State Table. III. DESIGN OF MOBILE HOTSPOTS FOR MISSION CRITICAL
APPLICATIONS

The design of mobile hotspots for mission critical applications involves real challenges like multiple communication technologies in patches of geographical area, variable capacity links, limited communication bandwidth, secure connectivity and above all is the rapid deployment. The geographical area in the proposed architecture is divided into multiple zones that cover the entire footage of the region. Mobile vehicles with SCMH devices are placed on different positions to form the secure mobile backbone in the entire geographical region. These mobile vehicles equipped with SCMH devices are termed as Mobile Backbone Nodes (MBNs). The MBNs as shown in

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Figure 2, form clusters and adjust their positions dynamically to provide optimum connectivity to their respective mobile hotspot nodes. In our approach, a new concept of secure mobile backbone has been introduced in the hybrid architecture that overcomes the shortcomings of the existing solutions and provides the assurance of secure connected network.

Figure 2: MBN Forming Cluster in a Hotspot

We consider the systematic and coordinated movement of nodes in the mission critical network and implemented a GPS aware secure mobile backbone. The MBNs also act as authentication authority to incorporate security in the routing protocol and act as cluster heads for a particular clusters mobile nodes. We propose a cluster-based secure architecture of intelligent backbone, where authenticated mobile nodes in any cluster can directly communicate with each other by forming WLAN and communicate with other cluster nodes through MBNs. The MBNs connect their mobile cluster nodes with the corporate headquarter with the optimum available broadband communication link in that particular geographical area. The proposed architecture is a hybrid network with MBNs having additional processing power than user mobile nodes. The network establishment comprises of four steps that are node configuration via some secure medium like infrared port, cluster formation, registration and authentication. In configuration process, MBNs are provided with public/private key pair and public key of all the user mobile nodes. The user mobile nodes are provided with their node ID, public/private key pair and the public key of the AA (Authentication Authority). The MBNs and user mobile nodes are preconfigured with symmetric keys and their corresponding key ids. All the cryptographic material is stored in the embedded flash of SCMHs. The communication between the

user mobile nodes and backbone nodes takes place on secure communication channel. Symmetric cipher AES is proposed for securing information on mission critical network. Clusters are initially formed by approximate placement of MBNs depending upon the communication range with one MBN per cluster. Presently, status of the clusters is untrusted. Once backbone is established, the other mobile nodes become part of cluster like cellular network. The nodes within a cluster are directly connected to each other while connectivity with other clusters nodes is through secure mobile backbone. The MBN in a cluster acts as a zonal registrar for registering all the mobile nodes of its zone to establish a trusted network. In registration process, each user node sends its node ID signed by its private key, verified by their MBN. The MBN completes registration by sending certificate to all registered nodes by signing with its private key thus changing the status of network nodes from un-trusted to trusted. The node wishing to communicate with another node sends a message signed by its private key. The peer node verifies the signature by extracting public key from certificate issued by the AA; the two nodes can now trust each other for secure communication. All the nodes are equipped with GPS, providing current position of the node in terms of x, y coordinates. A mobile node entering the network is assigned to a cluster depending on the design constraints such as minimum distance constraint and implemented using K-mean algorithm. The K-Mean Clustering algorithm is used to group mobile nodes into N number of groups, forming mobile hotspots. The grouping is done by minimizing the sum of squares of distances between mobile nodes and the clusters centroid, maximizing SNR, line of sight and network performance parameters. The network performance parameters include characteristic path length, link/node ratio, clustering coefficient and scale [8]. In mission critical applications, the network topology may change systematically as the units move. In the proposed architecture, the MBNs achieve optimal connectivity in heterogeneous environment by calculating their new positions based on minimum distance, line of sight, SNR on all the available communication links and network performance parameters. A. Example Scenario We present a dynamic mission critical network for mobile system comprising of four MBNs (MBN0, MBN1, MBN2 and MBN3). The other nodes are user nodes and their number changes dynamically with the mobility of users. The network of configured nodes can be established in three steps. The first is the initialization of the MBNs positions with some approximate values. The location of MBN is the mean of a particular cluster. In second step, node to the respective cluster is allocated by calculating the Euclidean distance between that node and each of the MBNs. The node is then allocated to that cluster whose MBN is nearest to that user node. In the final update step, the mobile backbone nodes adjust their positions according to the cluster mean. The next

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location of the MBN is constrained by the geographical terrain/topology of the area and maximum line of sight. It can be termed as cluster head location feasibility constraint that checks whether the calculated mean of the cluster is physically feasible location or not. If there is a crater or a pit in the ground, the vehicle will be moved to the optimum possible location. The node allocation and mean update steps are repeated until the network converges. The MBNs are placed in the converged area with approximate distances between MBNs. The user nodes are represented with small circle, star, triangle and square shapes to indicate their proximity to a particular MBN. Figure 3 depicts the initial allocation of user mobile nodes to MBNs.

MBNs. The new paradigm of MBNs was tested by coordinated movements of the user nodes and by adding few malicious nodes in different environments, with varying signal interference and SNR. The network was always connected even in bad terrains, having strong interference and sparse users and rejected the intruding nodes by registration/authentication processes. C. Simulation results Two approaches were adopted for simulation to prove the usefulness of the proposed scheme. In the former approach, the backbone nodes (BBNs) were static. The network structure comprising of mobile nodes with a, b, c and d as backbone nodes was used for simulations of the fixed as well as mobile backbone nodes environment as shown in Figure 5.
a b

Figure 5: Converged Network with fixed BBNs

Figure 3: Allocation of mobile nodes to MBNs

The MBNs will calculate their new positions according to new cluster mean. After a few iterations, as shown in Figure 4, the network will converge.

When backbone nodes are fixed, the coordinated movement of the mobile nodes is depicted in Figure 6. The mobile user bi loses connectivity with its BBN and is disjointed from its hotspot. Another observation is the partitioning of the network. Sometimes even in coordinated movement of troops, network starts partitioning as the mobile nodes move away from their BBNs and ends up in disjointed network.
a b

bi d c

Figure 6: Nodes Mobility in Fixed Hotspots

Figure 4: Converged Mobile Hotspots

B. Experimental Setup The proposed architecture has been tested in the actual field with backbone nodes to cover an area of 2 Km square. The mobile users were allowed to move within the area of the

The second scheme proposed in this research, is shown in Figure 7. Here the backbone nodes could also move, which is in line with our proposed architecture of MBNs. In this scheme, the entire network moves in a coordinated manner. The fully mobile hotspots thus provide always connected network while on the move. The results of the simulation show that the network converged after a few iterations. The initial network structure used and the mobility pattern of the user nodes were identically presented to both the schemes.

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complete mobile platform to integrate multiple LAN, WLAN, VUHF radios and WAN technologies for providing secure ubiquitous connectivity while on the move.

d c

Figure 7: Fully Mobile Hotspots

IV. ENTERPRISE NETWORK EXTENSION FOR MOBILE BRANCH OFFICES The latest trend of businesses is the establishment of many branch offices miles away from the main head office for better customer support that in turns provides a competitive edge to a company. The mobile branch offices are readily deployable by making use of long vehicles or trailers and established keeping in view the changing business trends and requirements. The information exchange by cell phones, PDAs, laptops or Wi-Fi enabled tools, is vital for providing valuable 24/7 customer support and services across the globe. Wired or wireless networks are formed within the branch offices for secure/consistent voice, video or data and mobile applications. The corporate Information Technology (IT) has to therefore address an increasing number of networks and mobile devices for a scalable and integrated solution for reliable, media rich services and for extending new technologies and corporate services to the branch offices employees at all locations and all responsibility levels. The wireless LAN (802.11) and 3G standards and wired networking technologies are incorporated in the architecture for branch offices that enable remote office personnel to avail the same services, security features and capabilities available at the corporate head office. The SCMHS extends enterprise network to mobile branch offices and enables computing devices communicate securely and seamlessly while in motion. The IP centric devices in the mobile branch office, i.e. in a vehicle form local area network on Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking technologies. Our proposed SCMH acts as a gateway to connect local LAN/WLAN with the corporate headquarters through the available WAN link in that geographical area. The SCMH integrates all the devices data, connected on LAN / WLAN, VUHF radios and routes the compressed and encrypted data on the available WAN link. The Figure 8 shows communication architecture of our proposed mobile branch office connected with its corporate headquarter through SCMH. The SCMH connects desktop computers and a printer through Ethernet interface by forming LAN while IP phone, tablet and a laptop form WLAN on 802.11 interfaces. A PDA communicates with the SCMH via Bluetooth interface. A mobile vehicle communicates with the SCMH on VUHF radio. The SCMH device is equipped with two broadband technologies cdma2000 and WiMAX. The SCMHS provides

Figure 8: Mobile Branch Office Forming Mobile hotspot

V. CONCLUSIONS The paper presents a novel communication device that supports multiple heterogeneous networking technologies. The research work is multi-faceted comprising of a number of claims that have been validated not only by simulations but by actual design, development and deployment. The motivation was to integrate the multiple existing yet diverse communication technologies for ubiquitous connectivity. A few of the innovative concepts have also been introduced like that of mobile back bone and seamless switching among broadband service providers. The critical logic in the device is implemented in the Cognitive Controller that incorporates switching and routing logic supporting multiple communication technologies to provide optimum connectivity, based on the QoS parameters, user-defined interface priorities and user subscribed services. The proposed SCMH acts as a gateway to glue different networking domains together. The developed architecture opens new horizon of ubiquitous consumer computing devices, where connectivity is of prime importance on wider physical space including patches of land covered by multiple mobile communications and networking technologies. The presented architecture can be used to integrate any future WAN, LAN and radio technology for ubiquitous connectivity. The authors perceive that the technology embedded in the device shall soon find consumer attraction for its incorporation in mobile branch offices, vehicular

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Rizwana Mehboob did her PhD in Computer Engineering from Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE) and MSc. in Computer Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She completed her B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. She has a 16+ years of industrial experience in design/development of complex embedded systems, Hardware & Software Architecture design, Communication, Data Compression and Network protocol design.

networks, temporary events like sporting competitions, trade fairs, exhibitions and mission critical applications like flood relief operations and disaster recovery. REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] [4] Demand for Wireless High-Speed Data Services and Applications, InStat MDR, April, 2004. http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_ mifi http://www.laptopmag.com/review/wifi/sprint-overdrive-mobilehotspot.aspx Zaheer Ahmed, Habibullah Jamal, Rizwana Mehboob, and Shoab A. Khan, A Navigation Device with MAC Supporting Multiple Physical Networks for Extended Coverage and Operations, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 54, No. 3, August 2008. Zaheer Ahmed, Habibullah Jamal, Shoab A. Khan, Rizwana Mehboob and Asrar Ashraf Cognitive Communication Device for Vehicular Networking , IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 55, No. 2, May 2009. Zaheer Ahmed, M. Mohsin Rahmatullah, Habibullah Jamal Security Processor for Bulk Encryption, conference proceeding ICM2004. Rizwana Mehboob, Shoab A. Khan, Zaheer Ahmed High Speed Lossless Data Compression Architecture, 10th IEEE multitopic conference, INMIC2006. Jeffrey R. Cares Distributed Networked Operations book: The Foundations of Network Centric Warfare 2005.

[5]

[6] [7] [8]

Dr. S. A. Khan did his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA. Dr. Khans areas of specialization are Digital Signal Processing, Digital Design and Communication System. He has 12+ years industrial experience in companies like Scientific Atlanta, Picture Tel, and Cisco Systems. Mostly he worked on multi-DSP-based systems. As head of R&D group at Communications Enabling Technologies, he headed the team that executed a pioneering work of System on Chip (SoC) design. He is one of the five recipients of National Education Award 2001 in the category of Outstanding Services to Science and Technology.

BIOGRAPHIES
Zaheer Ahmed completed his PhD in EE from University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan in 2009. He did his M.S. in Computer Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi. Post Graduation in Nuclear Power Plant Technology from KINPOE and B.E. in Electronics Engineering, NED University, Karachi. He has 18+ years of industrial experience in the area of hardware and software design and development. His areas of expertise are embedded systems, industrial control applications, ASIC design, cryptography and software design and development. Professor Habibullah Jamal did his B.Sc. (EE) from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan in 1974. He earned his MSc. and Ph.D degrees both in Elect. Engg. from University of Toronto, Canada, in 1979 and 1982 respectively. Dr Jamal has served academia throughout his professional career. Presently he is Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan and also the Vice Chancellor of the university. He is a Fellow/Member of many professional bodies including IEEE. He is recipient of 9th Pakistan Education Forum, National Education Award 2003 and National Book Council of Pakistan Award 1991.

Muhammad Shahbaz did his B.E. in Computer Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Pakistan. His areas of expertise are embedded systems, kernel mode applications, FPGA design, software design and development. He has an experience of 2+ years in industry.