ESC Silicon Valley 2012 Call for Papers is Now Closed

Thank you for all the great submissions. Please check back in December 2011 for the complete conference program.

Things that are different this year
There's a new Conference Chair in town. Chris Ciufo ("Mr. Embedded") has accepted the reins from Ron Wilson. As a long-time ESC attendee and member of the "embedded" community, he has some definite ideas on keeping ESC technically relevant and interesting, while adding some edge to the Conference. This isn't about marketing. It's about the content.

Of note:

• You'll notice below a ridiculously large list of suggested Tracks. There's no way we can use all of these without making ESC two weeks long (not going to happen). So we're going to whittle down your submissions to the usual number of Tracks (about 15). However, there is so much new technology in "embedded" that we wanted to widen the funnel at first to stimulate discussion on possible new topics. Be creative, but technically meaty.
• There's definitely redundancy in the Tracks below. We intentionally hit several technology areas from different angles to assure adequate technical coverage. And we've added some "Miscellaneous" Tracks so you can suggest things we didn't think of. After all, you're the experts.
• Taking feedback from last years' Conference attendees, we want to include both basic ("Fundamentals" 101) sessions, as well as advanced sessions ("Advanced" 102). If you've presented a topic before, please decide if you want to turn the crank and take the session to the next level. Be sure to tell us that it's "Advanced".
• We're interested in offering several Certificate Program sessions. Following on the advanced response to ESC Boston 2011's Android Certificate Program, some sessions will be grouped together as mini-curricula courses that award successful graduates with an ESC Certificate of learning. Think of these as fast-track university classes. If you think your paper qualifies, tell us.
• Lastly, we think that modding or hacking embedded systems is pretty cool. We mean "hack" in a good way. And it's very relevant to our Conference attendees and to ESC overall. Many of you like to do it – at work or at home. So we're going to look for a few papers that relate to this. (We have several Security Tracks for the bad kind of hacking, if that's your topic.)

We hope the Tracks below stimulate your interest. We really hope that you'll blow us away with your paper submissions. We're anxious to hear from you.

TRACKS

1. Academic & Education: sessions presenting the most compelling research and progress in all things embedded. We’re particularly interested in esoteric – but practical – software progress and “inventions”, as well as unique and future-looking research. And if you’ve solved cold fusion, we want to be the first to know.
2. Android (includes Certification classes): Android is the hottest embedded topic going, by far. This Track invites sessions pertaining to Android, from design fundamentals, drivers, and booting a system, to porting code to different platforms and dealing with apps and connectivity. We’re even interested in Java wrappers. Of particular interest are basic and advanced classes. We’ll take the most appropriate sessions and create a Certificate Program for programmers with in-advance self-paced Web introduction, classroom, and hands-on lab instructional style sessions.
3. Architecture Design: This Track focuses on the base software architecture of the system design. Whether you start from the code and work downward to the hardware (or vice versa), the software systems architecture is the basis for the whole system, its UI and I/O. Papers range in topics from agile driven development all the way through device drivers.
4. Best Practices: An annual favorite that covers the set of best practices devs and engineers use in creating embedded systems. From “error margins” and programmable cross-bar switches to minimize cuts/straps, to mitigation strategies to assure successful firmware creation.
5. Challenges & Solutions in Embedded Design: Classes in this Track cover a wide range of embedded design-related topics, but the focus should be on problem solving. What are we looking for? Optimizing code to fit the memory footprint, designing the software for portability (target processors as well as multiple product SKUs), achieving code compliance to specifications, design and test, security to avoid being hacked, and many other everyday problems faced…and solved.
6. Connectivity, Security, & Networking: Call it what you like: M2M, the “Internet of Things”, or interfacing to the Cloud. Most embedded systems are interconnected. We’re looking for networking- and security-related topics from network stacks, distributed databases, protocol interoperability, or communications techniques. But this might also include radio interfaces (like Wi-Fi, Zigbee, NFC), security techniques for data at rest and in flight, remote monitoring or publish-subscribe mechanisms. If it connects embedded systems, suggest a session paper.
7. Debugging & Optimizing: Is your code bug free and is it efficient? Despite the syntax compliance, writing code that works, is reliable, and is memory- and CPU-efficient is the goal. Papers here should talk about methodologies, quality, and optimization techniques.
8. Design & Test: We’re looking for sessions on how these topics fit together to yield a faster time to market that also meets adherence to the product’s design specifications.
9. Designing for Software Quality: Papers might examine tools, best practices, Eclipse, validation, static analysis. But back up a little and there’s also the compiler, migrating legacy code, and even correctly implementing newer (and esoteric) features found on the latest CPUs, MCUs, and peripherals.
10. Development Boards & Systems: How-to sessions on programming, designing with, and interfacing to popular development boards/kits such as the Beagle-Mx, Freescale Tower, Intel Black Sand, Arduino, and others.
11. FPGAs in Embedded Systems: Some session ideas include: FPGAs as alternatives to microcontrollers, as signal-processing units, as configurable accelerators, or just as a way of implementing an interface. Selection, design and verification. Understanding and using the FPGA tool chain and how it differs from software development tools. Employing CPUs inside or beside FPGAs. And one of our favorite, oft-asked topics: development environments that decide, on-the-fly, whether to run code on an FPGA’s hard processor, or reconfigure the logic to best solve the problem. Lots of choices for papers with sessions on FPGAs and programmable logic.
12. Hacking Embedded Systems: Let’s face it, cracking open someone else’s box, figuring out what’s inside, and instead making it do what you want it to do is really fun. For this Track, we’re interested in some case studies, examples, and “wonder if I could…?” sessions on modifying – in a good way, of course – different embedded systems. As well, we’d also entertain papers on embedded vulnerabilities, all in the name of “education”.
13. Hardware: We’re thinking about: using open standard form-factors to speed design; failsafe hardware designs; application case studies; I/O tips and tricks; programming new CPU architectures; using FPGAs as microcontrollers; backplane design; high speed signaling; and hardware development tools.
14. High-Level Design Environments: Papers here might go in a number of directions: UML/MatLab/LabView tools; hardware-software co-design; co-verification and others.
15. Legacy Code Migration: Papers might include tools management, how to switch processors or environments without throwing away investments in legacy code.
16. Linux & Open Source: Embedded Linux distros are so popular because it’s “easy” for Open Source Software (OSS) to get a system up and running. Papers here should resolve the myth of just how “easy” it really is. Besides Linux, we’re looking for other open source software topics such as Eclipse, alternative OSes, and open source tools. We are even interested in revisiting proprietary OSes and other variations. (Note: we’ve got a separate track just for Android.) Heck, what about the emerging trend of open source hardware?
17. Low-Power Design: The “What, When and How” of power design. With so many portable or battery-powered systems, designing to conserve energy is more than just putting the MCU into “sleep” mode. We’re looking for software techniques and hardware tricks, size-weight-and-power (SWaP), performance vs power, and both software and hardware optimization techniques.
18. Managing & Process /Project Management: There’s more to embedded creation than just writing some code. Some suggestions include managing agile development (includes Certification classes), configuration management, traceability, requirements analysis, code verification, and whole-project management.
19. MCU-based Design in a Connected Environment: We’re mostly looking for MCU connectivity topics. Please suggest session papers talking about the impact of the newer connectivity options on MCU design and use: 8, 16, or 32 bit ARM vs. Atom; IPv6, 6LoWPAN, M2M, WoT (Web of Things), IoT (Internet of Things), LLNs (low power and lossy networks), ROLL (Routing over LLNs), RPL (Routing Protocol over LLNs), REST (Representational State Transfer), CORE (Constrained Restful Environments), and COAP (Constrained Application Protocol).
20. Medical Devices: Whatever you call it – home health care, eHealth, Continua, or simply using technology to extend and enhance people's health experience – embedded software and devices are at the core of these initiatives. We're looking for Medical-related papers that place embedded technology as the solution to many health problems.
21. Microcontrollers and SoCs in Embedded Designs: A general Track addressing all things pertaining to MCUs and SoCs, from IP and peripherals, to sensors and coding up real world systems.
22. Modeling, Prototyping and Virtual Prototyping: One design an alpha board and then start writing code; or one can write code on a simulator before the hardware’s ready, build in intentional faults to see how the system behaves, or prototype multiple configurations quickly and cheaply. What are the pros and cons of these approaches? How are virtual protoyping and modeling tools being used? Are their other techniques or open source that help achieve the same goals? And what of programmable hardware that realize multiple sub-systems to emulate a desired final product?
23. Multicore System Design: Multicore is here; let’s talk about how to implement it in real embedded systems. Focus on bare metal coding, peripherals, resource allocation, virtualization, parallel programming methods, hardware, and software. And even though virtualization seems more server-esque, there’s a security angle that allows dedicating legacy or inherently insecure environments to different cores while restricting underlying determinism to dedicated core(s).
24. New Directions in Software Processes & Tools: How much has changed in a year? This repeat Track from 2011 will cover new embedded development and testing tools, development processes used to create advanced embedded systems, and unique techniques being used to drive efficiency and maturity in the embedded system development processes. This includes topics covering simulation and modeling technologies, cross compilers, IDEs, hardware and software debugging tools, analyzers and profilers, testing tools and techniques, and development methodologies. Oh, and “Tools”.
25. Programming Languages and Techniques: From C/C++ to Java (and Java variants for Android), XML, and more. On the flip side, there’s memory optimization, interrupt handling tricks, drivers and API design for portability and interoperability. Enough said.
26. RTOS & Real Time: from the silicon and kernel on up to the entire system. We’re looking for a focus on designing embedded systems for real-time determinism, whether based on a commercial RTOS or creating your own kernel. Also of interest: can inherently non-deterministic environments like Android, Linux, or Windows Embedded be “real time”?
27. Safety Designs & Reliability: When a safety system fails, there is immediate and direct harm. Sessions might include designing safety- and mission-critical software; lessons from medical, mil/aero, automotive, and industrial. This Track includes papers that focus on putting together an embedded design to meet industry safety standards, as well as guidance to help developers meet safety and reliability requirements through their embedded design.
28. Security, Privacy, & Securing Embedded Systems: From the hardware, the OS, the code, and right through to data transfer inter-/intra-system. Of particular interest are papers that begin to educate the embedded designer that security is important in embedded design; we’re looking for fundamentals, case studies, techniques for “hardening” embedded software and systems, and a wide range of security topics.
29. Sensors, I/O, and Displays: Not all embedded systems drive a display or have a UI. Some do. We’re looking for some gritty “nuts and bolts” details of making embedded systems impose their will on the real world. Ok to tell us about LCDs and video, but what about motor controllers or the quirks of CANbus? We’re all ears.
30. Static Code Analysis (includes Certification classes): This topic has gotten to be a critical part of code quality and writing bug-free programs. Is your code compliant? Does it follow best practices? Is it efficient and does it contain undefined variables? This Track will look at this popular topic and possibly explore different vendors’ tools and include a Hands-on session.
31. Systems Architecture: some say hardware is approaching a commodity, product differentiation is based solely on the software, and embedded design is becoming an integration process. So it’s essential to architect the system so software and hardware work together to form an embedded system. This Track seeks to explore fundamental design decisions as part of an integration process, from choosing a language and tools, to legacy code that can be easily ported to the hardware, to test suites that can wring out the overall design.
32. Top 10 Lessons Learned (from Disaster!): Best practices, tips and tricks; and applications case studies. Pass your hard-earned knowledge on to your peers.
33. “Miscellaneous technical”: What topics are we missing? Suggest some technical Session topics for us and we promise that we’ll give them careful consideration.
34. “Miscellaneous business and career”: Designers are being asked to do myriad jobs these days. Hardware engineers write software; programmers design boards. And everyone has to worry about marketing, business development, and personal career development. Are there some ESC Sessions we should add that focus on these somewhat “fuzzy” (though non-trivial) subjects?

Tips to Increase your Chances of Being Selected
The Embedded Systems Conferences have a strong reputation for offering very high quality technical programs. We receive many more qualified submissions than can be selected. When submitting an abstract please keep the following tips in mind.

We are looking for...

• Technically challenging presentations that will provide a better understanding of processes and technologies
• Topics that will appeal to a broad range of attendees
• Practical information that can be immediately put to use back in the work place
• Advanced material for returning attendees
• Topics that stress processes and methodologies rather than products
• How-to classes to ease the development process
• Speakers with a desire to teach and share their technical expertise
• Working systems developers with several years of practical development experience
• Engineering managers who are willing to share their experiences about managing embedded projects
• Speakers with strong organizational and speaking skills and good presentation materials

We are NOT looking for...

• Presentations that suggest "let me tell you about my company products"
• Topics of interest only to hobbyists or academics
• Marketing managers
• Presentations that focus on the features and benefits of your company's latest products
• Speakers with no embedded development experience and no public speaking skills

A Note to Vendors

• The technical programs at the Embedded Systems Conferences are educational tools offering how-to information to embedded systems developers and engineers. The classes offered are designed to provide knowledge of processes and techniques.
• If your company's engineers are willing to share their technical expertise, and can do it in a presentation that focuses on a methodology or process and does not mention company's products, we welcome your submission.
• We do not accept companies into the program; we accept speakers. If your speaker is accepted and needs to cancel, show management will decide whether to accept a replacement speaker or to put a new class in the program.

Before You Submit....

• Make sure that you have all of the necessary information about the class and also about the speaker before you begin to fill out the submission form.
• Check to make sure all fields are complete on your submission form. Each section is important. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
• When writing your abstract include one clear, concise thesis statement demonstrating the focus of the class.
• Your biography is an important part of the submission; make sure to include your qualifications and current information.
• Submissions that do not include a speaker name and/or speaker biography will not be reviewed.

Papers & Presentation Slides
All selected speakers MUST submit an 8-15 page technical paper and electronic presentation slides for the conference proceedings. Complete guidelines will be sent to accepted speakers.

Receive Email Updates To receive email notices when new call for abstracts open and reminder announcements prior to deadlines, please email us. We will not use your email address for any other purpose. If you have questions about submitting abstracts, please contact: Erin LeMoine at erin.lemoine@ubm.com.

Sponsorship
Additional sponsored speaking opportunities are available for exhibitors. These include:

• Brief presentations
• Sponsored sessions/seminars
• Industry addresses

Please contact Sean Raman, Director, Exhibit and Sponsorship sales at sean.raman@ubm.com for information on how to exhibit at ESC Silicon Valley.