Call For Papers
                       IEEE Personal Communications 
                                      
                        Special Issue on Smart Homes
                                      
                Guest Editors: Sajal K. Das and Diane J.Cook
                    The University of Texas at Arlington
                   SUBMISSION DEADLINE - DECEMBER 1, 2001
                   http://crewman.uta.edu/pcs-smart-home
                                      
        Smart Homes link computers to everyday tasks and environments
   that have traditionally been viewed as outside the purview of
   automation. Important features of such environments are that they
   possess a degree of autonomy, adapt themselves to changing conditions,
   and communicate with humans in a natural way. Instead of finding
   application in spreadsheets and word processors, these systems take
   the form of intelligent rooms and personal assistants.
        There are several characteristics that are commonly found in
   smart homes. A smart home assumes control of devices and coordinates
   multiple devices within the home/office, relieving the inhabitants of
   this burden. Interaction with smart homes is in a form that is
   comfortable to people. User-interface primitives are not windows,
   icons, menus, and pointers, but include speech, gesture, and context.
   A smart home naturally requires ubiquitous and location/context aware
   computing, allowing the environment to process information as if
   computational devices are everywhere, rather than actually embedding
   devices everywhere. Finally, a smart home must adapt to inhabitants
   and to changing conditions.
         Designing and implementing smart homes requires a unique breadth
   of Knowledge not limited to a single discipline, but integrating
   aspects of machine learning, human-machine interfaces, wireless
   networking, and mobile communications. The purpose of this special
   issue is to bring together researchers and Practitioners working on
   diverse aspects of this emerging area in order to define the state of
   the art in smart homes, to identify fundamental issues and challenges,
   and to discuss ideas for further investigation.
         We invite papers describing theoretical and/or experimental
   research, as
   well as position papers and descriptions of prototype smart home
   efforts.
   Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the
   following:
     * Smart home computational architectures
     * Network Protocols for smart homes
     * Data collection and management
     * User interfaces
     * Inter-device communication and coordination
     * Adaptation
     * Ubiquitous and Aware computing
     * Intelligent distributed sensors
     * Intelligent device control
     * Mobile infrastructures for smart homes
       
        Papers should clearly define the problem being addressed and
   carefully evaluate the proposed approach. Authors must follow the IEEE
   Personal Communications guidelines regarding the manuscript and its
   format. For details, please refer to the "Information for Authors" in
   each IEEE Personal Communications issue, or check the guidelines.
   Please submit your electronic manuscript in PDF or Postscript to
   either of the guest editors by December 1, 2001.
   
   GUEST EDITORS:
   
   Sajal Das Diane Cook
   Box 19015 Box 19015
   Dept of Computer Science &Engineering Dept of Computer Science &
   Engineering
   University of Texas at Arlington University of Texas at Arlington
   Arlington, TX 76019-0015, USA Arlington, TX 76019-0015, USA
   E-mail:cook@cse.uta.edu
   Phone: (817) 272-7405 Phone: (817) 272-3606
   Fax: (817) 272-3784 Fax: (817) 272-3784
   
   SCHEDULE:
   Submission Deadline - December 1, 2001
   Acceptance Decision - March 1, 2002
   Final Manuscript - April 5, 2002
   Publication Date - June, 2002