Please accept our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this cfp ****************************************************************************************** 5th International Workshop on Next Generation Networking Middleware NGNM 2008 (part of MANWEEK 2008, September 22-26) Samos Island, Greece http://magellan.tssg.org/2008/

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CALL FOR PAPERS The fixed mobile convergence of telecommunication networks along with the telecom-IP network convergence have opened up prospects for a rich ecosystem of IP-based next generation converged network technologies and applications. Emergence of principles and practices like Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web 2.0, along with gradual adoption of industry standards like the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), and Java API for Internetworking (JAIN) is making this convergence possible. The challenges to the operators are to provide suitable interfaces to an increasingly complex and heterogeneous underlying wireless access landscape, typically consisting of cellular (e.g., UMTS, LTE, etc.), metropolitan area (e.g., WiMAX) and short range (e.g., WiFi) systems. Future telecom service providers, on the other hand, are expected to stem from the fact that a converged network needs to carry a multitude of high-bandwidth triple-play (voice, video and data) services over a single network that is much more distributed, multipoint, diverse, and interactive in nature. End users will interact with the network via sophisticated devices, and be able to select from a wide range of Quality-of-Service (QoS) options. To cater to these emerging service paradigms, network intelligence has to address several aspects including multimedia session management, coordination of multi-protocol connections, advanced security, etc. Multimedia content delivery over the Internet has been extensively researched. However, the related engineering problem is evolving into the problem of how to dynamically create content distribution infrastructures and services in the context of telco provider managed networks. To stay ahead in the competition and provide market leading offerings, carriers further need to enable a global ecosystem of third-party independent application developers to deliver converged services leveraging open standards-based service delivery platform. Finally, to establish a common architecture for the convergence among services and networks, standards and frameworks will be required to ensure the interoperability of networks and applications, and facilitate best utilization of the existing telecommunications infrastructure within the converged ecosystem. It is in this setting of an open services market with service operators, application developers as well as the IT infrastructure as stakeholders, that the role of middleware is crucial. Middleware-enabled rapid development and deployment of new applications allows early introduction of value-added services to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Established telcos often have a plethora of legacy systems, such as Intelligent Networks (IN), Business / Operational Support Systems (BSS/OSS), Web-based systems and SIP/IMSbased services, which can all interoperate through open interfaces provided by the middleware layer, allowing a seamless, autonomic interaction between them. The arguments for a middleware-oriented consolidation of services in the telecommunications service provider/carrier space are also largely applicable to the enterprise segment. There are, of course, differences in requirements and service expectations for corporate users as opposed to consumers; however, the trend towards consolidation of IT and telecom architectures is just as compelling. Further, middleware approaches can offer scalability and load-balancing capabilities to critical infrastructure components. For example, the roll out of distributed / federated presence-based applications will necessitate management of huge amounts of subscriber data residing in the middleware. Finally, there are challenges of enabling guaranteed QoS and seamless access to triple-play services. In the emerging heterogeneous networking environment, cross-layer and inter-system optimization studies are essential to guarantee that these challenges are met. In this regard, large-scale distributed experimental testbeds with real or virtual components interconnected through an efficient middleware can be leveraged to validate promising approaches, algorithms and mechanisms prior to commercial deployment. In this workshop, we seek original, unpublished papers on different aspects of middleware technologies for enabling Next-Generation Network (NGN) services and applications. Topics of submission include, but are not limited to: - Middleware architecture for converged networks - NGN middleware for triple play and quad play services - NGN middleware for ad hoc, mobile and wireless services - Middleware for NGN mobility support - NGN middleware adaptation to underlying technologies (e.g., cellular, metropolitan area and short range systems) - Resource Allocation and Heterogeneous Network Access in Converged Networks - NGN middleware for content distribution infrastructures and services - Middleware for peer-assisted carrier-grade content delivery. - Publish/subscribe middleware - Scalable, adaptive, and self-managing aspects of middleware - Converged networks policy-based management, monitoring, and control - QoS provisioning, service differentiation, accounting, and billing - Identity management infrastructures and anonymity support infrastructures - Trust, security and privacy issues - Presence and contextual data management - NGN middleware for context-aware applications - NGN middleware for collaborative/P2P applications - NGN middleware for enterprise applications - Middleware support for NGN inter-networking and interoperability with non-NGN systems - Middleware for distributed experimental testbeds with real or virtual components - Web Service/Grid-enabled middleware for converged networks - Service modeling and composition - Service deployment and orchestration - Programming paradigms, Web 2.0, and mashups

PAPER SUBMISSION Paper submissions must present original, unpublished research or experiences. Latebreaking advances and work-in-progress reports from ongoing research are also encouraged for submission to NGNM 2008. Papers under review elsewhere MUST NOT be submitted to NGNM 2008. Authors are requested to submit either long papers or short papers (work-inprogress reports), strictly in LNCS format (see below): • Long papers (up to 12 single-spaced single-column pages) • Short papers describing work-in-progress (up to 6 single-spaced single-column pages) Submissions exceeding the above mentioned paper size will not be reviewed and will be returned to the authors. Please see Submission for detailed instructions.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES Paper Registration: May 10 2008 Submission: May 17 2008 Notification: June 20 2008 Camera ready: June 30 2008 Conference: September 22-26 2008

WORKSHOP CO-CHAIRS Thomas Magedanz (TU Berlin / FOKUS, Germany) Markus Muck (Infineon, Germany) Lambros Sarakis (NCSR “Demokritos”, Greece)

Paolo Bellavista, Ph. D. Associate Professor in Computer Science Engineering IEEE Senior Member; IEEE Communications EB Member DEIS - Università degli Studi di Bologna Viale Risorgimento, 2 - 40136 Bologna (ITALY) Tel# +39-051-2093866; Fax# +39-051-2093073 Email: pbellavista@deis.unibo.it Web: http://lia.deis.unibo.it/Staff/PaoloBellavista/

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