On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee, the Technical Program Committee, the Sponsors and the Patrons, we are delighted to welcome you all to the 4th International Conference on Broadband Communications for Next Generation Networks and Multimedia Applications (CoBCom) – hosted by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria, 12–14 July 2022. In line with the previous events, i.e., CSNDSP 2008, ConTEL 2011, NOC 2013, ICTON 2014, ConTEL 2015, CoBCom 2016 and 2018, ConTEL 2019, as well as CoBCom 2020, which took place in Graz as well, we were able to arrange a number of sessions on Photonic and Optical Communications, Information and Communication Technologies, Protocols and Networks, Multimedia Applications as well as RF Engineering and Antennas, organized by experts in the field to whom we are very grateful. The program includes also internationally renowned keynote and invited speakers presenting an overview of their current research activities.
Established in 2016, the CoBCom is a rather small conference. Therefore, we are really proud that we could attract many international participants and that we received the technical Co-Sponsorship of the IEEE Austria Section. On behalf of the technical and organizing committees, we are presenting a program providing a platform for scientists, industry, operators and service providers to share ideas, discuss recent advances, exchange their R&D experience, and present state-of-the-art techniques as well as future concepts. The CoBCom 2022 technical program comprises keynote and invited talks as well as a series of sessions related to hot and timely topics. However, the conference hosts also the “International CEEPUS and ERASMUS Workshop” on microwave technologies, radars, remote sensing and communications, strongly connected to regional companies and neighbour country’s institutions. Finally, two sessions could be organized for participants of the PHORSCH! and Vilipa projects giving them a platform to present their research results achieved in this respect.
In the context of CoBCom 2022, keynote and invited talks are presented in form of plenary sessions. The first keynote, entitled “5G Mobile Communications versus Aeronautical Radio Altimeters – Considerations from Aviation and Industry”, is given by Prof. Holger Flür, FH Joanneum Graz, Austria. In his talk, he will discuss the technical principles of 5G NR and avionics using the example of radio altimeters. The second keynote on “Optical Wireless Communications International Standards – a Review” will be presented by Prof. Marian Marciniak from the National Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. In this talk, optical wireless communications is considered with respect to regulation and standardisation for future applications. The first invited speaker is Dr. Andreas Weiss from Joanneum Research Pinkafeld, Austria. He is talking about “Visible Light Technologies – Background, Principles, Current Applications and Future Developments”. In his speech, he addresses the main principles of this promising technique, he highlights current applications, outlining also the major advantages compared to other technological approaches, and he will discuss current limitations. The second invited talk is given by Prof. Galia Marinova from the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She will report about the innovations implemented for the Central European Exchange Programs for University Studies (CEEPUS) in order to make the network viable in view of the Covid-19 obstacles.
We were able to collect 52 paper entries via the EDAS conference system. At the submission deadline for the final manuscript, we accepted 37 contributions to be presented. Each paper was evaluated by at least three independent reviewers with respect to technical content, novelty, originality, and presentation. All the accepted and registered contributions will be published via IEEE Xplore in case they are presented at the conference.
Our sincere thanks go to the people whose cooperation and help made this conference possible, in particular to the members of the international Organizing and Technical Program Committees, but also to people responsible for local support, to all the authors submitting their work to CoBCom 2022 and, last but not least, to the reviewers for their time and effort spent in this context. The technical co-sponsorship of the IEEE Austria Chapter is very much appreciated and hereby acknowledged. We were also able to organize three social events (Guided City Tour and Welcome Reception at the City Hall by the Lord Mayor of Graz, Invitation by the Governor of Styria to a Gala Dinner in the State Rooms of the Grazer Burg, trip to a Buschenschank). In view of this, our special thanks go to the support given by the Province of Styria and the City of Graz (including Graz Tourism).
Finally, we wish all the participants a rewarding meeting, exciting presentations, fruitful discussions, a nice working atmosphere, and that we all enjoy the social program!
Erich Leitgeb, Wilfried Gappmair, Maja Matijašević – General Chairs
Franz Teschl, Andrej Kos, Mariusz Głąbowski – TPC Chairs