The IEEE German Chapter on Information Theory organized a two day symposium devoted to synchronization problems. The symposium was organized in cooperation with the IEEE Benelux Chapter on Consumer Electronics and the Institute for Experimental Mathematics by Dr. Kees Immink from Philips Research, Eindhoven and Prof. Han Vinck, University of Essen. The objective was to bring together researchers from different backgrounds to share their perspectives on this increasingly important area of technology. The symposium took place on December 14-15, 1995 at the Saalbau conference center in Essen, Germany.
Three main speakers, presenting tutorials on the state of the art in the field, were the highlights of the symposium. Prof. Heinrich Meyr from Aachen University considered synchronization and channel estimation algorithms. Prof. Marc Moeneclaey from Gent University in Belgium treated the effects of non-ideal interpolation in digital receivers. Prof. Ralf Schafer gave an overview of the emerging multi-media standards and corresponding synchronization issues.
There were four invited sessions with 18 presentations dealing with synchronization in such fields of application as consumer electronics, satellite transmission, digital communications, and multi-media applications. In the ``open session'' 18 papers were presented on various problems in synchronization.
The 80 participants from 13 countries enjoyed the high level presentations
as well as the social events. The 190 page Proceedings contains 30 full
papers. This volume can be ordered by sending US $30 (or the equivalent)
in cash to Prof. Han Vinck, Ellernstr. 29, 45326, Essen, Germany.