Debasis Mitra

email:   mitra@research.bell-labs.com

phone:   908 582 4745

fax:     908 582 3340

office:  Rm. 2C-382
         Bell Laboratories
         Lucent Technologies
         700 Mountain Av. 
         Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636

Biography

I received the Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering from London University in 1967 and joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in 1968.   During the Fall semester of 1984 I was Visiting Mckay Professor at the University of California, Berkeley.   From 1986 to 1999 I was Head, Mathematics of Networks and Systems Research Department in the Mathematical Sciences Research Center of Bell Laboratories.   In 1998, I was named a Bell Labs Fellow .   I am currently the Vice President of the Mathematical and Algorithmic Sciences Center .  

The Math Center is staffed by a diverse group of about 35 Ph.D.s.   I direct the Center's work, which is in five main areas:

• Fundamental mathematics, including discrete mathematics, combinatorial optimization, theory of algorithms, cryptoanalysis and analysis of dynamical systems.  
• Fundamentals of networking, including QoS and SLA management, scheduling for wireline and wireless networks, data traffic modeling and regulation, traffic engineering, optical network design and IP protocols, together with the theories of stochastic networks and stochastic analysis.   ( A recent brief on VoIP research )
• Statistics, including data mining, massive data management, statistical modeling methodology and the development of environments for programming/computing with data.  
• Communications and information theory, including coding, modulation, signal processing and data compression.  
• Fundamentals of supply chain management, including forecasting, inventory control, network design and optimization. ( A recent brief on SCN Research )

One of my top priorities is to ensure that there is rough parity between fundamental and applied research.   I strive to have information flow in both directions, so that there exists a mutually nurturing environment.   I have also actively supported the Center's moves into new directions, notably optical networking, rapid provisioning at the optical and the IP layer, IP traffic measurements and modeling, representation in the IETF and supply chain networks.   I have also worked to develop close ties between the Center and Bell Labs' Advanced Technologies and the Business Units, notably Supply Chain Networks, Mobility Solutions, Lucent Worldwide Services and the Optical Networks Group .

In my personal research I have in the past been involved in the development of asymptotic theories for large stochastic networks, asynchronous computations on massively parallel processors, kanban manufacturing models and state-dependent routing on circuit-switched networks.   More recently my interests have been in broadband networking, including traffic control and engineering for IP and ATM networks, and the development of scalable analytic techniques for the design/optimization of such networks together with their incorporation in software packages, such as TALISMAN, VPN DESIGNER and StochasTEK.   My current interests are in optical networking, IP/optical convergence, business planning of broadband networks and combining economics and network engineering.   Here is a 1997 article about my work.  

I am an inventor in over 10 patents .   These patents are for congestion control of high speed data networks, traffic shaping and policing, traffic engineering, network resource sharing, design techniques for networks, including virtual private networks, and power control of multiservice CDMA wireless networks.  

In 2003 I was elected to the National Academy of Engineering with the citation:
          " for contributions to the modeling, analysis and design of communication networks".

In 1998 I was made a Bell Labs Fellow with the citation:

"for seminal contributions to the application of mathematics to communication systems, especially adaptive echo cancellation, asymptotic queueing theory, stochastic models for data communications, and resource allocation in data networks".  

"for the conception and development of voice echo cancelers".

I was given the Steven O. Rice Prize Paper Award by the IEEE for the best original paper in the IEEE Transaction on Communications in 1992, "Asymptotically Optimal Design of Congestion Control for High Speed Data Networks".   I am also the recipient of awards given by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (UK), the Bell System Technical Journal, the 1995 ACM Sigmetrics/Performance Conference, and the 1982 Guillemin-Cauer Prize Paper Award of the IEEE. 

 I have been a member of the editorial boards of the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, Queuing Systems (QUESTA), IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Performance Evaluation and the Journal of High Speed Networks.

Here is information on some of my other recent activities.

• Member, Air Force Science and Technology Board of the National Academies, 2004.
• Chair, Telecom review panel for the State of N.J. Jobs Growth and Economic Development Commission, 2003.
• Area Editor for Telecommunications and Networking for the journal "Operations Research", 2003-present.
• IEEE Eric E. Sumner Award Committee, Member 2003, Chair 2004.
• IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award Committee, Member 2003.
• Co-organizer of the "Value Chain Academic-Industrial Consortium" meetings in 2002 and 2003.
• Albert Winsemius Professor, Nanyang Technical University, Singapore, 2003.
• Member of Information Science and Technology (ISAT) group on "Robust Dynamic Tactical Networks" chartered to advise the Director, DARPA.
• Advisory Committee, IE/MS Dept. Northwestern University, 2001-2003.
• Advisory Committee, EECS Dept.University of Michigan, 2002.

Publications

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Last modified: January 06, 2003.