Niranjan Nayak Ratnakar

Coordinated Science Laboratory Home : (217) 344-1197

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Office : (217) 333-5860

1308 W. Main Street, Urbana, IL-61801, USA

E-mail: ratnakar_at_uiuc_dot_edu

EDUCATION

  • Pursuing Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering Expected graduation: August 2006

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Current GPA : 4.0/4.0

Advisor : Prof. Ralf Koetter

  • Master of Science(M.S.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering October 2003

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

GPA : 4.0/4.0

Advisor : Prof. Ralf Koetter

  • Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Electrical Engineering. July 2001

Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, Chennai, India

GPA : 9.17/10

Rank : 2 among a graduating class of 91.

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Network Coding Theory, Algebraic Coding Theory, and Wireless Communications and Networks

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Journal
    • N. Ratnakar, G. Kramer,“The Multicast Capacity of Acyclic, Deterministic Relay Networks with No Interference” Submitted to IEEE Special Issue on Networking and Information Theory
    • D. S. Lun, N. Ratnakar, M. Medard, R. Koetter, D. R. Karger, T. Ho, and E. Ahmed, “Minimum-Cost Multicast over Coded Packet Networks” Submitted to IEEE Special Issue on Networking and Information Theory
    • N. Ratnakar, R. Koetter, “Exponential error bounds for Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding of Reed Solomon codes”, To appear, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
  • Conference
    • N. Ratnakar, G. Kramer,“Separation of Channel and Network Coding in Aref Networks” To be presented at ISIT, Adelaide, Australia, 2005
    • K. Bhattad, N. Ratnakar, R. Koetter, K. Natayan, “Minimal Network Coding for Multicast” To be presented at ISIT, Adelaide, Australia, 2005
    • N. Ratnakar, G. Kramer, “The Multicast Capacity of Acyclic, Deterministic, Relay Networks with no Interference” Proceedings of NetCod, Riva Del Garda, Italy, 2005
    • D. S. Lun, N. Ratnakar, R. Koetter, M. Medard, E. Ahmed, and H. Lee, “Achieving Minimum-Cost Multicast: A Decentralized Approach Based on Network Coding” Proc. of INFOCOM, Miami, 2005
    • N. Ratnakar, R. Koetter, “Exponential error bounds for Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding of Reed Solomon codes”, Proc. of ISIT, Chicago, 2004
    • N. Ratnakar, R. Koetter, “A Chernoff type error bound for Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding of Reed Solomon codes”, Conference Record of the Thirty-Sixth Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, Vol.1,pp.155-159, 2002

 

EXPERIENCE AND PROJECTS

1. Research Assistant, Coordinated Science Laboratory

Advisor: Ralf Koetter

(a)    October 2003 - Present

Title: Practical aspects of Network coding.

Abstract: We investigate the various issues involved in computing a practical network code in a multicast setting and in a multiple unicast setting. In particular, we are investigating the issues involved in designing a protocol to compute a network code in a decentralized manner which is robust to link failures in both the multicast and multiple unicast settings.

(b)   August 2001 - October 2003

Title: On the performance of Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding of Reed Solomon codes.

Abstract: The goal of this work is to find theoretical upper bounds on the performance of Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding algorithm for Reed-Solomon codes and to optimize the various parameters involved in the algorithm.

 

2. Summer Intern, NEC Labs June 2005 - August 2005

Advisor: Dr. Samrat Ganguly .

Title: Network Coding for Distributed Data Storage.

Abstract: We intend to investigate the application of network coding to the problem of distributed data storage.

 

3. Summer Intern, Bell Labs June 2004 - August 2004

Advisor: Dr. Gerhard Kramer .

Title: Network Coding in Wireless Networks.

Abstract: We investigate the necessary and sufficient conditions in order to support a multicast requirement in wireless networks. The main challenges are taking into account the broadcast nature of the transmitters and the interference at the receivers.

 

4. B. Tech. Senior year project Aug 2000 - July 2001

Advisor: Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi.

Title:Design and implementation of ARQ for a fast, simplex downlink for corDECT

Abstract: corDECT is a Wireless Local Loop technology developed at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. The project involved designing and implementing an efficient Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) protocol for a fast downlink, which was added to the corDECT system in order to increase the data rates. Since the downlink was simplex, ARQ was implemented using the conventional slow up-link.

 

HONORS

o       Received the Vodafone Fellowship (for excellence in research in the field of Communications) for the period 2003-05.

o       Received the J N Tata Endowment Scholarship in August 2001.

o       Ranked 2 in a graduating class of 91 at IIT-Madras.

o       Was a recipient of MCM scholarship for the period January 1998 - May 2001 at IIT, Madras.

o       Ranked in top 0.4 % in the Indian Institute of Technology - Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE).

 

MISCELLANEOUS

o       Computer Skills: C, Mathematica, Matlab, Scilab, LATEX

o       Branch Councillor, Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras July-2000 to May-2001

o       Representative of Students Council at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras July-2000 to May-2001