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CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
FIW'00
Sixth International Workshop on Feature Interactions in Telecommunications and Software Systems
17th May to 19th May, 2000
Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
organised by

University of Glasgow
University of Strathclyde

with financial support of

FORCES Network, UK
High Definition Systems AB, Sweden
KPN Research, The Netherlands
Telcordia, USA
The Workshop 
The Feature Interaction Workshop is the primary international forum for discussion and reporting on the Feature Interaction problem. Being a workshop the forum is more than simply conference presentations. The workshop includes: 
  • Invited speakers
  • Presentations
  • Posters
  • Focussed workshop discussions
  • Feature Interaction Contest
This is the second call for papers. In addition to presenting papers, contributors will be asked to maintain a poster. The posters will be on display for the duration of the workshop. Contest entrants will also present posters; other participants are encouraged to offer a poster. 

FIW'00 is the sixth in a series of workshops addressing the issue of feature interactions. The workshop aims to bring together representatives of both the Telecommunications industry and the research community; working on various aspects of feature interactions in order to discuss possible solutions and their practical applications, as well as setting directions for further research. Active debates will be encouraged; workshop speakers and contest participants are presenting a poster as well. Tool demonstrations are also warmly welcomed. 

The Feature Interaction problem 
Feature interaction occurs when one telecommunications feature modifies or subverts the operation of another one. This phenomenon is not unique to the domain of telecommunications systems, but can also occur in any large and distributed software system that is subject to continuous changes. Growing competition and the 
increasing number of stakeholders in the telecommunications markets put more and more pressure on service providers to rapidly introduce new services without compromising their quality. Undesired interactions can both lower this quality and delay service provisioning. Therefore, the problem of feature interactions in telecommunications and other software systems is of great importance. In recent years, a lot of attention has been devoted to the development of methods for detection and resolution of feature interactions. However, the problem remains very complex, and this complexity is only expected to grow in the future with the provisioning of new broadband, multimedia and mobility services, and with the introduction of more advances service architectures. 

Programme 
Please check the preliminary programme

Posters  
To stimulate discussion amongst participants, authors and contest entrants will display a poster at the workshop. Participants (not presenting a paper) may also display a poster.  The poster format is unconstrained (typically A2 size), but they should give a "flavour" of the research, or the number and nature of interactions found (in the case of a contest entry). 

The Feature Interaction Detection Contest 
The workshop will continue the tradition of a feature interaction detection contest (established at the 5th workshop), with the goal of providing a simple comparison of different automated tools for feature interaction detection. The results of the participants and the winner of the contest will be announced at the workshop in a special session. 

Submission Deadlines 
April 17, 2000               Deadline for poster submission. 

Workshop Location 
Located on the banks of the River Clyde, Glasgow is Scotland's largest city. The city had its beginnings in a monk's cell when St Mungo founded a religious community in the sixth century. With historical references to "the dear green place" easily forgotten with Glasgow's industrial past, Glasgow has now reinvented itself. Boasting all the benefits and attractions of a major cosmopolitan city; it has art galleries and exhibitions, opera, dance, theatre, cinema, clubs and music concerts to suit all tastes. It is also renowned as a shopping centre, with some of the world's most innovative designers choosing to open outlets here. The URL http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/  has more information on the city. 

The Workshop will be held the Teachers Building in Glasgow. The former headquarters of Teacher's Whisky has been refurbished to form a regional centre for the Institute of Electrical Engineers. A testimony that Scotland largest export is no longer whiskey but Personal Computers! The centre is located in the centre of the city adjacent to railway and underground termini. URL http://www.iee.org.uk/SEC/building.htm has more information, with maps and transport details. Block bookings have been made at a  selection of close by hotels; details will be made available nearer the workshop. 

The workshop dinner will be to the north of the city in a castle surrounded by the Campsie Fells. Of course this would be incomplete without a visit to the local distillery on the way!  The trip will include a visit to the Glengoyne Distillery. To build up a thirst try URL http://www.glengoynedistillery.co.uk 

Contacts 
All questions, replies, and submissions to Organising Committee and Program Committees should be sent to: 
FIW00@eee.strath.ac.uk  

Workshop Co-Chairs  
Dr. Evan Magill                                               Prof. Muffy Calder 

Communications Division                              Department of Computing Science 
Electronic & Electrical Engineering              University of Glasgow 
University of Strathclyde                               Glasgow  G12 8QQ 
204 George Street                                          U.K. 
Glasgow G1 1XW 
U.K. 

Email   e.magill@eee.strath.ac.uk               Email:  muffy@dcs.gla.ac.uk 
Phone:          +44 141 548 2521                    Phone:          +44 141 330 4969 
Fax:            +44 141 552 4968                      Fax:            +44 141 330 4913