Dear Colleagues and Researchers, Apologies, if you have received multiple copies of this CFP. ********** CALL FOR PAPER ********** DS-RT 2017, the 21st IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Distributed Simulations and Real Time Applications, is running four special sessions this year: - Distributed Simulations of Distributed Systems - Agent-based Modeling and Simulation - Simulation of Urban Traffic Management and ITS - Augmented and Virtual Reality for Real-Time Applications Those special sessions cover important areas of the field of distributed simulations and real time applications, and many papers were accepted in previous editions of DS-RT on the same topics. See below for more detailed descriptions of those special sessions. ***** IMPORTANT DATES ***** Full paper submission deadline: June 5th, 2017 Paper acceptance notification: June 26th, 2017 ***** PAPER SUBMISSION AND REVIEW ***** Submitted manuscripts must be in standard IEEE two-column format that is used for IEEE conference proceedings and must not exceed "8 pages" (2-page extension allowed), including figures, tables and references. Standard IEEE templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX formats can be found at: - http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html A submission may present preliminary results, propose new research direction, provide insightful retrospective, or offer a provocative viewpoint on important topics related to the considered special session. Papers will be selected based on their likelihood of generating insightful technical discussions at the special session and influencing future research. Papers must be unpublished and must not be submitted for publication elsewhere. All papers will be reviewed by Technical Program Committee members and other experts active in the field to ensure high quality and relevance to the conference and the special session. At least one author of accepted papers must attend the conference and present its contribution. Accepted papers will appear in the conference proceedings to be published by IEEE Press. ***** FOR MORE INFORMATION ***** For questions about the paper submission and review process, please contact the session organisers - find all relevant information on the corresponding web pages below. ***** DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIAL SESSIONS ***** * Special Session on Distributed Simulations of Distributed Systems Distributed simulation (DS) is a valuable tool for understanding and evaluating distributed systems. The current computing trend sees businesses and individuals moving toward a more centralized infrastructure, namely the cloud. On the one hand, as the computing infrastructure at data centers is highly complex and distributed, DS becomes essential for diagnosing and gaining insights of the system. On the other hand, the scale and nature of interaction between different components in the cloud present new challenges and push DS's state of the art. Another computing trend that has potential to drive DS is internet-of-things. Such complex systems consist of a large number of autonomous, heterogeneous devices communicating with one another in non-uniform manner. DS is valuable not only for discerning system properties but also for predicting the devices' emergent behavior. Finally, users in online social networks make up large distributed systems. Insights of user interaction and the network's collective behavior --- the study of which fits well into the realm of DS --- bring significant value to both the society and the business of social network providers. This special session seeks to bring together experts and practitioners in the domain of DS to discuss new opportunities and challenges for DS. We welcome research papers on both theoretical and empirical issues. Web page: http://ds-rt.com/2017/dsimdsys_2017.htm * Special Session on Agent-based Modeling and Simulation This special session focuses on general aspects and special properties for agent-based modeling and simulations that allows them to be applied on several scientific domains, such as sociology, physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, and economy. The session is intended to bring together researchers and practitioners, so they can present the current status of their work and discuss the challenges they face in developing solutions and applications for agent-based simulations. Consequently, the design of these simulations aims not only to social contexts but also to more technical domains, which involves highly complex interactive systems. Web page: http://ds-rt.com/2017/abms_2017.htm * Special Session on Simulation of Urban Traffic Management and ITS This special session focuses on simulation tools and real-time simulation applications used in and for evaluation, management, and design of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), as well as Smart Cities. Such simulations are expected to offer prediction and on-the-flow feedback for the better decision-making, bringing up means for both the implementation of more complex traffic management systems and end-user applications. Off-line and real-time analyses of data collected from infrastructured systems (e.g. real-time traffic information), mobile, distributed technologies (e.g. communication devices), and socially-build systems (e.g. social networks applications) are of great interest for shaping and influencing how ITS solutions are designed. Thus, we are particularly interested in how these data and technologies can be incorporated in domain-related models and simulations. We aim to bring together experts from both industry and academia to discuss the challenges related to modelling and simulation for ITS. Web page: http://ds-rt.com/2017/soiits_2017.htm Best Regards, DS-RT 2017 Special Session Chairs * Special Session on Augmented and Virtual Reality for Real-Time Applications Virtual Reality (VR) allows users to be immersed in and interact with a fully virtual computer generated environment. On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) technologies add digital information on top of the physical reality, allowing users to gain more knowledge about their environment. VR and AR can become valuable tools for understanding, visualizing or evaluating real-time applications, such as simulations. Both technologies offer tremendous possibilities in terms of visualization, interaction and collaboration and become widely available with the development of new affordable devices and toolkits. This special sessions aims at bringing together industrial experts and researchers from academia to present their results and discuss the challenges related to the use of VR and AR technologies dedicated to real-time applications. We welcome research papers on both theoretical and empirical issues. Web page: http://ds-rt.com/2017/avrrta_2017.htm * Special Session on Simulation of Urban Traffic Management and ITS This special session focuses on simulation tools and real-time simulation applications used in and for evaluation, management, and design of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), as well as Smart Cities. Such simulations are expected to offer prediction and on-the-flow feedback for the better decision-making, bringing up means for both the implementation of more complex traffic management systems and end-user applications. Off-line and real-time analyses of data collected from infrastructured systems (e.g. real-time traffic information), mobile, distributed technologies (e.g. communication devices), and socially-build systems (e.g. social networks applications) are of great interest for shaping and influencing how ITS solutions are designed. Thus, we are particularly interested in how these data and technologies can be incorporated in domain-related models and simulations. We aim to bring together experts from both industry and academia to discuss the challenges related to modelling and simulation for ITS. Web page: http://ds-rt.com/2017/soiits_2017.htm