Graduate Courses

Review of Maxwell's equations and the wave equation. Uniform plane waves in a lossy medium. Wave polarization. Reflection and transmission of electromagnetic waves at planar boundaries. Normal incidence. Antireflection coatings and radomes. Oblique incidence. Brewster angle. Total internal reflection. Theory of parallel-plate waveguides. Rectangular and circular waveguides. Dielectric slab waveguides.

Introduction to analog and digital communication systems with emphasis on modulation, demodulation, encoding, decoding, and synchronization techniques used in wireless systems. MATLAB is used to simulate communication systems and to process real RF signals.

Principles, models, and applications of electromagnetic and electromechanical devices including transformers and motors. Applications include power systems, manufacturing processes, robotics, and consumer products.

Introduction to the modeling, design, and operation of modern power generation, transmission, and distribution systems. Topics include complex power, three-phase systems, compensation, and power flow.

Electronic conversion and control of electrical power. Includes semiconductor switching devices, power converter circuits, control of power converters, and applications in electric utilities, motor drives, and power supplies.

Investigation into the principles and applications of energy conversion and power system technologies of interest, such as renewable energy sources. Extensive literature search and/or laboratory experimentation culminating in a formal written report and oral presentation.

Introduction to microcontrollers. PIC18 microcontroller instruction set architecture and assembly language programming. Timers and interrupt handling. Parallel input/output device interfacing. Serial communications using UART, Inter-IC (I2C) bus. Analog-to-digital converter interface. A PIC18F452 8-bit microcontroller-based embedded system consisting of keypad, LCD display, and RS232 serial port is implemented though laboratory assignments.

Introduction to ASIC (application-specific integrated circuits) design flow. Synthesis of combinational and sequential logic. Synthesis of hardware description language constructs. Post-synthesis design tasks. FPGA (field programmable gate array) architectures. Design prototyping with FPGAs.

Introduction to Verilog-based design process. Hierarchical modeling methodology. Basic Verilog language structures for modeling digital hardware functions. Modules and ports. Gate-level modeling. Data flow modeling. Behavioral modeling. Tasks and functions. Useful modeling techniques in digital system design. Component timing and delay modeling. Logic synthesis with Verilog HDL.

Hardware design environment. Introduction to VHDL. Design methodology based on VHDL. Basic concepts in VHDL. Structural specification of hardware. Design organization and parameterization. Utilities for high-level description. Data flow description in VHDL. Behavioral description of hardware.

Processor control unit design techniques. Pipelined data path and control unit design. Cache memory and cache coherency design techniques. Memory management using virtual memory. Case studies of contemporary high-performance computer architectures.

Introduction to digital CMOS VLSI chip design using Tanner's L-EDIT layout software, and PSPICE. Topics include CMOS gate logic design simulation and layout, speed and power considerations, and CMOS VLSI chip design using Standard Cells. Students are required to complete a modest-sized CMOS integrated circuit design project through layout, simulation, and verification.

High-end microcontroller and microprocessor system design methodologies from the software and hardware perspectives, with an emphasis on system integration. Introduction to CISC instruction sets and high-end microprocessor architectures. Programmable robots are used as the platform for course assignments and course project.

Introduction to computer vision. Computer vision system components and lighting techniques. Binary image processing: image filtering, histogram equalization, thresholding, and edge detection. Image analysis and representation: region segmentation and low-level image description. Camera model and stereo vision.

Analysis and design of advanced MOS analog electronic circuits. Topics include advanced MOS semiconductor device models, active loaded amplifiers, operational amplifiers, feedback compensation, and switched-capacitor filters. PSPICE is used as a circuit simulation tool. An introduction to photovoltaics, thermoelectronics, and nanoelectronics is also included.

This course covers techniques used to process digital signals in applications such as audio filtering and speech recognition. Topics include analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion, aliasing, quantization, discrete-time signals and systems, discrete-time Fourier transform, Z-transform, and digital filter design. MATLAB is used to demonstrate concepts and to process real signals.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Faculty-directed student research. Before enrolling, a student must consult with a faculty member to define the project. May be repeated for credit.

Credit arranged.