2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Introduction to topics that span the field of electrical and computer engineering (ECE). Content presented through the lens of application with accompanying hands-on exercises. Basics of circuits, op-amps, power supplies, computer logic, system decomposition, and coding. Modeling and application of engineering professionalism. Exploration of ECE in society.
Analysis and design of passive and active circuits under Direct Current (DC), Alternating Current (AC), and switched excitation. Linear circuit analysis techniques for various circuit topologies. Expressing the transient response of first- and second-order linear circuits using time-domain methods. Calculating the AC steady-state response of linear circuits using phasors and immittances. Characterizing the frequency response of linear circuits. Determining operating point and small signal response of non-linear circuits containing diodes and bipolar transistors. Projects demonstrating circuit design processes adhering to professional practices.
For students in the Mechanical Engineering program or by permission of the ECE Department. Fundamentals of electric circuits; circuit laws and network theorems, operational amplifiers, energy storage elements, response of first and second order systems, AC steady state analysis. Construction, analysis, and characterization of circuits with student-owned Lab-in-a-Box system.
This introductory course covers a broad range of scientific, engineering, and societal aspects associated with the exploration and technological exploitation of space. Topics covered include: science of the space environment; space weather hazards and societal impacts; orbital mechanics and rocket propulsion; spacecraft subsystems; applications of space-based technologies.
Fundamentals of electrostatics and magnetostatics, transmission lines, impedance matching networks, electromagnetic (EM) waves, and basic operating principles of diodes and metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Designing MOSFET biasing, and single-ended and differential amplifier circuits. Basic operating principles of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device and its application as a digital inverter. Electronic circuit design adhering to professional and ethical practices.
Principles of operation of electrical and electronic test equipment and applications to measurement of circuit parameters. Transient and steady state response of RLC networks. Applications of laws and theories of circuits. Design, prototyping, and testing of electronic devices and circuits. Must have C- or better in prerequisite.
Software development processes for electrical and computer engineering applications. Modeling, simulation, data analysis, and visualization. Computing abstractions and the use of application programming interfaces. Software design and implementation using a procedural, class-based language. Integrated code development and testing. Team-based development of autonomous system applications reinforcing course topics.
Design and analysis of digital systems. Information representations and computer arithmetic. Switch and gate design within digital logic. Combinational logic analysis and synthesis, Hardware Description Languages (HDL), and hierarchical design. Finite-state machines, synchronous sequential logic analysis and design. Hardware specification and documentation. Register transfer level architectures, computer organization, memories, and digital interfacing. Instruction set architecture and assembly language programming. Emphasis on the relationship between software and hardware.
Use of microcontroller-based embedded systems as a tool to address digital control and sensing in engineering applications. Modern methodologies for programming microcontrollers including programming under real-time and resource design constraints. Finite-state machine modeling and software implementation. Event-driven programming including polling-based and interrupt-driven input/output. Integration of sensors and actuators, use of standard digital and analog interfaces, and use of hardware peripherals in microcontroller architectures. Design of hardware abstraction layers and software architectures for embedded systems. Integration of hardware peripherals into real-time, software applications. Software toolchains for embedded systems, use of debugger and development and testing methodologies. Professional project management and version control.
Mathematical methods for the analysis and design of continuous and discrete linear, time-invariant systems. Representation of signals using time-domain and frequency-domain methods and the application of Fourier transforms to linear system design and analysis. Descriptions of systems as signal transformations using block diagrams, differential equations, difference equations, convolution, and transfer functions. Applications to signal filtering, measurement, and control of the physical devices. Formal project documentation adhering to professional practices.
Design, implementation, testing, and validation of a hardware and software solution to an open-ended engineering problem integrating both analog and digital components. Using industrial-caliber test and measurement equipment including: oscilloscopes, function generators, power supplies, and digital multi-meters. Technical documentation and oral presentation of design process and solution. Overview of the scope of the electrical and computer engineering profession and issues related to its societal impact and ethical considerations.
A minimum GPA of 2.0 in all ECE courses is required for enrollment.
Application of the basic laws and techniques of circuit analysis to AC circuits. Complex numbers and algebra with an emphasis on phasor representation of circuits. Calculation of the frequency response of circuits with R, L, and C components, independent sources, controlled sources, and operational amplifiers. Analysis of AC steady-state circuits and determination of average power. Magnetically coupled circuits. Laplace and Fourier transforms. Representation of circuits by two-port models. C- or better in prerequisites.
For students in curricula other than ECE or ME. Fundamentals of electric circuits and electronic devices. Fundamentals of electric circuits: circuit laws and network theorems, operational amplifiers, energy storage elements, response of first (Resistive-Inductive RL, and Resistive Capacitive RC) and second order (Resistive-Inductive-Capacitive RLC) systems, Alternating Current (AC) steady state analysis. Basic electronic devices: Diodes and Transistors.
Construction, analysis, and characterization of circuits with student-owned Lab-in-a-Box system. Experiments include: sinusoids and phasors including impedance, admittance, and Kirchhoffs laws; sinusoidal steady- state including node and mesh analysis, Thevenin and Norton equivalent, and op amps; ac power analysis including instantaneous and average power, power factor, and complex power; magnetically coupled circuits including mutual inductance, energy in a coupled circuit, and transformers; frequency response including transfer functions, Bode plots, resonance, and passive and active filters; and two-port circuits. A C- or better is required for all prerequisites.
Introduction to technologies and computational tools used in space-based applications, including techniques for exploring the planets and the near-Earth geospace environment. Overview of orbits, spacecraft, control of spacecraft, electromechanical system requirements for space-based applications, and space environment interactions with spacecraft systems. Understanding the space environment and the engineering approaches required to operate it. A C- or better is required in prerequisites.
Maxwells equations and their application to engineering problems. ECE 3105: transmission lines, introductory electrostatics, introductory magnetostatics, Faradays Law, properties of uniform plane waves. ECE 3106: electrostatics and magnetostatics, Maxwells Equations, wave propagation in uniform media, the reflection and transmission of plane waves, guided waves, radiation. A C- or better is required in the prerequisites.
Maxwells equations and their application to engineering problems. ECE 3105: transmission lines, introductory electrostatics, introductory magnetostatics, Faradays Law, properties of uniform plane waves. ECE 3106: electrostatics and magnetostatics, Maxwells Equations, wave propagation in uniform media, the reflection and transmission of plane waves, guided waves, radiation. A C- or better is required in the prerequisites.
Fundamental principles of optoelectronics. The concept of photons, spontaneous emission, and simulated emission. Rate equation analysis of light emitting diodes and lasers. Operation principles and device characteristics of photodetectors and solar cells. Advanced topics such as quantum well and emerging materials.
Introduction to systems and techniques used in electrical engineering design for space-based applications. Students design, fabricate, and test an electronic system following accepted NASA and industry standards, including functional bench-top tests, thermal testing, vibration testing, and long-duration operational testing. Periodic formal reports will document design approaches and test results.
Characterization of optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes, semiconductor lasers, and photodetectors. Characterization and analysis of optical interference, wave propogation in optical fibers, and optical diffraction. Construction of simple optical imaging systems using lenses and bulk optics.
Small signal modeling of transistors. Basic architecture and functionality of linear amplifiers including transistor biasing circuits, current sources, differential amplifier, common emitter amplifier, common source amplifier, emitter follower, source follower, common base amplifier, and common gate amplifier. Frequency response of single stage and multistage amplifiers.
Fundamental semiconductor device physics associated with intrinsic and doped semiconductor materials, drift-diffusion of charge carriers, and devices with an in-depth coverage of p-n and Schottky diodes, bipolar junction transistors, and metal-oxide semiconductor and junction field effect transistors.
Fundamentals of electronics, including basic device principles. Include digital, operational amplifier, and analog analysis for industrial applications and magnetic circuits. For students in the Mechanical Engineering program or by permission of the ECE Department.
Design, build, and test amplifiers and other electronic circuits to meet specifications. Bipolar and field-effect transistors, diodes, integrated circuits such as operational amplifiers, and passive components are used. Gain, bandwidth, input and output impedance, positive and negative feedback, and circuit stability are implemented in the designs. Digital oscilloscopes, ammeters, voltmeters, function generators, and power supplies are used. A grade of C- or better is required in all pre-requisite courses.
Basic concepts of AC systems, single-phase and three-phase networks, electric power generation, transformers, transmission lines, electric machinery and the use of power. Pre-requisite 3004 with C- or better.
Laboratory experiments based on principles of electric power engineering.
Instruction formats and construction. Addressing modes. Memory hierarchy (cache, main memory and secondary memory) operation and performance. Simple pipelines. Basic performance analysis. Simple Operating System (OS) functions, particularly as they relate to hardware. Virtual memory. Computer Input/Output (I/O) concepts, including interrupt and Direct Memory Access (DMA) mechanisms. Intercomputer communication concepts. Processor design.
Introduction of fundamental data structures, algorithms, and abstract data types. Data structures, arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, and trees. Algorithms for manipulation, sorting, searching. Tree traversals. Implementation of data structures and algorithms in C++ using good design practices.
Fundamental concepts of operating systems, emphasizing a hands-on introduction to Unix. User interfaces, Unix shell commands, the Unix file system, task management, common system utilities, the Unix programming environment. Students gain experience with system installation and administration.
Design techniques for combinational and sequential logic. Design of digital circuits using standard integrated circuit chips and programmable logic devices. Computer simulation will be used to validate designs. Prototypes will be constructed to demonstrate design functionality.
Introduction to computer networking featuring the Internet. Internet architecture and layering. Application layer service models and protocols. Transport layer protocols and congestion control. Internet addressing, routing algorithms and protocols. Multiple access and link layer addressing, wireless local area networks (LANs) and cellular networks.
An introduction to applied software design methods for use in the writing of efficient, reusable, and modular C++ programs. Introduces the use of the following: classes, inheritance, and polymorphism; design patterns; high-level programming techniques using libraries, generics, and containers; widgets, models, and views; software frameworks for embedded systems; and advanced techniques ranging from multi-threading to reflective programming.
Introduction to circuits, devices, and systems for radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. Fundamentals of antennas, propagation, small signal and power amplifiers, frequency conversion, and frequency synthesis. Tools and concepts including s-parameters, design impedance matching, dynamic range, noise figure, and link budget.
Analysis and design of communication systems with an emphasis on digital communications based on time and frequency domain analysis. Fourier transform techniques, linear systems, and filtering are reviewed. Power and energy spectral density of communication signals. Sampling and quantization of analog signals. Baseband and binary bandpass digital modulation including line coding, pulse shaping, and both pulse and carrier modulation techniques. Wireless communication system concepts including link budgets and multiple access. Transmitter and receiver design concepts. Signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and their relationship. Analog techniques such as Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) radio will be reviewed for conceptual and comparative purposes.
Continuous- and discrete-time system theory. Block diagrams, feedback, and stability theory. Continuous-time stability, differential equations, Laplace-transforms, transfer functions. Discrete-time stability, difference equations, Z-transforms. Transfer functions and frequency response. Sampling of continuous systems and an introduction to control and filter design. Hands-on projects to illustrate and integrate the various continuous- and discrete-time concepts and tools.
Introduction to the design of feedback compensation to improve the transient and steady-state performance of systems. Emphasis is on modeling, analysis and analog compensator design for single-input single-output systems. Modeling techniques, root locus analysis and design, the Nyquist criterion, and frequency domain compensation.
Passive and active Radio Frequency and microwave components and circuits for wireless communications; transmission-line theory; planar transmission-lines and waveguides; S-parameters; resonators; power dividers and couplers; microwave filters; sources, detectors, and active devices; modern RF & microwave CAD; measurement techniques. C- or better in prerequisites.
Antenna fundamentals, analysis and design principles, and a survey of antenna types including: arrays, wire antennas, broadband antennas, and aperture antennas.
Behavior of radiated electromagnetic waves in terrestrial, atmosphere, space, and urban environments; path, frequency and antenna selection for practical communication systems; propagation prediction.
Fundamental concepts in photonics technology. Basic principles of optical fibers and components such as Bragg gratings, amplifiers, couplers and modulators used in optical communications and sensing. Propagation, dispersion, bandwidth and nonlinear properties of optical signals in optical waveguides and fibers.
Fundamental concepts in optical information processing. Ray optics. Optical diffraction. Basic principles and applications of optical imaging using wave optics. Properties of Gaussian Beam. Introduction to Fourier optics, optical spatial filtering, 3D image reconstruction and holography.
Solar-terrestrial interactions and space weather: the sun, solar wind, and interplanetary magnetic field; space plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics; Earths magnetosphere and ionosphere; geomagnetic storms and auroral substorms; societal impacts of space weather; planetary magnetospheres; space science instrumentation.
Fundamental theory and applications of radio navigation with the Global Positioning System GPS. Satellite orbit theory, GPS signal structure and theory, point positioning with pseudoranges and carrier phases, selective availability, dilution of precision, differential GPS, atmospheric effects on GPS signals.
Interaction of Earth’s upper atmosphere and space environment with spacecraft: processes that affect atmospheric density relevant to spacecraft orbit decay; basic composition and structure; radiation and radiative transfer; atmospheric energy balance; atmospheric chemistry and ion production/loss mechanisms; fundamental concepts of Solar-terrestrial physics including ionospheric Chapman theory; atmospheric energy/mass transport; ionospheric electrodynamics; ionospheric storms; planetary atmospheres/ionospheres; instrumentation.
Review of classical mechanics, the simple harmonic oscillator. Schrodinger equation, barrier tunneling, resonant tunneling, and quantum wells. Mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics, Dirac notation and representations, observables, eigenstates and diagonalization. Quantum postulates and its application to two-level systems, harmonic oscillators, creation and annihilation operators. Time evolution of a Hamiltonian. Dynamics of spin and two-level atoms. No cloning theorem and the concept of entanglement.
Physical principles involved in remote sensing of Earths environment and their implementation in engineering systems: fundamentals of electromagnetic wave propagation, scattering by matter, effects of propagation media, passive and active systems, remote sensing platforms, data processing, systems integration, and introductory concepts important for the design and analysis of remote sensing engineering systems.
Stability and response of feedback amplifier, wideband amplifiers, operational amplifier characteristics, waveform generators and wave shaping, nonlinear circuit applications, signal generators, and photolithography. Design of analog electronic circuits, circuit simulation, response characterization, and printed circuit construction. C- or better in prerequisites.
Stability and response of feedback amplifier, wideband amplifiers, operational amplifier characteristics, waveform generators and wave shaping, nonlinear circuit applications, signal generators, and photolithography. Design of analog electronic circuits, circuit simulation, response characterization, and printed circuit construction. C- or better in prerequisites.
Integrated circuit design in silicon bipolar, MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor), and BiCMOS (Bipolar Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technologies for communications, sensor, instrumentation, data conversion, and power management applications. Models for active devices in bipolar and MOS technologies; transistor-level amplifiers and output stages (amplifier classifications); transistor-level current mirrors and voltage reference generators, transistor-level operational amplifiers; transistor-level feedback circuits; noise and linearity; layout and simulation of analog integrated circuits with modern VLSI CAD (Very Large Scale Integration- Computer Aided Design) software.
Switching power converter operation and design; modeling of power converters; power components including power semiconductor devices, inductors, and transformers; control of power converters; select power converter topology for applications such as renewable energy, electric transportation, and telecommunications.
Manufacturing practices used in silicon integrated circuit fabrication and the underlying scientific basis for these process technologies. Physical models are developed to explain basic fabrication steps, such as substrate growth, thermal oxidation, dopant diffusion, ion implantation, thin film deposition, etching, and lithography. The overall CMOS integrated circuit process flow is described within the context of these physical models.
Design, layout, fabricate, and characterize microelectronic devices. Analyze test results to verify performance to the predetermined specifications. Required oral and written reports. A C- or higher is required in all pre-requisite courses.
Electrical and thermal design of electronics packaging using finite element analysis software. Materials and process selection guidelines for the fabrication of single- and multi-chip electronics packages. Methods for characterization and testing of electronics packages. Failure mechanisms and design for reliability. Hands-on project experience on electronics packaging.
Design and testing of electronic power processing systems for commercial and aerospace applications.
Fundamentals of electric power distribution systems. Load characteristics. Modeling of distribution system components (line segments, voltage regulators, and transformers). Distribution flow analysis. Capacitor placement. Symmetrical components and calculation of fault currents. Protection of distribution feeders. Automation/control technologies to enhance reliability, resilience, and security.
Microgrid: definitions, components, and modes of operation; steady-state analysis and power quality; control modes and hierarchy; renewable resources and their inverter grid-forming and grid-following modes; protection strategies; emerging topics e.g., DC microgrids and datacenters; cybersecurity.
Development of methods for power analysis and control. An analysis and design of systems for steady state, transient, and dynamic conditions. Digital solutions emphasized.
Protection of power apparatus and systems. Fuses. Voltage and current transducers. Relays. Coordination of relays. Pilot channels. Grounding practices. Surge phenomena. Insulation coordination.
Electric energy from alternative energy sources including solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and ocean. Characteristics of direct conversion, electromechanical conversion, and storage devices used in alternative energy systems. Power system issues associated with integration of small scale energy sources into the electricity grid.
Design and internal organization of the Linux operating system kernel. Kernel subsystems, boot process, memory management, process and thread model, scheduling, interrupt and exception handling, virtual file system and the concrete file system, block I/O and I/O scheduler, network stack, and device drivers. Modification of existing kernel code. Design, implementation, test and evaluation of new kernel modules. Kernel and full software stack debugging techniques, and virtualization as an aid for operating system development and debug. Software engineering techniques to analyze, modify and run a large, complex open-source code base.
Algorithms and principles involved in machine learning; focus on perception problems arising in computer vision, natural language processing and robotics; fundamentals of representing uncertainty, learning from data, supervised learning, ensemble methods, unsupervised learning, structured models, learning theory and reinforcement learning; design and analysis of machine perception systems; design and implementation of a technical project applied to real-world datasets (images, text, robotics). A grade of C- or better in prerequisites.
True artificial machine intelligence. Societal impact. Historical perspectives. Technological barriers to whole brain emulation. Engineering of superintelligence. Role of consciousness. Cross disciplinary course for students with advanced technical backgrounds, e.g., seniors in engineering, math, physics, biology, or other similar disciplines.
Signal processing techniques in multimedia systems: concept and principle of multimedia systems; speech analysis and recognition; audio/image/video compression; scene video analysis & understanding; multimedia applications such as human computer interaction, multimedia communication and multimedia security.
Overview of the structure, elements and analysis of modern enterprise computers. Performance evaluation of commercial computing. Past and emerging technology trends. Impact of parallelism at multiple levels of computer architecture. Memory and storage. Fundamental computer system descriptions, Amdahls Law, Flynns Taxonomy. A grade of C or better required in prerequisites.
Advanced digital design techniques for developing complex digital circuits. Emphasis on system-level concepts and high-level design representations while meeting design constraints such as performance, power, and area. Methods presented that are appropriate for use with automated synthesis systems. Commercial hardware description language simulation and synthesis tools used for designing a series of increasingly complex digital systems, and implementing those systems using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).
Various topics on testing and testable design for digital and mixed-signal systems are studied: fault modeling, logic and fault simulation, fault modeling, automatic test pattern generation, deterministic ATPG, simulation-based ATPG, delay fault testing, design for testability, built-in-self-test and fault diagnosis.
Problem solving methods; problem spaces; search techniques; knowledge representation; programming languages for AI; games; predicate logic; knowledge-based systems; machine learning; planning techniques; reactive systems; artificial neural networks; natural language understanding; computer vision; robotics.
4525: Fundamental concepts in the development and engineering of modern 2-D and 3-D real-time interactive computer video games. Game design and engineering principles, game architecture, game mechanics and interaction, computer graphics, strategy, artificial intelligence (AI), optimization, play testing and fuzzy logic are included. 4526: Advanced concepts in the development and engineering of modern 2-D and 3-D real-time interactive computer video systems. Topics include non-player character (NPC) behavior learning, search and planning, player modeling, procedural content generation, AI-assisted game design.
An introduction to the design of mixed hardware- software systems, focusing on common underlying modeling concepts, the design of hardware-software interfaces, and the trade-offs between hardware and software components. Students will use simulation tools to conduct experiments with mixed hardware- software systems in the area of embedded systems.
Team-based major design experience. Design and implement embedded computer systems that incorporate appropriate engineering standards to solve complex problems that include multiple realistic constraints. Writing design documents and making oral presentations as part of the design process. C- or better required in prerequisites.
Introduction to the design and layout of Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits (VLSI). Emphasis is placed on digital CMOS circuits. Static and dynamic properties of MOSFET devices, along with integrated circuit fabrication are examined. Computer-aided design tools are used to produce working integrated circuit designs.
Theory, algorithmic and protocol concepts, mechanisms, and implementations of real-time computer systems. Introduction to real-time systems, real-time scheduling, real-time synchronization, real-time operating system kernels, and real-time resource management algorithms (e.g., scheduling, synchronization), their implementations in production operating system kernels, experimental studies of those implementations, and real-time application development.
Techniques for automated analysis of images and videos. Image formation, detecting features in images, segmenting or grouping image regions and image features, multiple view geometry, object instance and category recognition in images and video processing.
This course introduces fundamental security principles and real-world applications of Internet and computer security. Topics covered in the course include legal and privacy issues, risk analysis, attack and intrusion detection concepts, system log analysis, intrusion detection and packet filtering techniques, computer security models, computer forensics, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Must have C- or better in ECE 4564 or CS 3214.
Application program interface and network transport services including User Datagram Protocol and Transmission Control Protocol from the Internet Protocol suite. Client-server organization and design of synchronous, asynchronous, and multithreaded client and server applications. Design, implementation, and testing techniques to improve robustness and performance. Partially duplicates CS 4254 and credit will not be allowed for both.
Multidisciplinary, project-oriented design course that considers aspects of wireless and mobile systems including wireless networks and link protocols, mobile networking including support for the Internet Protocol suite, mobile middleware, and mobile applications. Students complete multiple experiments and design projects.
Large-scale software implementations of the hierarchy of engineering analysis, design, and decision evaluation. Computer-aided engineering programs with state-of-the-art computer tools and methods. Operator overloading, dynamic polymorphism, graphical user interfaces, generic programming, dynamic link libraries, and multiple threads.
This course provides an introduction to basic concepts, methodologies and algorithms of digital image processing focusing on the two major problems concerned with digital images: (1) image analysis and object restoration for easier interpretation of images, and (2) image analysis and object recognition. Some advanced image processing techniques (e.g., wavelet and multiresolution processing) will also be studied in this course. The primary goal of this course is to lay a solid foundation for students to study advanced image analysis topics such as computer vision systems, biomedical image analysis, and multimedia processing & retrieval.
Develop, compile, and test algorithms for serial and mobile robots. Robot forward and inverse kinematics, task planning, velocity kinematics, force rendering, control, haptics, mapping and localization, computer vision and path planning.
Wireless application circuit design for gain and filter control at radio frequencies to interface the baseband processing systems and the antennas of communication systems. 4605: Design of radio transmitter and receiver circuits using scattering-parameter methods. Circuits include oscillators, radio frequency amplifiers and matching networks, mixers and detectors. 4606: Design of amplitude, frequency, and pulse-modulated communication systems, including modulators, detectors, and the effects of noise. Design basics and guidelines for phase-locked loops and several power amplifier configurations.
Wireless application circuit design for gain and filter control at radio frequencies to interface the baseband processing systems and the antennas of communication systems. 4605: Design of radio transmitter and receiver circuits using scattering-parameter methods. Circuits include oscillators, radio frequency amplifiers and matching networks, mixers and detectors. 4606: Design of amplitude, frequency, and pulse-modulated communication systems, including modulators, detectors, and the effects of noise. Design basics and guidelines for phase-locked loops and several power amplifier configurations.
Analysis, design, and realization of digital filters. Discrete Fourier Transform algorithms, digital filter design procedures, coefficient quantization. Pre: C or better in 3704
System and signal level analysis and design for digital communications systems. Review of analog-to-digital conversion and digital baseband communications. Detailed analysis of digital carrier modulation formats including assessment of signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and power and bandwidth efficiency for amplitude-shift keying (ASK), phase-shift keying (PSK), frequency-shift keying (FSK), and Quadrature-Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Matched filter receivers and receiver design, link budgets, and multiple access. Additive-white-noise Gaussian channels. A detailed discussion of random variables will be included to supplement prerequisite material. A C- or better is required in prerequisites.
Theory and practice of satellite communications. Orbits and launchers, spacecraft, link budgets, modulation, coding, multiple access techniques, propagation effects, and earth terminals.
Laboratory experiments which deal with the design and measurement of analog and digital communication systems. Concepts include SNR, Modulation Index, PCM, and spread spectrum.
Laboratory techniques for radio frequencies including the design of amplifiers, oscillators, and a single-side-band receiver. Associated measurements will be used.
Introduction to modern-day networked technologies such as wireless, social, and economic networks. Analysis of networked technologies using analytical and engineering techniques such as optimization, game/auction theory, graph analysis, and learning as applied to networked technologies. Introduction to the basics of these techniques and their applications in networked systems. Development of a network science for solving practical problems pertaining to various networked systems such as smartphones, Wiki, Facebook, recommendation systems, economic network, or online video/music streaming software.
Introduction to the design, analysis, control, and operation of robotic mechanisms. Introduction to the use of homogeneous coordinates for kinematics, dynamics, and camera orientation; sensors and actuators, control, task planning, vision, and intelligence. II
Industry-like two-semester, team-based major design experience applying knowledge and skills acquired in previous coursework. Design and implement solutions to meet multiple realistic constraints; design to incorporate appropriate engineering standards. A specific, complex engineering design problem is taken from problem definition to product realization and testing. Within the design process, topics include written/oral communication, discourse, ethical reasoning, professional development, project management, and working within a team. 4805: Identify, formulate, and define engineering problem. Generate and select design alternatives. Apply design and analysis methods, from previous courses, to develop, evaluate, and communicate detailed project design. 4806: Implement and refine project design from ECE 4805. Test, analyze, document, and deliver the resulting project outcomes. Pre: 2804 (C-), (12 credit hours of C- or better within their declared disciplinary major) or (9 credit hours of C- or better within their declared disciplinary major and 3 credit hours of C- or better within their secondary focus) for 4805; 4805 (C-) for 4806.
Industry-like two-semester, team-based major design experience applying knowledge and skills acquired in previous coursework. Design and implement solutions to meet multiple realistic constraints; design to incorporate appropriate engineering standards. A specific, complex engineering design problem is taken from problem definition to product realization and testing. Within the design process, topics include written/oral communication, discourse, ethical reasoning, professional development, project management, and working within a team. 4805: Identify, formulate, and define engineering problem. Generate and select design alternatives. Apply design and analysis methods, from previous courses, to develop, evaluate, and communicate detailed project design. 4806: Implement and refine project design from ECE 4805. Test, analyze, document, and deliver the resulting project outcomes. Pre: 2804 (C-), (12 credit hours of C- or better within their declared disciplinary major) or (9 credit hours of C- or better within their declared disciplinary major and 3 credit hours of C- or better within their secondary focus) for 4805; 4805 (C-) for 4806.
Theory and practice of cybersecurity problems and solutions for building secure computing hardware, software, and networks. Technical, social and legal aspects of secure systems. Historical and ongoing attacks that spawn real-world responses. Ongoing research in cybersecurity defenses. Senior standing.
A minimum in-major GPA of 2.0 is required for enrollment.
A minimum in-major GPA of 2.5 is required for enrollment.
A minimum GPA of 2.0 in all ECE courses is required for enrollment.
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