Courses I’ve Taken

Autumn 2005-2006

EE 278 - Introduction to Statistical Signal Processing

Random variables, vectors, and processes; convergence and limit theorems; IID, independent increment, Markov, and Gaussian random processes; stationary random processes; autocorrelation and power spectral density; mean square error estimation, detection, and linear estimation.

EE 241 - Waves I

Introduction to waves and wave phenomena as they appear in different natural, lab, and application settings. Electromagnetic, acoustic, seismic, atmospheric, plasma, and water waves and their mathematical and physical correspondence in terms of Hamilton’s principle. Propagation, attenuation, reflection, refraction, surface and laminal guiding, and intrinsic and structural dispersion; energy density, power flow, and phase and group velocities. Geometric and structural complexities are minimized to stress basic wave concepts common to diverse fields of application. Analysis in terms of transmission line and impedance concepts using exponential notation and vector phasors. Treatment limited to plane harmonic waves in isotropic media. Nonhomogeneous cases limited to plane interfaces and exponentially stratified media.

EE 246 - Microwave Engineering

Microwave applications (terrestrial and satellite communications, radar, remote sensing, wireless communications) and their system and component requirements. Review of Maxwell’s equations. Propagation modes of transmission lines (TEM, waveguide, microstrip), S-parameter matrix modeling of discontinuities, junctions and circuits (impedance transformers, directional couplers, hybrids, filters, circulators, solid state amplifiers and oscillators). Microwave computer-aided design examples. General flow of course is application to system to component; individual components are modeled by fields to modes to equivalent network.

Winter 2005-2006

EE 254 - Principles of Radar Systems

Analysis and design, emphasizing radars as systems. Radar equation and systems parameters, components of radar systems, radar cross-section and target characteristics, signal detection in noise, ambiguity function (with applications to measurement precision, resolution, clutter rejection, and waveform design); pulse compression waveforms, synthetic aperture radar, tracking and scanning radars, HF (OTH) radar, radar environmental and remote sensing, radar astronomy.

EE 215 - Bipolar Analog Integrated Circuit Design

Bipolar analog circuits for high-frequency operation, including applications for networking and communications, such as video and broadband RF amplifiers. Device operation and compact modeling in support of circuit simulations needed for design. Circuit building blocks, including current and voltage references, and cascaded multi-stage amplifiers. Analysis and design of feedback circuits. Small design projects and use of SPICE models representative of state-of-the-art bipolar technology.

EE 279 - Introduction to Communication Systems

Analysis and design of communication systems; analog and digital modulation and demodulation, frequency conversion, multiplexing, noise and distortion; spectral and signal-to-noise ratio analysis, probability of error in digital systems, spread spectrum.

Spring 2005-2006

EE 378 - Statistical Signal Processing

Random signals in electrical engineering. Discrete-time random processes: stationarity and ergodicity, covariance sequences, power spectral density, parametric models for stationary processes. Fundamentals of linear estimation: minimum mean squared error estimation, optimum linear estimation, orthogonality principle, the Wold decomposition. Causal linear estimation of stationary processes: the causal Wiener filter, Kalman filtering. Parameter estimation: criteria of goodness of estimators, Fisher information, Cramer-Rao inequality, Chapman-Robbins inequality, maximum likelihood estimation, method of moments, consistency, efficiency. ARMA parameter estimation: Yule-Walker equations, Levinson-Durbin algorithm, least squares estimation, moving average parameter estimation, modified Yule-Walker method for model order selection. Spectrum estimation: sample covariances, covariance estimation, Bartlett formula, periodogram, periodogram averaging, windowed periodograms.

EE 356 - Elementary Plasma Physics: Principles and Applications

Plasmas in nature and industry. Single particle motions. Plasma kinetic theory. Boltzmann equation and its moments. Cold and warm plasma models. Plasma as a fluid. Magnetohydrodynamics. Plasma conductivity and diffusion. Langmuir oscillations. Debye shielding. Plasma sheath. Waves in cold, magnetized, warm, and hot plasmas. Electron and ion waves. MHD waves. Landau damping. Nonlinear effects. Applications in industry and space science.

Autumn 2006-2007

EE 263 - Introduction to Linear Dynamical Systems

Applied linear algebra and linear dynamical systems with application to circuits signal processing, communications, and control systems. Topics: least-squares approximations of over-determined equations and least-norm solutions of underdetermined equations. Symmetric matrices, matrix norm, and singular value decomposition. Eigenvalues, left and right eigenvectors, with dynamical interpretation. Matrix exponential, stability, and asymptotic behavior. Multi-input/multi-output systems, impulse and step matrices; convolution and transfer matrix descriptions. Control, reachability, and state transfer; observability and least-squares state estimation.

EE 264 - Digital Filtering

Introduction to digital signal processing techniques. Two sided Z-transform. Linear time invariant discrete time systems. Sampling theory, AD and DA conversion. Analog filter design. Digital filter design. Quantization of signals and filter conefficients. Signal scaling. DFS, DFT, and sampling in the frequency domain. Interpolation and decimation. Oversampling techniques for ADC and DAC. Digital signal processing for wireless communications.

EE 344 - High Frequency Laboratory

Combination lecture/lab emphasizing the lab. Techniques in the 1MHz-1GHz range useful in designing and measuring oscillators, amplifiers, and mixers. High frequency measurement techniques including s-parameter measurements, amplifier noise figure, and oscillator phase noise. Guest speakers from Lucent and Hewlett-Packard.

Winter 2006-2007

EE 355 - Imaging Radar and Applications

Radar remote sensing, radar image characteristics, viewing geometry, range coding, synthetic aperture processing, correlation, range migration, range/Doppler algorithms, wave domain algorithms, polar algorithm, polarimetric processing, interferometric measurements. Applications: polarimetry and target discrimination, topographic mapping surface displacements, velocities of ice fields.

AA 272C - Global Positioning Systems

The principles of satellite navigation using GPS. Positioning techniques using code tracking, single and dual frequency, carrier aiding, and use of differential GPS for improved accuracy and integrity. Use of differential carrier techniques for attitude determination and precision position determination.

EE 369A - Medical Imaging Systems I

Imaging internal structures within the body using high-energy radiation studied from a systems viewpoint. Modalities covered: x-ray, computerized tomography, and nuclear medicine. Analysis of existing and proposed systems in terms of resolution, frequency response, detection sensitivity, noise, and potential for improved diagnosis.

Spring 2006-2007

EE 256 - Numerical Electromagnetics

Principles and applications of numerical techniques for solving practical electromagnetics problems. Time domain solutions of Maxwell’s equations. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) methods. Numerical stability, dispersion, and dissipation. Absorbing boundary conditions. Perfectly Matched Layer Methods. Explicit and Implicit Methods. FDTD modeling of propagation and scattering in dispersive and anisotropic media. Near-to-far-zone transformations. Computational problems require programming and use of MATLAB and other tools.

Autumn 2007-2008

EE 249 - Introduction to the Space Environment

The environment through which space probes and vehicles travel and orbit, and which moderates solar gases and radiation. Experimentation in this environment, tools used; regions into which it is divided including ionosphere, magnetosphere, heliosphere, and interplanetary space. The role of the Sun, the effects of changes in solar activity, charged particle motion which in combination with the Earth’s magnetic field leads to auroras and the Van Allen belts.

EE 222 - Applied Quantum Mechanics I

Emphasis is on applications in modern devices and systems. Topics include: Schrödinger’s equation, eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, solutions of simple problems including quantum wells and tunneling, quantum harmonic oscillator, coherent states, operator approach to quantum mechanics, Dirac notation, angular momentum, hydrogen atom, calculation techniques including matrix diagonalization, perturbation theory, variational method, and time-dependent perturbation theory with applications to optical absorption, nonlinear optical coefficients, and Fermi’s golden rule.

Winter 2007-2008

ME 364 - Optical Diagnostics and Spectroscopy

The spectroscopy of gases and laser-based diagnostic techniques for measurements of species concentrations, temperature, density, and other flow field properties. Topics: electronic, vibrational, and rotational transitions; spectral lineshapes and broadening mechanisms; absorption, flourescence, Rayleigh and Raman scattering methods; collisional quenching.

EE 223 - Applied Quantum Mechanics II

Continuation of 222, including more advanced topics: angular momentum in quantum mechanics, spin, hydrogen atom, systems of identical particles (bosons and fermions), methods for one-dimensional problems, introductory quantum optics (electromagnetic field quantization, coherent states), fermion annihilation and creation operators, interaction of different kinds of particles (spontaneous emission, optical absorption, and stimulated emission). Quantum information and interpretation of quantum mechanics. Other topics in electronics, optoelectronics, optics, and quantum information science.