Course Catalog Descriptions

Electrical & Computer Engineering Course Catalog Descriptions

A freshman orientation course for electrical engineering students.  Includes an introduction to the electrical engineering program, the profession, and an orientation to the university.  Work processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software along with computer aided design and analysis tools will be integrated into the course.  One hour of lecture-discussion and three hours of laboratory per week.

Introduction to computer programming with an emphasis on EE problem solving.  Major topics include problem solving, algorithm development, hardware integration, and programming in NQC and C . 2 hours lecture per week; one 3-hour lab per week.

Introduction to digital systems. Topics treated include: number systems, binary codes, Boolean algebra, combinational logic design, logic minimization techniques, sequential circuits design, arithmetic operations, data transfers using register transfer notation, memory devices, digital system organization and digital subsystems design. 3 hours lecture, one 3-hour lab per week.

Linear, piecewise-linear, and nonlinear models for active devices and their interaction with passive network elements.  Characteristics and behavior of operational amplifiers, diodes and transistors. Small signal amplifiers and their analysis at low, midband and high frequencies. 3 hours lecture; one 3-hour lab per week.

A systematic development of linear system response models in both the time and frequency domains.  Concentrates on continuous system models. Techniques developed include Laplace transform, Fourier analysis, impulse response, convolution, and state variables for continuous linear systems.

Continuation of ECE 350, with concentration on discrete system models.  Techniques developed include Z-transforms, Fourier Analysis, Impulse response, convolution, and state variables for discrete linear systems.

Study of waves in transmission line circuits, transient and steady state solutions, phasors, reflection coefficient, Smith chart, matching circuits, wave propagation in materials, vector analysis, electrostatics, magnetostatics, steady electric currents, quasi-statics, and electromagnetic fields. 

Introduction to the practical aspects of waveguiding systems:  stripline, microstrip and coaxial transmission lines and rectangular waveguides. Introduction to basic microwave measurements and techniques: impedance matching, network analyzers, antenna impedance and pattern measurements and computer controlled instrumentation. Culminating in a design project. Three hours of laboratory per week.

Application of these concepts as they apply to energy sustainability is discussed. Several projects are included in which students design, simulate, build, test, and report on their findings. 3 hours lecture; one 3-hour lab per week.   Available for graduate credit.

Review of single phase, three phase power and calculations of power using the "per-unit" method. Study of single line diagrams using reactance and impedance, three phase transformers as applied to power systems and synchronous machines. Discussion of series impedance, capacitance, voltage and current as related to power transmission lines. Modeling of admittance, impedance and network calculations are included. Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) and Automated Transmission Operations (ATO) are discussed as a consequence of the implementation of the smart grid.

Also, the effects of magnetic field in power transmission lines are discussed. Design and simulation projects are included. Students make presentations about their findings. PSPICE and Matlab are utilized.  Available for graduate credit.

Switching losses in power semiconductor switches are covered in detail.  Computer simulation of power electronic converters is taught using PSPICE and Matlab. Study of line-frequency diode rectifiers (line-frequency ac-to--uncontrolled dc) as well as line-frequency phase-controlled rectifiers and inverters (line-frequency ac-to-controlled dc). Dc-to-dc switch-mode converters and switch-mode dc-to-ac inverters are also discussed.

Power electronics applications in solar energy are studied with emphasis in applications.  Application of these concepts as they apply to energy sustainability is discussed. Several projects are included in which students design, simulate, build, test, and report on their findings.  Available for graduate credit.

Designed to cover and compare a variety of programmable logic devices with design examples to show their applications.  It emphasizes the implementation of digital systems with programmable logic devices and it uses VHDL in design description and Maxplus II software in design simulation and verification.

The structure and operation of a stored-program general-purpose digital computer.  Design of computer hardware modules: arithmetic-logic units, control units, input-output units, memories. Basic organizations of digital computers. Fault diagnosis and fault tolerant design of digital systems.

Studies of microprocessor architectures and microcomputer systems. Basic microprocessor software consideration and assembly language programming. Microcomputers system design considerations, applications, and design with a microcontroller.

A continuation of ECE 340.  Power amplifiers, feedback amplifiers, stability, oscillators, RC active filters and switched-capacitor circuits. Three hours of lecture and one three-hour laboratory per week.

Models of electronic nonlinear devices and their analysis. The limitations of digital circuits.  The design of logic gates and of memory elements and registers.  System considerations with reference to various technologies, including NMOS, PMOS, CMOS, RTL, DTL, TTL, IIL and ECL. The study of VLSI.
3 hours lecture; one 3-hour lab per week.

Waveshaping circuits with application to data acquisition and instrumentation. Design of multivibrator circuits.  Design of analog to digital and digital to analog interfaces.

The electric and magnetic properties of materials are examined with emphasis on engineering applications. Typical devices which are considered include ohmic and non-ohmic contacts, voltaic cells, PN junction devices, ferroelectric energy converters, ferrite devices and integrated circuits.

Develops and demonstrates techniques and models useful for solving a wide range of problems associated with the design and analysis of various probabilistic systems in electrical engineering application. These include radar, communication systems, sonar, control systems, information theory, computer systems, circuit design, measurement theory, vulnerability analysis, and propagation.

Real-time digital signal processing using DSP processors; architecture, instruction set, sampling, filtering, fast Fourier transform, and other applications.   Available for Graduate Credit.

The advanced topics in Mathematics in the areas of Complex Variables, Linear Algebra, Partial Differential Equations and Series Solutions to Differential Equations are discussed. These mathematical tools are used to model and solve Electrical Engineering related problems in the areas of Circuits, Controls, Electromagnetics, Solid State and Communication Theories.

Introduction to information transmission. Analog communication systems. AM. DSB, SSB, VSB, FM, and PM.  Frequency-division multiplexing techniques. Superheterodyne receiver. Three hours lecture. Three hours lecture. One three-hour lab per week.   Available for graduate credit.

A review of the relations between transient responses, systems transfer functions, and methods of specifying system performance. Analysis and synthesis of feedback control systems by means of root-locus methods. Nyquist diagrams, phase-gain-frequency diagrams. The use of compensating networks to optimize control system performance. 3 hours lecture; one 3-hour lab per week.

As an accompaniment of 3-unit course of Fundamental of Control Systems (ECE480), this laboratory provides experiments to verify theoretical studies and to use their applications in the design of a control system with given specifications. 

The experiments are mainly electrical circuits with actual measurements and simulations and design applications using system response, Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion, system identification, steady state error, root-locus, Nyquist criterion, and the effects of disturbance.  Use of MATLAB, SIMULINK and PSPICE is emphasized for analysis and design. 3-hours of lab per week.

Characterization and properties of anatomical and physiological elements in engineering applications will be studied. The course will also include the design of basic medical instrumentation.

A comprehensive introduction to medical imaging system will be explored. Common imaging modalities are introduced from the perspectives of both physics and system, including X-ray, CT, Ultrasound, MRI, PET and SPECT.

Introduction to system on chip design methodology that includes the study of NIOS and ARM architectures, Avalon switch fabric, memory, real-time operating system (RTOS), peripheral interface and components, and contemporary high-density FPGAs.

This laboratory course reinforces the system-on-chip design concept developed in the lecture course. It focuses on software development and hardware verification of Nios II systems using Altera software tools and Nios development boards.

Xilinx (the Virtex series) and Actel (the SX and AX series) FPGA architectures and design methodologies are studied. Several sample designs are targeted and tested for each FPGA technology. ASIC design flow and design optimization techniques are discussed. ASIC design flow, constraint file generation, and test benches are also studied with their applications to some designs samples. The use of FPGAs in space and military applications and their reliability issues are discussed. Lecture: three hours per week.

The lab introduces the systematic top-down design methodology to design complex digital hardware such as FPGAs and ASICs. FPGA and ASIC design flow as well as design optimization techniques are discussed. For FPGAs, Xilinx Virtex and Actel SX architecture are covered. Individual and group projects are assigned to students. Three hours lab per week.

Study of the tools and techniques used to develop application specific integrated circuits, including mask programmed devices and field programmable circuits. Topics include synthesis methodologies, performance tradeoffs and constraints. Asynchronous interfacing is covered in detail for both single bit and bus interfaces. A non-theoretical introduction to test and testability is also included.

This course is a companion to ECE 527, Application Specific Integrated Circuit Development. In the laboratory, students apply the lessons of ECE 527 to code circuits in Verilog HDL, synthesize them for varying performance goals and modify the implemented designs for testability. This is accomplished through use of state-of-the-art industrial design automation software.

An in-depth study of quantum mechanics, semiconductor materials and solid state devices including the Schrodinger equation, potential barriers and wells, energy band diagrams, mobility, effective mass, charge carrier transport, scattering mechanisms, continuity equation, bandgap engineering, as well as the design of p-n junction diodes, bipolar junction transistors, Schottky diodes, field effect transistors, hetero-junction devices, and high electron mobility transistors are undertaken in this course. 

Survey of VLSI technology and very large scale integrated systems. Problems which occur when ordinary circuits are replicated to involve millions of devices. CMOS technology, design styles up to the point of submission for fabrication.

Computerized methods with high density circuits with optimized speed and power consumption. Students perform simple layouts and simulations suitable for extension to a very large scale. Two units of lecture, one unit of computer laboratory.

Layered network architectures and the TCP/IP model. Link layer error and flow control mechanisms. Packet switching. Wired and wireless local and wide area networks. Medium access control procedures. Internet working with switches, bridges and routers. Routing algorithms.  Network security.

Analysis of time-varying electromagnetic fields. Maxwell's equations, waves in ideal and lossy matter. Impedance concept, duality, equivalence principle, energy flow, reciprocity theorem. Transmission lines, wave-guides, resonators, surface waves antennas.

Basic concepts in RF and microwave electronics including loaded Q, RLC resonant circuits, L-network matching circuits, wave propagation in transmission line circuits, S-parameters, signal-flow graphs, Smith chart, design of matching circuits using stubs, stability criteria and circles, unilateral and bilateral cases for maximum gain design, noise figure circles as well as the analysis and design of microwave high-gain amplifiers (HGAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are treated in depth.

The design, construction and testing of microwave passive and active circuits. Introduction to modern CAE and CAD techniques including optimization.

An in-depth study of the principles and applications of ray optics, matrix optics, wave optics, diffraction, interference, lens and mirrors, monochromatic and polychromatic light, Fourier optics, holography, electromagnetic optics, absorption, dispersion, polarization of light, crystal optics, solar cells, and electro-optics are included in this course.

Application of z-transform and state variable methods to the analysis and design of digital and sampled-data control systems; the sampling process, data reconstruction devices, stability analysis, frequency response methods, continuous network compensation, digital controllers, z-plane synthesis, state-variable feedback compensation, variable gain methods in non-linear sampled-data system analysis.

The second part of this course introduces fuzzy logic control and its application to control engineering.  This part discusses the basic fuzzy logic controllers, the relevant analytical issues, and their roles in advanced hierarchical control systems.

A project-based comprehensive introduction to computing methods in biomedical engineering will be explored, including biomedical modeling, biomedical signal processing, medical image analysis, and machine learning.

The course focuses on application of engineering methods in bioinformatics, an important field of bioengineering. Different approaches to DNA sequence processing, protein sequence analysis and microarray data analysis are introduced.

The effects of distributed generation (DG) in short circuit analysis are discussed. A project is assigned in which students select a topic related to the course, perform a bibliographical research, write a report and make presentations about their findings. Tools used include Matlab and PSPICE.

The application of the concepts covered in this course is discussed in relation with sustainability. A project is assigned in which students select a topic related to the course, perform bibliographical research, write a report and make presentations about their findings. Tools used include Matlab and PSPICE.

Several lab experiments using a state of the art protective relay laboratory with microprocessor-based relays are included. A project is assigned in which students select a topic related to the course, perform bibliographical research, write a report and make presentations about their findings. Tools used include Matlab and PSPICE.

Non-Boolean logic design such as Galois logic, and many value logics and algorithmic state machine (ASM) designs are covered.

Design analysis of high speed adders, subtractors, multipliers and dividers of digital computers, integrated circuits and digital devices. Signed-digit adder/subtractor, multiplicative and division algorithms and hardware. Iterative cellular array multipliers and dividers. Floating point arithmetic processor, pipelined arithmetic.

Studies of digital systems architectures primarily from the hardware viewpoint.  Techniques and design methods employed for general purpose computers.  Unconventional and special-purpose computers, such as parallel processors, associative processors, pipeline processors, array processors, list processors, hardware compilers.

The use of DFT tools for test generation, fault diagnosis, fault coverage, design for testability, reliability computations, and test synthesis.  Delay faults and testing, fault diagnosis, quiescent current testing (Iddq), functional testing, and crosstalk.

Real-world design issues and applications such as control system applications are discussed. Methodical system design approaches are adopted to develop microcontroller-based embedded systems.

Advanced studies of topics of current interest in the field of digital systems and components engineering.  The course will consist in part of an intensive study of selected papers from current literature.

Theory and application of error detection and correction codes. Linear and cyclic block codes using finite field arithmetic, encoding, decoding and error correcting techniques. System control with emphasis on hardware implementation. 

Pattern recognition techniques are used to design automated systems that improve their own performance through experience. This course covers the methodologies, technologies, and algorithms of pattern recognition implemented with neural networks.

Design and development of robotic systems with sensing elements for closed-loop controls.  Sensing by vision, proximity and touch.  Development of image processing and pattern recognition techniques for object  recognitions and location, size and shape determinations using microprocessor-based systems.  Robotic trajectory, collision avoidance, path planning and teaching.

Advanced electronic design techniques such as switching regulators and switching amplifiers will be covered.  Also included will be thermal effects, manufacturing defects, finally, advanced audio design will be emphasized.  Computerized design techniques will be used.

Phase lock loop techniques are introduced with emphasis on RF applications including frequency synthesis techniques using digital techniques.

The analysis and synthesis of passive networks, using two port theory, Matrix, signal flow graphing, and computerized techniques in active network design with emphasis on signal processing.

Frequency and time domain approximations, introduction to active circuits, modern design of active filters and computerized techniques in active network design with emphasis on signal processing.

Random vectors, sequences, and processes. Linear systems with random inputs. Second moment theory and spectral analysis. Narrowband processes. Gaussian and Poisson processes. Application to filtering, detection and estimation of signals in white and non-white noise.

FIR filter structures and implementation, IIR filter structures and implementation, FIR filter design techniques, IIR filter design techniques, fundamentals of multi-rate DSP, and introduction to discrete wavelet transform.

Discrete random process, linear prediction filter, FIR Wiener filter, IIR Wiener filter, nonparametric spectrum estimation, parametric spectrum estimation, LMS adaptive filter, and RLS adaptive filter.

Fundamentals of detection and estimation theory, with applications to communications, radar, and signal processing. Optimum receiver principles; Detection of random signals in noise; Parameter estimation, linear and nonlinear estimation and filtering.

Entropy, entropy rate, mutual information. Data compression and source codes, including construction and efficiency.  Discrete channels with and without memory, channel capacity, noiseless and noisy channels.  Introduction to channel coding & encryption and decryption.

Principles of M-ary communications. Signal space methods, optimum detection. Various modulation techniques and their performance in terms of bandwidth and power efficiency. Efficient signaling with coded waveforms. Channel coding including block and convolutional coding.

Characterization of wireless channels including path loss models, flat and frequency selective fading. Multiple access techniques. Performance of digital modulation techniques under channel impairments. Mitigation techniques including diversity, equalization, multi-carrier modulation and spread spectrum.

Radar equation, target cross section, MTI and pulsed Doppler radars, CW and CW -FM radar. Receiver noise calculations, radar detection and parameter estimation in noise and clutter.  Matched filters, pulse compression, Radar signal choice and ambiguity function.

Mode theory, waveguide equations and fiber modes calculations.  Optical signal dispersion and degradation. Optical sources, photo detectors, modulation/demodulation techniques  and optical system receiver performance.  Power and rise-time link budget analysis.

ECE 666L  -  Fiber-Optic Communications Lab  -  (1)

Prerequisite(s):  ECE 460 and 460LL.  Co-requisite:  ECE 666.

The lab accompanying ECE 666 course covers fiber optic communication design, measurements and simulations. This includes numerical aperture, fiber attenuation, power distribution in single mode fibers, mode distribution in multimode fibers, fiber coupling efficiency and Connectors / splices losses. Also design, construction and simulation of WDM communication system components are covered. Individual and group projects are assigned to students in the Lab: 3 hours per week.

Presentation of recent topics in communications and radar, using selected papers from current literature as the basis.

The application of the concepts of modern network theory to waveguiding systems.  Impedance transformation and matching, scattering matrix, propagation in non-isotropic media, passive microwave devices, electromagnetic resonators, measurements in microwave systems.

Advanced microwave circuit design and in-depth analysis of microwave transistor amplifiers, microwave oscillators, detectors, mixers, microwave control circuits and microwave integrated circuits (MIC's) are included in this course.  Practical design issues of microwave circuits will be emphasized.  Materials mask layout and fabrication techniques of microwave integrated circuits (MIC's) will also be treated.

Physical principles as well as advanced design techniques and applications of microwave semiconductor materials and devices, in particular, varactors, PIN diodes, tunnel diodes, avalanche  transit-time devices (IMPATTs, TRAPATTs), microwave bipolar junction transistors, microwave field effect transistors, transferred electron devices (TEDs), hot-electron devices,  real space transistors (RSTs), and microwave quantum-effect devices are treated in depth in this course. 

A first course in the theoretical analysis and design of antennas.  Review of fundamental concepts beginning with Maxwell's Equations, discussion of significant antenna parameters, elementary antennas, apertures, arrays, traveling-wave antennas, and antennas based upon geometrical optics.

An advanced study of topics of current interest in the field of applied electromagnetics.  The course will in part consist of an intensive study of selected papers from the current literature.  The participants will be expected to prepare bibliographies and present oral and/or written reports.

Study of current techniques employed to solve practical electromagnetic field problems. Emphasis is placed upon antenna and radar cross section problems using moment methods, finite difference time domain technique, asymptotic techniques such as Geometrical Optics, Physical Optics and Geometrical theory of Diffraction. Students are expected to use the techniques treated to solve problems using a computer.

This course studies methods for modeling, analysis, and design of nonlinear dynamical systems with applications in control. The materials include: analysis of nonlinear systems by means of describing functions and phase- plane diagrams; stability studies by means of the first and second methods of Lyapunov, Popov's Methods, and La Salle's Theorem, and system design methods  including Lyapunov based design, feedback linearization, sliding mode control, and adaptive control.

Application of state-space methods to the analysis and synthesis of feedback control system; matrices, vectors and vector spaces, coordinator transformations, solution of the vector matrix differential equation, stability, controllability and observability, optimal control system.

Applications of variational methods, Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, and dynamic programming to problems of optimal control theory; iterative numerical techniques for finding optimal trajectories.

Control of linear, discrete-time and continuous-time stochastic systems, statistical filtering, estimation and control with emphasis on the Kalman filter and its applications; Wiener filtering.

Preparatory:  Department Consent is Required.

Preparatory:  Department Consent is Required.

Student(s) must register as Credit / No Credit only.

ECE 697  -  Directed Comprehensive Studies  -  (3) 

Preparatory:  Department Consent is Required.

Student(s) must register as Credit / No Credit only.

ECE 698  -  Thesis or Graduate Project  -  (3-6)

Preparatory:  Department Consent is Required.

Some of the required courses may be offered via Elluminate depending on the professor teaching the course and contingent upon demand.  Some courses, such as laboratory courses, may require on-campus attendance.  For further details and requirements, refer to the current CSUN catalog or contact the ECE Department office.