ECE Special Topic Courses and
Distance Learning

Spring
Summer
Fall 2008

Spring 2008

ECE 510 - CMOS Mixed-Signal IC Design
Taught by David Chiang, Senior Staff Design Engineer, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

This class is designed for senior undergraduates, first year graduate students, and practical electrical engineers to analyze and design CMOS mixed-signal ICs such as switched capacitor circuits, continuous-time filters, and A/D & D/A converters used in modern communication systems and consumer electronic products. The required backgrounds for this class are circuit theory, signals and systems, and CMOS analog circuit design. This class is designed for senior undergraduates, first year graduate students, and practical electrical engineers to analyze and design CMOS mixed-signal ICs such as switched capacitor circuits, continuous-time filters, and A/D & D/A converters used in modern communication systems and consumer electronic products. The required backgrounds for this class are circuit theory, signals and systems, and CMOS analog circuit design.

Monday/Wednesday 7:00-8:50 p.m.

Email Dr. Chiang

ECE 590/690 - Digital Design Using Hardware Description Languages
Taught by Marek Perkowski, PSU

An introductory graduate class to digital design using hardware description languages and to advanced digital design for programmable devices. Class covers the following topics: fundamentals of Hardware Description Languages; VHDL syntax and semantics; behavioral, functional, structural and register-transfer descriptions; combinational circuits; finite state machines; levels of system simulation; arithmetic and sequential blocks and interfaces; pipelined and systolic processors; advanced VHDL language features and extensions; specification of controllers and data path architectures; reconfigurable Field Programmable Gate Array systems; verilog for VHDL programmers. Students must complete two computer-based software mini-projects and a project.

**This course will be taught at the Capital Center: 18640 NW Walker Rd., Beaverton, OR**

Monday/Wednesday 5:00-6:50 p.m.

Email Dr. Perkowski
Dr. Perkowski's web site

ECE 410/510 - EDGE III: Prejudice & Poverty
Taught by Bruce Lusignan, PSU

Workshops on Prejudice and Poverty. Lectures and Guest Speakers provide descriptions of the world’s varied cultural groups, their customs and treatment during the colonial times and the rise and fall of empires. Within America the treatment of Natives, Africans, Latinos, and Asians is reviewed. Fights for equal rights are tracked to today’s continuing struggles. Cross-border flows of peoples and resources play an important role. Student papers study world efforts to bring about fair trading terms, protect human rights, eliminate all forms of slavery and fight illiteracy and disease. Particular emphasis is placed on efforts of Latin American and African to turn oil revenues towards poverty relief for their cultures and for the poor around the world. EDGE (Ethics of Development in a Global Environment). Students may take EDGE III without having taken EDGE I or II.

**No engineering experience is required to take this course.**

Email Dr. Lusignan
Dr. Lusignan's web site

ECE 510/610 - Nanotechnology & Biosensors
Taught by Shalini Prasad, PSU

This is a 4 credit graduate course in ECE. The course covers: principles, methods and processes in designing bio-MEMS devices and the parctical applications of these devices. This course will primarily focus on processes, measurement and integration techniques for developing Bio-MEMS devices. This course introduces multi-disciplinary concepts in processing, manufacturing and miniaturization towards biomedical device/sensor applications. The scope of the course provides introduction to engineering into the emerging research area of applied nanotechnology and provides a basis for engineers who want to work in the multidisciplinary area of micro/nano/bio-electronics.
Key Learning: Understanding the principles for designing a bio-sensor device based on "lab-on-a-chip" methodology.

This class IS considered a core course.

Monday/Wednesday, 10:00-11:50 a.m.

Email Dr. Prasad
Dr. Prasad's web site

ECE 410/510 -  Radar & Sonar Processing
Taught by Lisa Zurk, PSU

Introduction to radar and sonar processing including detection and estimation theory, array processing, and signal propagation models. Course will concentrate on physics-based processing techniques applied to real systems with application to remote sensing, underwater sonar and medical imaging. Pulsed systems and spectroscopy will also be covered in the context of terahertz sensing. Coursework will involve readings from current scientific journals as well as Matlab exercises using data from NEAR-Lab research projects.

Tuesday/Thursday, 12:00-1:50 p.m.

Email Dr. Zurk
Dr. Zurk's web site

ECE 510/610 - Sustainable Energy Systems
Taught by Bruce Lusignan, PSU

Alternative energy supplies, conservation, and environment issues of distributed power systems, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, bio-fuel systems, etc. Impact of distributed generation and reliability as cogeneration, independent generation, or qualifying facility. Cogeneration considerations when electric energy is an alternative product by manufacturing companies.

This class IS considered a core course.

Monday/Wednesday, 6:40-8:30 p.m.

Email Dr. Lusignan
Dr. Lusignan's web site

Summer 2008

ECE 510 - Modeling and Analysis of Embedded Computing Systems
Taught by Xiaoyu Song, PSU

Embedded systems are becoming pervasive in the infrastructure of our society and penetrating every aspect of our everyday life. This class addresses modeling techniques, tools and methodologies for the design of modern embedded systems that employ multiple programmable processors together with hardware accelerators, special purpose functional units, specialized memory structures, and interface units that are subject to tight constraints in terms of performance, power, test and system cost. The characterization, modeling, and design of such systems are addressed in the class. Different modeling techniques and languages are studied and compared.

Monday/Wednesday, 9:15-11:35 a.m.

Email Dr. Song
Dr. Song's web site