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EESM

Electronic Engineering, IC Design Engineering, and Telecommunications

EESM 5000
CMOS VLSI Design
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 501
Description
CMOS process and design rules; MOS device electronics; CMOS circuit and logic circuit characterization and performance estimation; VLSI design and verification tools. Project work will be centered on industry standard tools.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Recognize general architectures of social systems and networks.
- 2.
  Define data visualization, and process data for visualizations using some common tools.
- 3.
  Define fundamental graph theories for social network analysis, and process social media data for various applications.
- 4.
  Describe and explain the resistance and capacitance of transistors in a CMOS integrated circuit, and their relationship to output transition speed and power consumption.
- 5.
  Describe the dynamic switching behavior of CMOS integrated circuits.
- 6.
  Evaluate the speed, power consumption, reliability, and cost of a digital integrated circuit, and the tradeoffs among these four important design metrics.
- 7.
  Identify the principles of CMOS technology, basic fabrication process of integrated circuits, and CMOS technology scaling challenges.
- 8.
  Describe and explain wire resistance and capacitance and wire design optimization for achieving high-performance digital integrated circuits.
- 9.
  Define the operation principles of sequential integrated circuits.
- 10.
  Solve integrated circuit design problems by using computer-aided design tools and with team work.
EESM 5020
Digital VLSI System Design and Design Automation
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 516
Exclusion(s)
ELEC 5160
Description
Structured design styles, specification, synthesis and simulation using hardware descriptive language (HDL), structural chip design and system design, circuit design of system building blocks: arithmetic unit, memory systems, clocking and performance issues in system design, design-automation tools and their applications, introduction to testing.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Recognize and explain the flow of designing complex digital system such as System-on-a-chip (SOC).
- 2.
  Identify the use of high-level hardware descriptive language in design digital system.
- 3.
  Recognize the design of the VLSI architecture for basic digital arithmetic building blocks.
- 4.
  Define the circuit and architecture design of different types of memory blocks.
- 5.
  Describe the techniques of designing low-power and high-performance digital circuits and systems.
- 6.
  Analyze, design, and debug simple digital systems.
- 7.
  Work in a team environment, and demonstrate effective project and time management through course design project.
EESM 5060
Embedded Systems
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 5900A
Exclusion(s)
ISDN 5060
Description
This course introduces trends and design strategies for embedded systems. It will give a holistic view of embedded system design using smart phone as an example. It covers the basic hardware and software components involved in a complex embedded system. It also covers the design and use of System-on-a-chip (SoC) in embedded systems. The course will also discuss the design issues such as testability and power considerations. Hands-on experience will be provided.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Recognize and define the basic software and hardware components of an embedded system.
- 2.
  Recognize the anatomy of a mobile embedded system, and identify the key hardware of a smart phone and software components of a mobile operating system.
- 3.
  Analyze, design, and debug simple software and hardware components used in an embedded system.
- 4.
  Explain the interaction between the hardware and software components of a mobile embedded system, and the importance of integration of hardware and software components in optimizing the performance of the embedded system.
- 5.
  Work in a team environment, and demonstrate effective project and time management in lab sessions.
EESM 5100
Analog IC Analysis and Design
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 503
Description
Current sources, output stages, operational amplifiers, frequency response, feedback analysis, stability and compensation, slew rate, advanced integrated-circuit design techniques, analog VLSI building blocks.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Define the basic building blocks of analog integrated circuits, including current and voltage sources, single-gain-stage amplifier, multi-stage amplifiers and operational amplifiers.
- 2.
  Analyze and compute mathematically the behaviors of an operational amplifier, including voltage gain, response time, unity-gain bandwidth and power consumption.
- 3.
  Diagnose the stability of an amplifier and explain how to compensate the amplifier to achieve stability.
- 4.
  Design a multi-stage amplifier to meet certain constraints, such as supply voltage, power consumption and response time.
- 5.
  Use software tools, such as HSpice, to simulate the behaviors of a multi-stage amplifier.
EESM 5120
Advanced Analog IC Analysis and Design
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 504
Exclusion(s)
ELEC 5040
Background
ELEC 4420 and ELEC 4510
Description
Noise analysis, advanced op-amp design techniques, analog VLSI building blocks, multipliers, oscillators, mixers, phase-locked loops, A/D and D/A converters, passive filter design, frequency scaling, active filter design.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify, formulate, analyze, and design Advanced Analog Integrated Circuits and Systems (amplifiers, filters, ADCs, DACs, etc.) for various applications.
- 2.
  Design and simulate Advanced Analog Integrated Circuits and Systems to meet target specifications subject to practical constraints.
- 3.
  Use appropriate simulation tools (including HSPICE, Cadence, Matlab, Switcap, etc.) to help design and simulate Advanced Analog Integrated Circuits and Systems with clear identification of their limitations and optimization.
- 4.
  Communicate effectively design choices and considerations via oral presentations and written reports.
EESM 5200
Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuit Designs
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 506
Mode of Delivery
[BLD] Blended learning
Description
Review of MOSFET characteristics, device modeling for circuit simulation (SPICE models), the BSIM MOSFET models, other semiconductor models, circuit model parameter characterization, design guard-band and statistical modeling.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Communicate with the language of semiconductor (diode, BJT, MOSFET, doping, Fermi-level, drift-diffusion, etc.).
- 2.
  Describe the basic principles of some common circuit active elements plus photo active devices (solar cell, LED, CCD).
- 3.
  Describe the effects of changing the key physical parameters of diode, BJT and MOSFET on the trend (increase or decrease) of the output characteristics.
- 4.
  Define the operation of a cleanroom.
- 5.
  Match a given model to measurement data by selecting relevant parameters.
EESM 5310
Power Management Circuits and Systems
[2-0-0:2]
Background
ELEC 4420, ELEC 4430
Description
The course will cover power management circuits such as voltage references, linear voltage regulators, switched-inductor and switched-capacitor power converters; and power management systems for energy harvesting, RFID and bio-medical implants.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify, formulate, analyze and design power management integrated circuits and systems.
- 2.
  Use simulation tools to help design power management integrated circuits and systems.
- 3.
  Communicate effectively design choices and considerations via written reports.
EESM 5320
Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits Design
[2-0-0:2]
Description
The course will cover radio-frequency circuit design techniques for wireless transceivers. At the end of the course, students should be familiar and acquire basic knowledge in transceiver architecture and integration, low-noise amplifiers, mixers, synthesizers, phase-locked loops, VCOs, and power amplifiers.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify, formulate, analyze, and design High-Frequency Integrated Circuits and Transceiver Systems for wireless applications.
- 2.
  Design and simulate High-Frequency Integrated Circuits and Transceiver Systems to meet target specifications subject to practical constraints.
- 3.
  Use appropriate simulation tools (including Cadence, SpectreRF, Verilog-A, Asitic, Momentum, etc.) to help design and simulate High-Frequency Integrated Circuits and Transceiver Systems with clear identification of their limitations and optimization.
- 4.
  Communicate effectively design choices and considerations via oral presentations and written reports.
EESM 5515
IP Networks
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 515
Description
Designed for students with or without background in computer networks, this course covers the basic layer model for computer communications, TCP/IP and related protocols, local area networks, and advanced topics in unicast and multicast routing, QoS, mobile IP, and security.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Recognize the key technological developments in networking technology.
- 2.
  Identify the fundamental principles for constructing a computer network.
EESM 5536
Digital Communications
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 536
Exclusion(s)
ELEC 5360
Background
Probability theory
Description
This course provides a comprehensive coverage of digital communication theory and design. Emphasis placed on system goals and trade-offs. Review of signals and systems, probability and stochastic processes; optimal detection of signals in noise; basic information theory concepts; coding; basic and advanced digital modulation schemes; signaling through band-limited and wireless channels; spread-spectrum communications.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Recognize the key technological developments of digital communications.
- 2.
  Identify the fundamental principles related to digital communication technology.
- 3.
  Perform basic performance evaluation and system design for digital communications.
- 4.
  Comprehend technical specifications and explain how and why practical digital communications systems are designed.
EESM 5539
Wireless Communication Networks
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 539
Exclusion(s)
EESM 5670
Background
EESM 5515, EESM 5546
Description
Systems and protocols for wireless communication networks; from cellular to wireless IP applications, physical layer design for wireless systems with case studies, multiple access protocols, wireless networking technologies, evolution of wireless infrastructure for cellular systems, wireless network performance and link budget coverage analysis, packet data access and protocols, QoS for wireless multimedia.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify the design principles of wireless communication systems.
- 2.
  Illustrate the practical protocols of circuit-switched and packet-switched wireless cellular radio access networks.
- 3.
  Recognize the core network design and end-to-end protocol stack in cellular networks.
- 4.
  Describe and explain the protocol of WiFi IEEE 802.11.
- 5.
  Identify the future trends of wireless communications and broadband networking.
EESM 5540
Introduction to Telecommunication Networks
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 540
Description
Wired and wireless network structures, copper and optical access, transmission and switching, signaling and control, optical communications and wavelength networks, modern packet networking, virtualization, and the telecommunications business.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify the key components of the modern telecom network and describe their major underpinning technologies and working principles.
- 2.
  Effectively interpret scientific, engineering, and standard literatures related to the telecom industry.
- 3.
  Identify some of the major business sectors of the telecom industry and describe their operating characteristics.
EESM 5546
Wireless Communication Systems
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 546
Background
ELEC 4180 (prior to 2014-15) or equivalent
Description
Overview of cellular structure and frequency reuse; mobile radio propagation and path loss models; statistical nature of radio channels; coding and time or frequency diversity; spread spectrum CDMA techniques and 3G Systems; OFDM and Wireless LAN standards; fast frequency hopping technology and Bluetooth.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Calculate path loss and receive power based on large-scale radio propagation models.
- 2.
  Describe the cellular structure and determine the frequency reuse factor.
- 3.
  Describe different small-scale channel variation models, and determine their key parameters.
- 4.
  Describe different techniques to combat frequency flat fading.
- 5.
  Characterize key parameters for antennas for wireless communications.
- 6.
  Describe spread spectrum techniques and their applications in 3G systems, and calculate user capacity for CDMA systems.
- 7.
  Describe the basic principles of OFDM and its application in WLAN.
- 8.
  Describe basic MIMO techniques, including spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity.
- 9.
  Analyze technical papers on an advanced topic on wireless communications and write a report.
EESM 5547
Multimedia Signal Processing
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 547
Description
Basic signal processing theory, image and video characteristics and processing, compression techniques, entropy coding, predictive coding, transform coding, vector quantization, subband coding, audio and speech processing, coding standards, real-time processing, watermarking, digital rights management.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify image and video characteristics.
- 2.
  Analyze and evaluate multimedia signal compression problems.
- 3.
  Integrate theoretical principles and practical implementations to solve multimedia signal compression problems.
EESM 5600
Photonics Technology and Applications
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 510
Description
This course introduces the fundamentals of photonics, as well as provides a survey on the frontiers of optics and photonics technology. Fundamental topics include: geometric and wave optics, fiber optics, semiconductor light sources, and electro-optics. Selected special topics include: biophotonics, micro and nano optics, photonic integrated circuits and components, optical switching and RF photonics.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Describe the fundamental concepts of photonics.
- 2.
  Strengthen problem-solving and communications skills.
- 3.
  Strengthen project management skills.
- 4.
  Identify current developments in photonics.
EESM 5620
Flat Panel Displays
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 525
Exclusion(s)
ELEC 5250 (prior to 2018-19)
Description
Discussions on various flat-panel display technologies. Emphasis will be placed on liquid crystal displays. Liquid crystal alignment and optics. Driving methods. Active matrix. Bistable displays. Plasma display panels. Inorganic and organic light emitting diodes physics and devices.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Define the basic optics and quality criteria of display devices.
- 2.
  Compare Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) with other Flat Panel Displays (FPDs), Plasma Display Panels (PDPs), Organic Light Emitted Diodes (OLEDs), etc.
- 3.
  Describe the physical properties of liquid crystals and preparation of liquid crystal cells for the most important applications.
- 4.
  Summarize basic electrooptical phenomena as a basis for liquid crystals devices.
- 5.
  Demonstrate how to control the liquid crystal behaviors in electric fields by varying its macroscopic physical parameters, cell geometry and addressing schemes.
- 6.
  Compare recent liquid crystal display applications in TV, desktop, PC, mobile, car, aviation, E-paper, etc.
EESM 5650
Digital Communication Networks and Systems
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 514
Description
This course provides an overview to the fundamental concepts in both digital communication networks and digital communication systems. Physical layer concepts of signal space and digital modulation are highlighted including M-ary modulation, OFDM and MIMO. Higher layers are introduced including MAC layer protocols such as IEEE802.11, internet protocols, routing algorithms, transport layer including TCP and local area networks. Approaches to analyzing and formulating digital communication networks and systems using these concepts will also be included.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Describe the key methods and technologies utilized in digital communication networks and systems.
- 2.
  Identify problems and trade-offs typically encountered in digital communication networks and systems.
- 3.
  Interpret technical specifications in practical digital communication networks and systems.
- 4.
  Calculate and assess the performance of digital communication networks and systems.
- 5.
  Formulate and devise digital communication networks and systems that can meet prescribed specifications.
EESM 5670
Advanced Architectures and Designs for Communication Networks
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 581
Exclusion(s)
EESM 5539
Description
Design and implementation of computer architectures; analysis and comparison of different architectures; fundamental concepts including pipelining, instruction-level parallelism, memory hierarchies, input/output architectures, and multiprocessing; modern issues including networking architecture, storage area networking, and VLSI scaling.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Explain the design principles of various modern communication networks.
- 2.
  Describe the detailed protocol of IP and wireless cellular networks.
- 3.
  Explain why communication systems are designed in the way they are in the industry.
- 4.
  Summarize the basic architecture of routers and switches.
- 5.
  Identify the future trends of the communication and computer networking.
EESM 5720
Signal Analysis and Pattern Recognition
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 534
Description
Computer-based interpretation of signals; temporal, frequency, and wavelet analysis; fractal analysis; object segmentation; data fusion; pattern recognition; density estimation; feature selection and extraction; clustering; dynamic time warping; hidden Markov models; examples from biomedical signal processing and speech recognition.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Identify the components required to build modern pattern recognition systems and their function.
- 2.
  Compare and contrast different pattern recognition techniques.
- 3.
  Calculate explicitly the decision boundaries resulting from a number of pattern recognition techniques on simple 1D and 2D data sets.
- 4.
  Formulate a pattern classification problem, and use software packages and datasets to build pattern classifiers.
- 5.
  Empirically compare and explain the effects of changing the hyper parameters of a classifier on real data.
EESM 5730
Modern Control Systems Design
[3-0-0:3]
Background
Some prior knowledge in signals and systems, and ordinary differential equations
Description
This course introduces basic concepts, tools and techniques for modeling, analysis, and design of modern control systems. The course starts from the use of differential equations and Laplace transforms to model continuous time systems. Then, basic tools needed for analyzing the behavior of dynamical systems will be presented. Finally, techniques for controlling their behavior will be introduced.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Model simple dynamical systems using differential equations.
- 2.
  Manipulate models of LTI systems in different forms, such as differential equations, transfer functions, and block diagrams, analytically and through the use of MATLAB.
- 3.
  Assess the impact of stability in a physical system and the use of feedback control to achieve stability.
- 4.
  Complete a real feedback control task from modeling, controller design, and simulation using MATLAB.
- 5.
  Identify robustness and performance issues in a control system and methods of addressing these issues.
EESM 5770
Engineering Research and Career Development
[3-0-0:3]
Exclusion(s)
ELEC 5900
Description
This class is designed to give a general perspective about ecosystem of research to students who are interested to know more about the subject. It is intended to introduce to students how the research process can expand their horizon and benefit their career planning. It focuses on the high value-added activities of the research supply chain to build up students' competence in their future career pursuit both in industrial or academic organizations.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Describe the scientific method of doing research.
- 2.
  Evaluate the quality of research outcomes.
- 3.
  Use some online literature and referencing tools.
- 4.
  Write a proper research proposal.
- 5.
  Write a research paper review.
- 6.
  Present and defend the research work.
- 7.
  Apply research methodology to increase working efficiency.
- 8.
  Identify the process of technology transfer and entrepreneurship.
EESM 5820
Current and Emerging Technologies in Telecommunications
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 5900F
Description
This course covers different emerging important topics related to telecommunications. Topics covered include 5G networks and massive MIMO systems, advanced radio resource management (RRM) for video streaming and networked control applications, cloud computing, smart grid networks, bit coin and security, inter-domain routing, Content-Centric Networking, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and congestion controls in data center networks, and others.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Present a holistic view of different emerging topics related to telecommunications.
- 2.
  Recognize and identify the components of different emerging topics related to telecommunications.
- 3.
  Identify and explain the basic concepts and fundamental principles of emerging technologies such as SG networks, cloud computing, bit-coin security, and content-centric networking.
- 4.
  Identify the tradeoff between different designs of these emerging technologies.
EESM 5900
Special Topics
[1-3 credit(s)]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 600
Description
Selected topics of current interest. May be repeated for credit if different topics are covered.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Analyze and evaluate the selected topics of current interest which may not be covered by existing courses.
EESM 5910
Topics in Telecommunications and Network Convergence
[3-0-0:3]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 691
Description
This course integrates the MSc program materials together by covering one or more selected topics in the following areas: network convergence; multimedia and content delivery protocols; broadband signaling, and new IP signaling standards; mobile network and applications; other topics.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Analyze and evaluate the performance trade-off in voice over IP multiplexing systems.
- 2.
  Identify the technical issues related to voice traffic over the Internet.
EESM 6900
Independent Study
[3 credits]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 690
Description
Selected topics in electronic and computer engineering studied under the supervision of a faculty member.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Examine a specific subject in electronic engineering.
- 2.
  Formulate one or multiple problems in the specific subject.
- 3.
  Integrate theoretical principles and practical skills to solve the defined problems.
- 4.
  Communicate the problems and solutions through scientific writings.
EESM 6980
MSc Project
[1-4 credit(s)]
Previous Course Code(s)
EESM 698
Description
Independent project carried out under the supervision of a faculty member. This course may be run repeatedly for credit(s).
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.
  Consolidate knowledge from different courses through a project.
- 2.
  Recognize how a practical communication system is designed.
- 3.
  Explain why communications and networking systems in practice are designed in a certain way using theories learnt in various courses.
- 4.
  Present clearly and concisely how a technology is applied in practical systems.

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