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Electrical and Computer Engineering

Catalog pages 328-341

Subject abbreviation: EE The Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering

Ertem Tuncel, Ph.D., Department Chair Department Office, Winston Chung Hall, Suite 343

  • (951) 827-2484; www.ece.ucr.edu

Professors

Matthew J. Barth, Ph.D., BCOE Associate Dean

for Research and Graduate Education Bir Bhanu, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Amit Roy-Chowdhury, Ph.D., Bourns Family

Faculty Fellow, C.R.I.S. Director, Robotics Program Chair Jay A. Farrell, Ph.D., KA Endowed Chair Yingbo Hua, Ph.D. Alexander Korotkov, Ph.D. Roger Lake, Ph.D., Department Vice-Chair Jianlin Liu, Ph.D. Hamed Mohsenian-Rad, Ph.D., Bourns Family

Faculty Fellow Mihri Ozkan, Ph.D. Wei Ren, Ph.D. Sheldon Tan, Ph.D. Ertem Tuncel, Ph.D., Department Chair Albert Wang, Ph.D., UC-LIGHT Director

Professors Emeriti

Gerardo Beni, Ph.D. Ilya Dumer, Ph.D. Susan Hackwood, Ph.D. Ping Liang, Ph.D.

Associate Professors

Roman Chomko, Ph.D. Shane A. Cybart, Ph.D. Elaine D. Haberer, Ph.D. Hyoseung Kim, Ph.D., CEN Program Director Cong Liu, Ph.D. Ming Liu, Ph.D. Anastasios I. Mourikis, Ph.D. Shaolei Ren, Ph.D. Nanpeng Yu, Ph.D., Vice Chair of

Graduate Affairs

Assistant Professors

Salman Asif, Ph.D. Jia Chen, Ph.D. Xi Chen, Ph.D. Ran Cheng, Ph.D. Basak Guler, Ph.D. Konstantinos Karydis, Ph.D. Hang Qiu Ph.D. Hung-Wei Tseng, Ph.D. Daniel Wong, Ph.D. Yinglun Zhu Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Alexander Balandin, Ph.D.,

Distinguished Professor, P.O.E.M. Director

Associate Adjunct Professors

Gang Chen, Ph.D. Aleksander Khitun, Ph.D. Guoyuan Wu, Ph.D.

Assistant Adjunct Professors

Seyed Hossein Akhavan-Hejazi, Ph.D. Fariborz Kargar, Ph.D. Alfredo Martinez-Morales, Ph.D. Hamidreza Nazaripouya, Ph.D. Mahesh R. Neupane, Ph.D. Samet Oymak, Ph.D.

Cooperating Faculty

Boris Bar, Ph.D. (Entomology) Ludwig Bartels, Ph.D. (Chemistry) Laxmi Bhuyan, Ph.D. (Computer Science and

Engineering) Philip L. Brisk, Ph.D. (Computer Science and

Engineering) Michalis Faloutsos, Ph.D. (Computer Science

and Engineering) Xiaoping Hu, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Walid Najjar, Ph.D. (Computer Science and

Engineering) Erfan Nozari, Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering) Cengiz Ozkan, Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering) Hyle Park, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Fabio Pasqualetti, Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering) Luat T. Vuong, Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering) Ran Wei, Ph.D. (School of Public Policy) Bryan M. Wong, Ph.D. (Chemical and

Environmental Engineering)

Affiliated Emeritus

J. Keith Oddson, Ph.D. (Mathematics)

Lecturers

Hossny El-Sherief, Ph.D. Tofigh Heidarzadeh, Ph.D. Aleksander Khitun, Ph.D. Matt Vaezi, Ph.D.

Major

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering jointly offers B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering. For more information on the Computer Engineering degree programs, see Computer Engineering in this catalog.

Graduates of UCR’s BS degree program in Electrical Engineering will meet high professional, ethical, and societal goals as demonstrated by accomplishing, at least one different item in each of two different categories:

success in post-graduation studies as evidenced by:

• satisfaction with the decision to further

their education

• advanced courses completed or advanced

degrees earned

• professional visibility (e.g. publications,

presentations, patents, inventions, awards) • professional responsibilities (e.g. professional

mentoring, professional society membership and offices, reviewing and editorial work for professional journals)

success in a chosen profession or vocation as evidenced by:

• career satisfaction

• promotions/raises (e.g. management

leadership positions or distinguished technical positions)

• professional visibility (e.g. publications,

presentations, patents, inventions, awards)

• professional responsibilities (e.g.

professional registration, professional mentoring, professional society membership and offices)

• entrepreneurial activities

• consulting activities

contributions to society and profession as evidenced by:

• leadership roles

• public service

• mentoring / outreach activities

• volunteer service

• establishment and maintenance of

professional networks

All undergraduates in the College of Engineering must see an advisor at least annually. Visit student.engr.ucr.edu for details.

The Electrical Engineering B.S. degree program at UCR is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, abet.org. For more details see https://www.ece.ucr.edu/ academics/abet/vopeo.

Undergraduate Program Focus Areas

The electrical engineering undergraduate program offers the following focus areas:

  • 1. Communications, Signal Processing and

Networking: Fundamental and state- of-the-art theory and applications of acquisition, processing, and transmission of digital signals and images over wire, wireless (radio frequency), fiber optics, etc. Example applications include speech processing and recognition, mobile communication using smartphones, fiber optical communication, image enhancement and compression.

  • 2. Control and Robotics: Fundamental theory,

design and applications of feedback control systems and autonomous robots capable of making intelligent decisions. Example applications include automotive, marine, aircraft, and satellite control systems; motion planning, control and decision making for autonomous unmanned aerial, ground, surface, and underwater vehicles; autonomous positioning and navigation; advanced robotic manufacturing; and machine vision

  • 3. Embedded Systems and VLSI: Theory,

design and methodologies of embedded system using microcontrollers, very large scale, nanometer integrated circuits. Example applications include smart home appliances, Internet of Things, microprocessors, analog and mixed signal circuits, RF circuits for cell phones and wireless networks, system-on-chip and wireless networks, system-on-chip.

  • 4. Intelligent Systems: Foundations and

applications for acquisition and analysis of multimodal data, and inference for intelligent pattern recognition, machine learning, and decision making. Examples include, learning from sensor data; pattern recognition, computer vision, and image processing; system approximation and modeling; decision-making under uncertainty; probabilistic robotics; and intelligent transportation systems.

  • 5. Nanotechnology, Advanced

Materials, and Devices: Synthesis and characterization of advanced materials at nanometer scale, theory, design and fabrication of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Example applications include creation of ultra- fast low-power transistors, efficient solar cells for energy generation, highdensity memory for smart phones and mobile services, and tiny devices for medical applications.

  • 6. Power Systems and Smart Grid: Power

electronics, AC and DC power and their conversion, electro-mechanical energy conversion, electric motors, large-scale power generation and transmission systems, long-distance transmission and distribution of electric power, design of motion control drive circuits for robotic and industrial automation systems, and other related topics.

All undergraduates in the College of Engineering must see an advisor at least annually. For details, visit student.engr.ucr.edu.

Change of Major Criteria

All students who request a change of major to Electrical Engineering must meet the following requirements:

• Be in good academic standing

• Have no less than a C- in any Math,

Science and Engineering coursework

• Have a minimum 2.0 GPA in all Math,

Science and Engineering required coursework

• Be able to complete major within

maximum allowable units

• Complete all the courses listed below,

based on the total number of units earned, prior to submitting the major change request

• UCR transfer students interested in

changing to a BCOE major must have been admissible to the major at point of entry, or must satisfy transfer admission and change of major requirements before earning 120 units

• If changing in the 90-119 units category

student must have the ability to complete major within 5 years of entry as aFreshmen or 3 years after entry as aTransfer student • Students who have earned 120 or more

units are not eligible for a change of major in BCOE. NOTE: AP/IB units are excluded from maximum unit calculation

Completed 0 to less than 45 units Completion of ENGL 001A with C or better andcompletion of the following with at least 2.7 GPA in:

• MATH 009A or MATH 09HA

• MATH 009B or MATH 09HB

• PHYS 040A

Completed 45 to less than 90 units Completion of ENGL 001A with C or better andcompletion of the following with at least 2.500 GPA

• C or better in CS 010A

• MATH 009A or MATH 09HA

• MATH 009B or MATH 09HB

• MATH 009C or MATH 09HC

• PHYS 040A

Completed 90 to less than 120 units Completion of ENGL 001A and ENGL 001B with C or better and completion of the following with at least 2.500 GPA:

• C or better in CS 010A

• EE 030A

• EE 030LA

• MATH 009A or MATH 09HA

• MATH 009B or MATH 09HB

• MATH 009C or MATH 09HC

• PHYS 040A

• PHYS 040B

University Requirements

See Undergraduate Studies section.

College Requirements

See The Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering, Colleges and Programs section.

The Electrical Engineering major uses the following major requirements to satisfy the college’s Natural Sciences and Mathematics breadth requirement.

  • 1. One course in the biological sciences

chosen from an approved list

Major Requirements

  • 1. Lower-division requirements (73 units)
  • a) One course in the biological sciences

chosen from an approved list

EE 30LA, EE 030B

MATH 010A, MATH 010B

CS 120A/EE 120A, CS 120B/EE 120B, EE 132, EE 133, EE 142, EE 175A, EE 175B

  • c) Twenty-four (24) units of technical

electives chosen from CS 161, CS 162, CS 168/EE 168; EE 105, EE 106, EE 100B, EE 115, EE 117, EE 118, EE 123, EE 128, EE 135, EE 136, EE 137, EE 138, EE 139, EE 141, EE 144, EE 145/ME 145, EE 146, EE 147, EE 148, EE 150, EE 151, EE 152, EE 153, EE 155, EE 162, EE 165, EE 168, ENGR 160

To ensure depth, the choice of technical electives must include at least one coherent sequence of at least four (4) courses (two required courses plus two additional) in one focus area of electrical engineering, and two (2) other technical elective courses, as defined below.

• Communications, Signal Processing and

Networking. Required courses: EE 115, EE 141. Sequence Courses: EE 100B, EE 117, EE 118, EE 146, EE 150, EE 152, ENGR 160

• Control and Robotics. Required Courses:

EE 105, EE 144. Sequence Courses: EE 106, EE 141, EE 145/ME 145, EE 146, EE 151, EE 152, ENGR 160

• Embedded Systems and VLSI. Required

Courses: EE 128, EE 168. Sequence Courses: EE 100B, EE 117, EE 118, EE 135, EE 141, EE 147, EE 165, CS 161, CS 162

• Intelligent Systems. Required Courses: EE 144, EE 146. Sequence Courses: EE 105, EE 106, EE 115, EE 128, EE 141, EE 145, EE 147, EE 150, EE 151, EE 152, ENGR 160

• Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and

Devices. Required Courses: EE 136, EE 137. Sequence Courses: EE 100B, EE 117, EE 118, EE 135, EE 138, EE 139, EE 162, EE 168

• Power Systems and Smart Grid. Required

Courses: EE 123, EE 155. Sequence Courses: EE 100B, EE 117, EE 128, EE 153, ENGR 160

Example course sequences are available through the Student Affairs Office in the College of Engineering or student.engr.ucr.edu

Graduate Program

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers programs leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

University requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering are given in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog.

Research focus areas currently include communications, computer vision, control, detection and estimation, distributed systems, electronic materials, error-correcting codes, image processing, information theory, intelligent sensors, intelligent systems, machine learning, modeling and simulation, multimedia, advanced materials, nanostructures and nanodevices, navigation, neural networks, pattern recognition, robotics and automation, signal processing, solid-state devices and circuits, system identification, and transportation systems. Combined B.S. + M.S. Five-Year Program The college offers a combined B.S. + M.S. program in Electrical Engineering designed to lead to a Bachelor of Science degree as well as a Master of Science degree in five years. Applicants for this program must have a high school GPA above 3.6, a combined SAT Reasoning score above 1950 (or ACT plus Writing equivalent), complete the Entry Level Writing Requirement before matriculation, and have sufficient mathematics preparation to enroll in calculus in their first quarter as freshmen.

Students in the B.S. + M.S. program are allowed to count up to 12 units of undergraduate technical electives taken as UCR undergraduates towards the 36-unit requirements of the M.S. degree.

Interested students who are entering their junior year should check with their academic advisor for information on eligibility and other details.

Admission All applicants for the M.S. and Ph.D. programs must submit official scores for the GRE General Test. All applicants whose native language is not English and who do not have a degree from an institution where English is the exclusive language of instruction must complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 550 (paper-based), 220 (computer-based), or 90 (Internet-based).

Applicants must meet the general admission requirements of the Riverside Division of the Academic Senate and the UCR Graduate Council as set forth in the UC Riverside Graduate Student Application. In addition, Master’s Degree Applicants should have completed a program equivalent to UCR’s B.S. in Electrical Engineering or demonstrate the required knowledge and proficiency in the following subjects:

  • 1. Mathematics, including calculus, differen

tial equations, and complex variables

  • 2. Circuits and electronics (equivalent of

EE 100A and EE 100B)

  • 3. Signals and systems (equivalent of EE 111,

or both EE 110A and 110B)

  • 4. Logic design, digital systems, and

microcomputers (equivalent of EE 120A and 120B)

  • 5. Control systems (equivalent of EE 132)
  • 6. At least one major high-level program

ming language and associated programming techniques (equivalent of CS 010)

Students with background in other scientific fields are encouraged to apply. Applicants lacking minimum undergraduate preparation in the above areas may be admitted, but must take the appropriate undergraduate courses as approved by the Graduate Advisor. If admitted, these students must correct all deficiencies within the first year of graduate study. Courses taken for this purpose do not count towards an advanced degree.

Master of Science

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering.

General university requirements are listed in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog. Students may obtain an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering through either Plan I (Thesis) or Plan II (Comprehensive Examination). The normative time for a student to complete the M.S. degree under both Plan I or Plan II is six quarters (two years). Students who are admitted with deficiencies may require up to three additional quarters.

Plan I (Thesis) Students must complete 36 units of approved graduate work in Electrical Engineering and related areas such as Computer Science and Materials Science and Engineering. At least 24 of these units must be courses numbered between 200 and 279. At least 12 units must be in graduate research (courses numbered 297 or

MSE 251) and courses numbered 291 are not counted towards the 36 unit requirement.

Students choosing Plan I must submit a master’s thesis in accordance with the general requirements of the University. The thesis must be original research work, and demonstrate the student’s ability to explore a research area, acquire in-depth knowledge of the chosen research topic, and make a research contribution. The thesis must be approved by a committee of at least three faculty members. The thesis must be defended in a two-hour examination open to the public, beginning with a brief presentation by the candidate, and followed by a question-and- answer session.

Plan II (Comprehensive Examination) Students must complete 36 units of approved graduate or upper-division undergraduate coursework in Electrical Engineering and related areas such as Computer Science and Materials Science and Engineering. At least 24 of these units must be graduate-level courses numbered between 200 and 279. To satisfy the remaining 12 units, students may use only EE courses numbered between 200 and 289 excluding colloquium units (CS 287, EE 259, MSE 250, and MSE 251), upper-division undergraduate EE courses numbered 115 and above (with the exception of EE 116, 120, and 132) and up to 8 units of Directed Studies (290). Colloquium units (CS 287, EE 259, MSE 250, and MSE 251) and courses numbered 291 and higher are not counted towards the 36-unit requirement.

In addition to the course requirements of Plan II, students must pass a comprehensive examination administered by the program.

Normative Time to Degree Six quarters (two years)

Doctoral Degree

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering. Admission Students with backgrounds in Electrical Engineering or other related areas are encouraged to apply. An M.S. degree is not required for admission to the Ph.D. program. Under special circumstances, applicants lacking undergraduate preparation in core Electrical Engineering areas related to their field of research may be admitted, but must take the appropriate undergraduate courses to correct the deficiencies within the first year of graduate study. Courses taken for this purpose do not count towards an advanced degree.

Course Work Students must complete at least 36 units of approved graduate coursework in Electrical Engineering and related areas such as Computer Science, Materials Science and Engineering, or other approved subject areas. Only courses numbered between 200 and 279, excluding Colloquium courses (CS 287, EE 259, MSE 250, and MSE 251), may be counted towards this requirement. With Graduate Advisor approval, graduate courses taken and completed as part of a related MS program at UCR may count towards the 36 units of coursework required for the Electrical Engineering PhD program. Students who are admitted with an M.S. degree from a different institution may use up to 16 units of equivalent courses taken during their M.S. study to count towards the requirement.

Students must complete a minimum of six quarters (two years) in residence at UCR with a GPA of 3.00 or better. Students must establish a course plan in coordination with their research advisor or the program Graduate Advisor. The course plan should lend support to the students’ research area, while adding breadth to their overall program. Students may need to take considerably more than 36 units to establish breadth and depth of knowledge in their area of research.

Advancement to Candidacy A student advances to candidacy after he/she has passed the preliminary examination and the oral qualifying examination, as described below.

Preliminary Examination The purpose of the preliminary examination is to screen candidates for continuation in the doctoral program. The examination is administered by the graduate program committee. Students must solve problems from five courses in one of the three Exam Areas:

• signals, systems, and machine intelligence

• nano materials and devices, or

• VLSI Circuits and Systems

At least two of these five problems must be from the “basic” courses and two must be from the “advanced” courses. The fifth problem can be either from the “basic” or the “advanced” courses designated for each Exam Area. Students who did not pass at the Ph.D. level in their first trial will be given a second chance. In the second attempt, they will be required to solve problems only from courses they did not pass at the Ph.D. level in their first attempt. Plan II M.S. candidates who took the M.S. comprehensive examination and successfully passed at the Ph.D. level are given credit for having passed the Ph.D. preliminary examination.

Oral Qualifying Examination Students are expected to demonstrate that they have a thorough understanding of their research field, and are capable of doing cutting-edge research. For that purpose, students must choose a research topic under the guidance of their faculty major professor and orally present to a Qualifying Committee, which is appointed by the Graduate Division based on nominations from the department.

The presentation must be accompanied by an Oral Exam Report, written in proper technical English and in the style of a typical Electrical Engineering conference or journal publication. This report should clearly describe the proposed problem under study, demonstrate substantial knowledge of the topic and related issues, present the research results the student has obtained, and indicate the plans for future work. Students must demonstrate ability to carry out a program of independent advanced research and to report the results in accordance with standards observed in recognized technical journals.

The Oral Qualifying examination is closed to the public.

The student must complete this requirement in no more than two attempts. The normative time for taking the Oral Qualifying Exam is by the end of the third year.

Dissertation Examination and Defense After advancement to candidacy, the student must form a Doctoral Dissertation Committee chaired by his or her major professor. The committee will consist of at least three senate faculty members with at least two members from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department.

When the Doctoral Dissertation Committee determines that a suitable draft of the dissertation has been presented, a dissertation examination and defense for the student is scheduled. The defense consists of a public seminar followed by questions from the committee members and the audience.

Normative Time to Degree 12 quarters (15 quarters for students without an M.S. in Electrical Engineering)

Preparation for Careers in Teaching

All doctoral students are recommended to be employed as teaching assistants for at least three quarters during their graduate career. The department is developing special courses to aid in the learning of effective teaching methods, such as handling discussion/lab sessions and preparing and grading examinations.

Contact the Graduate Student Affairs Officer at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, (951) 827-2484, or visit ece.ucr.edu for information on graduate courses.

Professional Development Requirement

All incoming M.S. and Ph.D. students must satisfactorily complete the Fall, Winter, and Spring offerings of EE 259, Colloquium in Electrical Engineering.

Additionally, students in the Ph.D. program must submit a Professional Development Report that details the students’ efforts in developing their technical writing and presentation skills. This report should be submitted to and approved by the Graduate Committee, as a prerequisite for filing the Oral Qualifying Committee nomination form. Specific requirements for the Professional Development Report are determined by the Graduate Committee.

Courses