Graduate Course Offerings

Electrical and Computer Engineering
Fall 2026
Classes begin 9/2/2026

Department contact: 508.999.9164
Dr. Paul J. Gendron, Chairperson
Dr. Yifei Li, Graduate Program Director

Course Descriptions

ECE 471 three credits
Communications Theory
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ECE 321 and ECE 384
General Education requirement: Natural Science Technology

Probability theory, signals and linear networks, Fourier transforms, random processes and noise are reviewed. Analog communications including amplitude and frequency modulation with and without noise are studied. Digital communications including baseband pulse modulation, quantization, sampling theory, digital pulse shaping, matched filter, Nyquist criterion and error rates due to noise are covered.

ECE 524 three credit
Solid State Electronics
3 hours lecture

Solid state device behavior. Among the topics covered are semiconductor fundamentals, p-n junction theory, and both the bipolar and the field effect transistor. Emphasis is placed on those transistor parameters that need to be considered in VLSI and microwave applications.

ECE 534 three credits
RF Circuit Design
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ECE 435

Design and analysis of radio-frequency discrete components and integrated circuits. The course focuses on practical high frequency circuit techniques and physical understanding of active devices such as diodes and transistors. Topics include RF passive circuits and RF active circuits such as amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators. RF integrated circuit design will precede two design projects based on the Agilent ADS EAD package.

ECE 549 three credits
Network Security
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: CPE graduate students, or CPE BS/MS seniors, or permission of instructor

Principles and practices of security in computer networks. This course covers the theoretical foundations of securing computer networks including cryptography and models. It steps through the practical process of defending networking resources. It also reveals various case studies, large and small, to familiarize the techniques that attackers use. An Internet Testbed is facilitated for students to experiment attacks and defenses.

ECE 551 three credits
Acoustic and Electromagnetic Waves
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ELE/CPE graduate standing or permission from instructor

Principles of oscillations, radiation, and propagation of waves in acoustics and elctromagnetics for bounded and unbounded media. Introduction to the derivation of the wave equation from Maxwell's equations in electromagnetics and vibration theory in acoustics and the application of the wave equation to wave propagation in SONAR and RADAR environments. Examples include acoustic and electromagnetic propagation in air and ocean environments, waveguides and optical fibers, transducers and antennas, radiation and reception of signals, dispersion, phase and group velocity, attenuation, reflection, refraction, and scattering.

ECE 565 three credits
Operating Systems
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ELE/CPE graduate standing or permission from instructor
General Education requirement: Natural Science Technology

Operating system design and implementation using the specifics of current operating systems. The course covers file, process, memory and Input/Output management; multitasking, synchronization, and deadlocks; scheduling, and inter-process communication. Projects include team system's programming assignments to investigate the kernel interface, files, processes, and inter-process communication for a current operating system.

ECE 574 three credits
Discrete-Time Signal Processing
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ELE/CPE graduate standing or permission from instructor

Representation, analysis and design of discrete signals and systems. Topics include a review of the z-transform and the discrete-time Fourier transform, the fast Fourier transform, digital filter structures, digital filter design techniques, quantization issues and effects of finite word-length arithmetic, sampling and oversampling, decimation and interpolation, linear prediction, the Hilbert transform, and the complex cepstrum. Students gain experience in analyzing and designing digital signal processing systems through computer projects.

ECE 591 three credits
Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Topic: Linear Optical Systems
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

This course introduces Fourier-based methods for the analysis and design of linear systems, with an emphasis on their extension to two-dimensional signals and imaging applications. Topics include two-dimensional Fourier transforms, spatial-frequency analysis, linear filtering, the representation of optical imaging systems as linear shift-invariant systems, and the application of Fourier techniques to optical image formation and data processing.

Learning Objectives - Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Represent and analyze two-dimensional object distributions in the spatial and spatial-frequency domains using Fourier analysis.
2. Estimate the two-dimensional Fourier transforms of standard image functions and patterns.
3. Analyze the effects of linear spatial filters on signals and images.
4. Model an optical imaging system as a linear shift-invariant system using its impulse response, transfer function, and convolution relationships.
5. Analyze and compare optical imaging systems based on their spatial-domain and spatial-frequency responses.
6. Apply Fourier-domain techniques to optical image formation, filtering, and data-processing problems.

ECE 620 three credits
Dependable and Secure Computing
3 hours lecture
Prerequisites: ECE 454 or 544

Advanced topics on dependability and security modeling, analysis and design techniques for computer-based systems and networks. Topics include multistate, phased-mission, fault-tolerant networks, social networks, distributed systems, imperfect coverage, and dependent failures. Projects aiming to prepare students to perform research in dependable and secure computing are required. Substantial emphasis is placed on reading research papers in a critical and analytical manner.