Signal Processing is a broad and growing discipline concerned with the manipulation and analysis of both analog and digital (sampled and quantized) signals. For example, a common use of both analog and digital processing is for filtering electrical signals to remove unwanted noise or to separate one signal from another. Examples of more sophisticated uses of signal processing arise in the formation of an X-ray CT image for medical diagnosis, or in machine recognition and synthesis of speech. Increasingly sophisticated uses of signal processing have appeared in these areas and in many others, including communications, control, image and video processing, radar, sonar, geophysical exploration, and consumer electronics. This expanded use of signal processing techniques has been prompted by advances in both the mathematical theory and the physical devices used for signal processing. This is especially true for digital signal processing, where sampled and quantized analog signals are processed using computers or special-purpose digital hardware.
The field of signal processing includes the mathematical theory of the subject as well as the design and analysis of the necessary devices for carrying out the processing. Undergraduates desiring a specialization in signal processing should consider the electives listed below, which range from theoretical courses in digital signal processing, communications, control systems, and mathematics, to more implementation-oriented courses in circuits and computers.
SUGGESTED ECE ELECTIVES
- ECE 313- Probability with Engineering Applications
- ECE 461- Digital Communications
- ECE 310- Digital Signal Processing
- ECE 418- Introduction to Image and Video Signal Processing
- ECE 420- Embedded DSP Laboratory
- ECE 459- Communications I
- ECE 486- Control Systems I
Other ECE Electives to Consider
- ECE 342- Electronic Circuits
- ECE 391- Computer Systems Engineering
- ECE 411- Computer Organization and Design
- ECE 425- Introduction to VLSI System Design
- ECE 438- Communication Networks for Computers
- ECE 350-Fields and Waves II
- ECE 453- Radio Communication Circuits
- ECE 460- Optical Imaging
- ECE 463- Digital Communications Lab
- ECE 480- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- ECE 482- Digital IC Design
- ECE 483- Analog IC Design
Suggested Math Electives*
* Students planning on graduate work should consider taking Math 418 in place of Math 415 and either Math 444 or Math 447.
