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Programs
for graduate students in electronics, computers, and systems lead to the
degrees of Master of Science, Master of Engineering, Electrical Engineer,
Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Science. They emphasize both analysis
and synthesis of devices and systems for measuring or processing signals,
information, or power. Examples of research activities include processing
of digital and analog signals representing audio, visual, or other information;
analog and digital system design; computer architecture and software/hardware
system design; design and analysis of VLSI systems; computer aided circuit
design; circuit theory; electric and electronic power systems; and electronics
for instrumentation and control.
The programs involve academic study, other professional training, and
a thesis that serves as a professional apprenticeship in research and
engineering; these components are described in more detail in the remainder
of this memorandum.
Professional
expertise requires a thorough understanding of fundamentals together with
the more advanced technology unique to one’s area of specialization.
The core Area III subjects are listed in the MIT Bulletin in the section
Electronics, Computers, and Systems and are in the 6.3xx
group. However, because of the broad area of coverage of Area III, at
least half of the other Course 6 subjects are relevant graduate work in
Area III.
Students in Area III are advised either to take the fundamental subjects
relevant to their special interests, or have learned those fundamentals
elsewhere. Note that two advanced undergraduate course can be applied
toward an SM degree. In addition, it is generally recommended that one
or more additional fundamental electives be taken because professional
competence today requires considerable breadth. These courses might form
part of a minor for a doctoral program. The recommended curriculum for
students in Area III includes at least four courses from the 6.3xx group,
including at least one graduate elective course from each of the following
three groups: 1) signal processing, communications, and control, 2) devices,
circuits, and digital design, and 3) the more specialized or applications
courses.
In
addition to regular academic subjects and thesis work, there are important
additional ways to develop professionally. These include teaching and
research assistantships, special seminars on current technical topics,
and membership and participation in appropriate professional societies.
In Area III, it is particularly important to become familiar with current
literature because technology today is too diverse and advancing too rapidly
for the more formal and academic subjects to keep pace. Seminars and professional
journals are appropriate vehicles for developing and preserving such breadth.
Since
Fall, 1999, the department has instituted a new doctoral qualification
procedure. It consistis of two parts, the TQE (technical qualification
exam), and the RQE (research qualification exam). For details, please
refer to the department memoranda (3805 and
3806) on the doctoral qualification procedure.
The
laboratories at MIT that are mostly involved with research in Area III
are the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Microsystems Technology
Laboratories, the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, and
the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems. Several other
laboratories pursue selected programs in this area including the Center
for Materials Science and Engineering, the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory,
and Lincoln Laboratory. Draper Laboratory,
formerly part of MIT, also supports several research assistants. Annual
Progress Reports of these laboratories are available in the MIT libraries
and in the respective laboratory document rooms.
An overview of research in the EECS Department is provided by 6.961, Introduction
to Electrical Engineering Research, which is offered each fall. Area III
also conducts an Open House where representative research areas are discussed
and laboratory tours are arranged.
There
are five broad areas of focus within Area III:
A Signal
Processing, Communications, and Control
The
subjects relevant to signal processing, communications and control include
several which are basic to other areas as well as to Area III. Statistics,
random signals, and noise are discussed in 6.432, and basic principles
of linear system theory are developed in 6.241 and 6.242. Digital signal
processing is presented in 6.341 together with some basic linear system
theory. 6.343, 6.344 and 6.345 are more advanced subjects in signal processing.
Graduate electives develop a variety of other concepts and technologies
basic to the analysis and design of communications, control, and signal
processing systems. Other more mathematical subjects are not listed here
because they normally fall within the province of Area I.
B
Energy and Power Systems
Energy and power systems involve subjects that explore signal processing
devices and techniques involving electromagnetic or mechanical waves,
and therefore are often accompanied by an appropriate background course
in electromagnetics. 6.334, and 6.685 cover
topics in this subject area. Those interested in micro-electromechanical
systems (MEMS) may elect 6.777.
C
Circuits and Systems
Circuits and systems center on device-level circuit and system design,
which are discussed in several undergraduate and graduate subjects. Graduate
students may want to take undergraduate laboratory subjects 6.101, 6.111,
or 6.115 The electives 6.301 and 6.302 have long provided valuable background
for analog electronic circuits. In addition, they may consider graduate
subjects such as 6.331, 6.334, 6.374, 6.376, 6.775, and 6.776.
D
Digital Design and Computer Architecture
Digital design and computer architecture courses include some useful subjects
offered as undergraduate electives. 6.823 is a basic course in computer
architecture but requires some computer science background. 6.374 is the advanced subject in VLSI
and Integrated Circuit design. The thesis and other individual programs
are also very important in developing expertise in this area; these opportunities
are discussed later in this guide. Some students may find it beneficial
to consider other subjects in this sequence, such as 6.004 (computer architecture)
if this material is unfamiliar.
E Computer-Aided Design and
Numerical Methods
Computer-aided
design and numerical method are covered in graduate-level courses such
as 6.336J which introduces computational simulation and optimization,
6.337J for iterative and direct linear solution, FFT, and wavelets, and
6.338J for parallel computing.
Faculty
and staff with research programs relevant to Area III are listed below.
Many have their primary areas listed with another Area. Students are encouraged
to contact these people directly to discuss research projects, research
assistantships, and thesis work. The names are listed alphabetically together
with one or more letters (A,B,C, D or E) indicating whether the research
is primarily in the area of: “A” – signal processing,
communications, and control; “B” – electromagnetic and
acoustic signals and systems; “C” – devices, analog
and device-level circuit design, or “D” – digital design
and computer architecture, "E"- computer-aided design and numerical
methods.
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D |
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Agarwal,
A.
Rm. 32-G782, 3-1448
Computer architecture,
design of scalable multiprocessor systems, VLSI processors, compilation
and runtime technologies for parallel processing, and performance
evaluation. |
A |
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Baggeroer,
A.B.
Rm. 5-206A, 3-4336
Sonar, seismic
and underwater acoustics, signal processing for oceanographic data
systems; space/time and distributed random processes; array processing;
acoustic telemetry. |
D |
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Brooks, R.A.
Rm. 32-G430, 3-5223
Artificial
intelligence, humanoid robots.
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D,A |
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Burns,
S.K.
Rm. 20A-119, 3-2577
Medical instrumentation,
microprocessor-based instrumentation and system development hardware
and software, analog and digital signal processing, real-time computer
networks, electrocardiography, sports medicine, telephony. Medical
instruments in the developing world. |
A,C,D |
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Chandrakasan,
A.P.
Rm. 38-107, 8-7619
Energy efficient
implementation of digital integrated circuits for systems such as
distributed wireless microsensors and portable multimedia devices,
the development of protocols and algorithms for wireless communication,
design methodologies for emerging technologies and collaborative
design tools. |
B,C |
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Cooke,
C.M.
Rm. N10-201, 3-2591
Electrostatic
phenomena, properties and theories of dielectrics at high stresses.
Generation and measurement of high voltages and electron X-ray beams.
High resolution computerized tomography and acoustic wave imaging.
Electronic instrumentation circuits. Sensors and monitoring systems. |
C,E |
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Daniel,
L.
Rm. 36-849, 3-2631
Development
of numerical techniques for simulation and modeling for high speed
interconnect, electromagnetic interference, mixed-signal and analog
RF circuits, MEM devices, and power electronics |
| A,C |
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Dawson,
J.
Rm. 39-527A,
phone: 324-5281
Analog system
theory and its applications; RF transceivers, power amplifier linearization,
high speed data conversion, problems in nolinear control.
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D,E |
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Devadas,
S.
Rm. 32-G844, 3-0454
Automation
of hardware design, including techniques for architectural and logic
synthesis. Validation of hardware and software systems. Intelligent
environments for automated control and adaptive computing. |
B |
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Gray,
M.L.
Rm. E25-519, 8-8974
Electrical,
mechanical and chemical mediators of connective tissue growth and
development. Ion partitioning and transport in biological tissues.
NMR spectroscopy and imaging. Development of silicon micromachined
tools for biological applications. |
C |
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Gray,
P.E.
Rm. 38-344, 3-4665
Electronic
circuits and devices. |
A,B |
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Ilic,
M.
Rm. 10-059, 3-4682
Control of
large scale nonlinear systems; applications to electric power systems;
large scale nonlinear networks. Modeling of economic feedback in
large scale network-based industries. |
C |
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Kassakian,
J.G.
Rm. 10-172, 3-3448
Power electronics.
Power supplies, dc/dc converters, inverters, controlled rectifiers
and motor drives, power semiconductor devices. Product design and
manufacturing. Automotive electronics and electrical systems. |
B,C |
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Kirtley,
J.L., Jr.
Rm. 10-098, 3-2357
Modeling,
analysis, design and fabrication of electromechanical devices and
power systems. Rotating electric machines and power systems. Monitoring
of equipment. Electric and hybrid vehicles. |
D |
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Knight,
T.F.
Rm. 32-312, 3-7807
Computer architectures
and programming languages for artificial intelligence applications,
image and auditory perception. Physics of computation. High speed
digital design. |
A,B |
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Lang,
J.H.
Rm. 10-176, 3-4687
Analysis,
design and control of physical systems. Emphasis on electromechanical
systems. Applications include traditional electric machines, microsensors,
microactuators and flexible structures. Digital control and manufacturing. |
C |
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Lee,
H.-S. Rm. 39-553A, 3-5174
Analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits in CMOS technologies.
Subsystems and circuits including analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog
converters, operational amplifiers, and signal processing circuits.
Applications include communication systems, portable electronics,
and multimedia.
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B,C |
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Leeb,
S.B.
Rm. 10-169, 3-9360
Design, analysis,
construction, control, and monitoring of servomechanical actuators
and mechatronic systems. Applications of exotic materials including
gel polymers to actuator construction. |
C,D |
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Masaki,
I.
Rm. 38-107, 3-8532
VLSI architecture.
Emphasis on interrelationship among applications, systems, algorithms,
and chip architectures. Major application fields includes intelligent
transportation systems, video, and multimedia.
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C |
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Penfield,
P.L., Jr.
Rm. 38-344, 3-2506
Information
and entropy.
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C |
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Perreault,
D.J.
Rm. 10-039, 8-6038
Electronic
circuit design, power electronics and energy conversion, control.
Applications to industrial, commercial, scientific, transportation,
and biomedical systems. |
C |
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Perrott
, M.H.
Rm. 38-344B, 2-2889
High speed
mixed-signal circuit design focused on optical networking, high
speed backplane and RF applications. Specific areas of interest
include frequency synthesizers, clock and data recovery circuits,
high speed equalization techniques, and multi-level signaling techniques
for high speed serial links. |
C |
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Roberge,
J.K.
Rm. 38-483, 3-5994
Electronic
circuit design, including space circuitry; design for integrated
circuits; analog to digital conversion techniques, and other analog-digital
circuits. Feedback systems. |
B |
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Sarpeshkar,
R.
Rm. 38-294, 3-6599
Analog signal
processing. Modeling and sysnthesis of biological system based circuits. |
A,B
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Shapiro,
J.H.
Rm. 36-419, 3-4179 Quantum noise
reduction theory and experiment. Coherent laser radar. Ultra-wideband
fiber optic communications. |
C |
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Sodini,
C.G.
Rm. 39-527A, 3-4938
Technology
intensive integrated circuit and systems design; application toward
sensory interface electronics emphasizing analog signal processing
and RF communications. |
B,A
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Staelin,
D.H.
Rm. 26-341, 3-3711
Microwave
remote sensing from satellites; signal processing, compression,
and estimation; neural networks; experiment design; data mining
applications to manufacturing. |
B,A
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Stevens,
K.N.
Rm. 36-517, 3-3209 Speech communication,
including the acoustics of speech production, speech perception,
speech physiology, communicative disorders and machines for recognition
and generation of speech. Acoustics. Psychoacoustics. |
| C, D |
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Stojanovic, V.M.
Rm. 38-260, 324-4913
Integrated
circuits and systems. Modeling of noise abnd dynamics in circuits and systems. Application of convex optimization to digital communications, analog and VLSI circuits. Communicatiolns and signal processing architectures. High-speed electrical and optical links, on-chip networks and signalling, clock generation and distribution. High-speed digital and mixed-signal IC design.
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B,C
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Terman,
C.
Rm. 32-G790, 8-8995 Computer and
DSP architectures; VLSI circuits, design methodologies and CAD tool;
circuit simulation; computer languages. |
A
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Verghese,
G.C.
Rm. 10-093, 3-4612
Dynamic systems;
switched/periodic systems. Computer aided fabrication of integrated
circuits. Factory modeling and scheduling. Automated sampling microscope. |
D,C
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White,
J.K.
Rm. 36-880, 3-2543
Theoretical
and practical aspects of computer simulation and synthesis algorithms
applied to problems in circuit, device, packaging, and micromechanical
system design. |
E,A
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Wyatt,
J.L.
Rm. 38-864, 3-6718
Implantable
retinal prosthesis. Analog VLSI for machine vision. Dynamics of
nonlinear circuits and systems.
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A
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Zue,
V.W.
Rm. 32-G470, 3-8513
Computer speech
recognition and understanding. Acoustic analysis of speech, lexical
access, and natural language
processing for spoken input. |
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