This course provides an introduction to software systems with emphasis on operating system design and implementation. A key aspect is computer architecture and system software interaction. Topics include: process management, threading, synchronization, deadlocks, scheduling, security, IO systems, and distributed systems.

Waveform coding, source coding and data compression. Pulse modulation systems: signal spaces, optimal receivers, probability of error. Baseband and bandpass data transmission. Introduction to channel coding.

The design of very-large-scale integrated circuits. Experience in VLSI design through team projects emphasizing issues involved in the design of an entire custom chip. CAD tools used in the design process, resulting in specification of circuitry suitable for fabrication. Prerequisite: E&C-ENG 558.

This course will define qubits and qubit logical gates starting from fundamental quantum mechanics and quantum optics all the way up to circuit level programming of quantum algorithms run on actual quantum computers via the cloud. It is designed to introduce engineers to quantum hardware and quantum programming. Students should be familiar with vector notation of electromagnetic fields and waves, and very comfortable with linear algebra and programming in Python.

This course provides an introduction to the new area of Security Engineering, and provides examples drawn from recent research at UMASS and elsewhere. Security Engineering is a multi-disciplinary field combining technical aspects of Applied Cryptography, Computer Engineering, and Networking as well as issues from Psychology, Sociology, Policy and Economics. Several guest lectures will be presented by experts in these disciplines.

This course introduces concepts, techniques, and algorithms from artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as classification, regression, support vector machines, decision trees, neural networks, and deep neural networks. The application of these techniques to solve practical problems on computing and embedded systems is a focus of this course. Project assignments are used to reinforce concepts learned in lectures.

This course provides an overview of the core design principles used in the holistic design of low power embedded computing systems. Modern embedded system design use co-design of both hardware and software subsystems to achieve energy efficiency. The content of this class builds on foundational ECE courses in circuits, low level software design, machine learning, and signal processing. Prior courses in in at least one of these areas is recommended as a prerequisite.

Embedded systems sense, actuate, compute, and communicate to accomplish tasks in domains such as medical, automotive, and industrial controls. Informal methods of hacking together embedded systems are at odds with the criticality of their applications. This course will introduce developments toward formal modeling of embedded and cyber-physical systems, and techniques for verifying properties of embedded systems. Students taking the course should have a basic understanding of logic gates and finite state machines.

E&C ENG 499Y is Part 1 of the senior honors thesis or project in ECE, to be followed in the spring by Part 2 (E&C ENG 499T for thesis or ECE 499P for project). Individual student research is directly contracted with the faculty chairs who supervise the work. In addition, all 499Y students participate in a common thesis/project seminar that addresses research-related communication and other aspects of the research process in a seminar/workshop format.

E&C ENG 499T is Part 2 of the senior honors thesis in ECE, preceded in the fall by Part 1 (E&C ENG 499Y). Individual student research is directly contracted with the faculty chairs who supervise the work. In addition, all 499T and 499P students participate in a common thesis/project seminar that supports development of the 499T thesis research and document. Honors Thesis expectations are high.