Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Spring / Summer 2003
ECE and NSSTC Launch BalloonSat I
The National Student Satellite Initiative (NSSI) is allowing
students across America to design, build, fly and operate a broad
range of payloads. The initiative has a strategy called “CrawlWalk-Run-Fly” which allows students to built payloads of
increasing complexity. At UAH, students in Dr. Charles
Corsetti’s senior design class in the Electrical and Computer
Engineering (ECE) Department have been designing, building
and launching balloon payloads as part of this strategy. These
payloads can reach an altitude around 100,000 feet and thus are
at the edge of space. Graduate students in the Department of
Atmospheric Sciences have assisted the undergraduate Electrical
Engineering students in launching the balloons.
The first payload was launched in November 2002 and reached
an altitude of 107,152 feet. Each balloon payload has a GPS
receiver on board. The information from this receiver is
transmitted to a mobile ground station, and allows the students to
know the location and the altitude of the payload throughout its
entire flight of about 2.5 to 3.0 hours. The students can then
“chase” the balloon during its flight in an attempt to recover the
payload themselves. Each payload also has a notice of a reward
for anyone who finds and returns the payload to the students.
The November payload was recovered near Dayton, Tennessee
two weeks after launch, and returned by an individual with
whom the students had talked to during their initial recovery
attempt. The entire process of payload design, construction,
launch, recovery and data analysis can be accomplished in one
semester.
In addition to a GPS receiver, each balloon payload has sensors
and equipment on board to collect other data that may include
temperature and pressure measurements and aerial photographs.
The idea is to make each payload more complex in its design
than the previous one, and to gain additional knowledge to
eventually prepare students to design a small student payload,
Launched at NSSTC/UAH November 20, 2002. Max Altitude of 107,152 feet.
Recovered near Dayton, Tennessee, December 4, 2002.
called a “CubeSat,” which can be launched into space.
The “CubeSat” idea was developed by Professor Bob Twiggs at
Stanford University and has been adopted for use by the National
Space Grant Alliance. The National Space Grant Alliance is a
combination of the Space Grant Consortia of each state, the District
of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Under the NSSI program, the Alliance
has the goal to launch 52 “CubeSats,” one from each member of the
Alliance, to Mars by the year 2009. The project at UAH is being
sponsored by Alabama Space Grant Consortium. The project is also
open to all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UAH.
For further information on joining the class, contact Dr. Corsetti at
corsetti@ece.uah.edu.
Dr. Gaede Receives the University Foundation
Distinguished Teaching Award
Dr. Rhonda Gaede received the University Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award at the UAH
Academic Honors Convocation in April 2003.
Dr. Rhonda Kay Gaede was hired in September 1992 as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. In 1994, she joined the tenure track as an
Assistant Professor, earning tenure and being promoted to Associate Professor as of Fall 2000.
She received her BSEE degree in 1981 from Southern Methodist University and her MSEE and
PhD degrees in 1986 and 1988, respectively, from The University of Texas at Austin. Her primary
areas of interest are computer architecture, hardware description languages, performance
monitoring, and optical interconnects.
Commencement 2002-2003, ECE Graduates
Doctors of Philosophy
Masters of Science, Thesis
Kenneth N. Burst Birmingham
Field: Electrical Engineering
Dissertation: “Delay Based Congestion Detection and
Admission Control for Deployment of IP
Voice Tandems in Carrier Public Switched
Telephone Networks”
Advisor: Dr. Laurie L. Joiner
Thana Bunnag (Electrical) Thailand
Thesis: “Performance Comparison Between DS-CDMA
and Impulse Radio in an Indoor Environment”
Advisor: Dr. Laurie L. Joiner
Sin Ming Loo
Malaysia
Field: Computer Engineering
Dissertation: “Static Task Scheduling in a Reconfigurable
Hardware Environment”
Advisor: Dr. B. Earl Wells
Hamid Reza Naji Iran
Field: Computer Engineering
Dissertation: “Agent-based Reconfigurable Systems”
Advisor: Dr. B. Earl Wells
Kenneth G. Ricks Tuscaloosa
Field: Computer Engineering
Dissertation: “A Framework for the Design and
Specification of Hard Real-Time, Hardwarein-the-Loop Simulations of Large Avionic
Systems”
Advisor: Dr. B. Earl Wells
Saikat Saha
India
Field: Electrical Engineering
Dissertation: “Modeling of Plasma Propulsion Using an
Inflated Magnetic Field and Its Interaction
with a Fast Plasma Stream”
Advisor: Dr. Nagendra D. Singh
_______________________________________________________
Masters of Science, Non-Thesis
Jones E. Allison III (Electrical)
Steven John Anacker (Electrical)
Nelson E. Barnes, Jr. (Computer)
Claudio Estevez (Electrical)
Gary Finley (Electrical)
Naji Freije (Computer)
Jason R. Gastler (Electrical)
Brij Mohan Goel (Electrical)
William D. Goins IV (Electrical)
Kannathas Krishnasamy (Electrical)
Jonathan Travis Pardeck (Electrical)
Vihang A. Patil (Electrical)
Brent Christopher Priddy (Electrical)
Jenika Rajbhandari (Electrical)
Shahzad A. Rao (Electrical)
Christopher Robert Sanders (Electrical)
Jayagopalan Venkatesan (Computer)
Rami A. Wahsheh (Electrical)
Robert V. Willem, Jr. (Electrical)
Wenjun Yun (Electrical)
Peng Zhang (Electrical)
ECE Dept., UAH
Madison
Madison
Madison
Huntsville
Brownsboro
Lebanon
Ardmore
Huntsville
Huntsville
Malaysia
Rolla, Missouri
India
Huntsville
Madison
Huntsville
Huntsville
Huntsville
Jordan
Huntsville
China
China
Spencer Trent Cole (Electrical) Danville
Thesis: “Design of an Open Multipass Optical Amplifier
and a Free-Space Optical Gyroscope”
Advisor: Dr. Richard L. Fork
Cynthia K. Ferguson (Electrical) Huntsville
Thesis: “Design and Analysis of a MicroelectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) MicroTranslation Stage with Indefinite Linear
Translation”
Advisor: Dr. Jennifer English
Yoshito Kanamori (Computer)
Japan
Thesis: “Reliability and Security in a Wireless Body
Area Network of Intelligent Sensors”
Advisor: Dr. Emil Jovanov
Kenneth G. LeSueur (Computer) Athens
Thesis: “A Novel Technique for Real-Time NonUniformity Correction of Infrared Scene
Projectors”
Advisor: Dr. Emil Jovanov
John Price (Computer)
Harvest
Thesis: “An Implementation of a Wireless Network of
Intelligent Sensors (WISE)”
Advisor: Dr. Emil Jovanov
Madan Mohan Reddy Thaduri (Electrical)
Huntsville
Thesis: “Self Powered Reflective Type Liquid Crystal
Displays”
Advisor: Dr. Dashen Shen
Joel Glen Vinson (Electrical)
Madison
Thesis: “Plasma Properties Characterization on the
Marshall Magnetic Mirror”
Advisor: Dr. Nagendra Singh
Earlie O. White (Electrical)
Huntsville
Thesis: “The Photo-Chemistry and PhotoPolymerization of Matrix-Isolated
Diacetylenes”
Advisor: Dr. Gregory Nordin
Loren C. Wisehart (Electrical)
Madison
Thesis: “Performance Evaluation of Bumpless DiscreteTime Controllers”
Advisor: Dr. Carroll D. Johnson
2
Real Time, Spring 2003
2002-2003 Bachelors of Science
Ali Mohamed Abdelmagid (Electrical) Huntsville
William Matthew Adams (Electrical)
Madison
Adetokumbo Aderibigbe (Computer)
Nigeria
Jonathan Charles Akridge (Electrical) Meridianville
Erion Angjeliu (Electrical)
Huntsville
Miranda J. Ashley (Optical)
Vinemont
Yaya O. Bamba (Computer)
Huntsville
Willie Mason Belyeu III (Computer)
Huntsville
Frank Dale Berisford III (Electrical)
Huntsville
Jason Kyle Brister (Electrical)
Ardmore
Aaron S. Brown (Computer)
Marbury
Stephanie Elaine Brown (Electrical)
Huntsville
Thomas Michael Burleson (Electrical & Optical) Huntsville
Brian Perry Campbell (Computer)
Hazel Green
Chen-Jye Chang (Electrical)
Taiwan
Xiao Fang Chen (Computer)
China
Preston C. Chidebelu (Electrical)
Huntsville
Kene Chidume (Computer)
Canada
Joseph H. Christ (Electrical)
Elkmont
Mark A. Coble (Electrical)
Madison
Roy Thomason Cole (Computer)
Cullman
David Corredor (Computer)
Madison
Wesley Patrick Crelly (Computer)
Decatur
Christian Eby Daum II (Computer)
Madison
Joshua Harley Davidson (Computer)
Vina
Xinh Duong (Electrical)
Vietnam
Mohamed Abdelrazik Elsaidny (Computer) Egypt
Gary W. English (Electrical)
Meadville, PA
Vickie L. Faulkner (Electrical)
Huntsville
Melvin Demetrius Felton (Computer)
Troy
Edward Jason Formby (Computer)
Decatur
Joshua Daniel Fowler (Electrical)
Lynchburg, TN
Brad Frederick (Optical)
Red Bay
Shirley Jane Goosby (Computer)
Huntsville
Daniel L. Graham (Electrical)
Moulton
Gregory Thomas Greaves (Electrical)
Madison
Jason James Alan Green (Optical)
Tullahoma, TN
Robin Brown Gremillion (Electrical)
Madison
Michael Benjamin Grigsby II (Computer) Huntsville
Donn Alan Hall (Electrical)
Huntsville
David Evan Harbison (Computer & Electrical) Cullman
Deanna Joy Hendrix (Computer)
Rogersville
Joshua William Hester (Electrical)
Russellville
Jill Marie Hollins (Computer)
Athens
Sandy R. Holt (Computer)
Huntsville
Jennifer Lynn Howard (Computer)
Albertville
Julie Ann Ickes (Electrical)
Gurley
Christy Johnson (Computer)
Lower Peach Tree
Patrick W. Johnson (Electrical)
Decatur
Allis Marie Kennedy (Computer)
Huntsville
Ryan Kirsh (Computer)
Huntsville
Abhishek Krishnamurthy (Computer)
Huntsville
Elizabeth Maynard Lampkin (Electrical) Fayetteville, TN
Rustin Laycock (Optical)
Wichita, KS
Wiaczeslaw Mazuruk (Optical)
Huntsville
Katharine M. McCoy (Computer)
Huntsville
Behar Mehmeti (Computer)
Huntsville
Daniel Richard Miller (Electrical)
Huntsville
Jennifer Erin Morris (Electrical)
Huntsville
Aaron Y. Mosher (Computer)
Madison
Joshua A. Murdough (Electrical)
Titusville, FL
Daniel Weber Nielsen (Computer)
Birmingham
Mindy Leigh Newbauer (Electrical)
Decatur
Anh Nguyen (Chemical)
Huntsville
François T. O'Connell, Jr. (Computer) Louisville, KY
Jay R. Olive (Computer)
Florence
Maria Isabel Ortega (Computer and Electrical) Ecuador
Eddie Franklin Parks (Electrical)
Cleveland, TN
Miranda K. Parton (Electrical)
Tuscaloosa
Marc Pedings (Computer)
Decatur
Jennifer Kay Petrey (Electrical)
Pisgah
Ashlee Alana Phillips (Electrical)
Harvest
Derek Lance Pigg (Electrical)
Greenhill
Danny Curtis Pugh (Electrical)
Huntsville
Kevin James Ridgeway (Electrical)
Canada
John W. Ridinger (Electrical)
Athens
Ruben Rojas (Computer)
Madison
Justin Todd Ruf (Computer)
Athens
Robert Mack Sawyer III (Electrical)
Birmingham
Morris W. Schroder, Jr. (Computer)
Hazel Green
Darin Lee Sensabaugh (Computer)
Scottsboro
Meryem Lahrech Sheffield (Electrical) Ardmore
Sara Shahzadi Siddiqi (Electrical)
Huntsville
Franchot Scott South (Computer and Electrical) West Point
James Joseph Stafford (Electrical)
Town Creek
Michelle Love Stallings (Computer)
Holly Pond
Scott Anthony Stevens (Computer)
Madison
David S. Streling (Electrical)
Hartselle
Wendy Ling Sweatt (Computer)
Huntsville
Matthew Sweet (Computer)
Huntsville
Jason M. Thomas (Electrical)
Huntsville
Erion Vogli (Computer)
Albania
Joshua B. Walter (Electrical)
Huntsville
Natasha Shanta Warner (Electrical)
Madison
James Ray Williamson (Computer)
Estill Springs, TN
John L. Wooten (Electrical)
Pulaski, TN
Casey Yocom (Electrical)
Huntsville
Joey Christ, College of Engineering’s
Highest Academic Achievement Award
Joseph Hobbs Christ was awarded the 2003 UAH College of Engineering Highest
Academic Achievement award. Joey graduated from UAH on May 11, 2003 with a
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Joey has an outstanding academic record and is a co-op student with ADTRAN here in
Huntsville. He also received the UAH, and the State of Alabama, Co-op Student of the
Year Award for 2002.
In his spare time, Joey enjoys basketball, baseball and football. He is very involved with
his church and has done numerous service projects within his community.
ECE Dept., UAH
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Real Time, Spring 2003
Distinguished Engineers – Alumni Awards 2003
Angelia Bukley
Dr. Angelia Bukley received the 2003 College of Engineering Distinguished Engineer
Alumni Award for her outstanding contributions in Electrical Engineering.
Dr. Bukley earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1980, and
her Master of Science in Engineering degree in 1981 from the Mississippi State University; and a
Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2000 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Electrical
Engineering Department.
As an employee of the Aerospace Corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dr. Bukley
is assigned to the Airborne Laser (ABL) System Program Office (SPO) at Kirtland Air Force
Base. From November 1998 – December 2001 she worked in the Beam Control/Fire Control
(BCFC) Integrated Produce Team (IPT). Her initial role in the IPT was as structures and
controls expert for the BCFC segment of the ABL. Primary responsibilities included: mechanical
and electrical design lead; jitter control Sub-IPT lead and; ABL disturbance characterization,
finite element model development & structural dynamics analysis.
Her excellent performance resulted in her being designated the Chief Engineer for BCFC
in early 2000. In January of 2002, Dr. Bukley moved into a new position as Chief Technologist
for Adjunct Missions within the ABL SPO. In August 2002, Dr. Bukley was named Chief of the
Ballistic Missile Defense Integration Branch in the ABL SPO. In this role, Dr. Bukley is
responsible for the integration of the ABL Element into the whole of the BMD System, working
in close coordination with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Missile Defense National
Team. She is the primary interface between the ABL SPO and MDA and coordinates all data and
technical information exchange between the two. Dr. Bukley is also the lead for all policy matters
as related to the ABL Element. Dr. Bukley has published 50 technical papers during her career.
Timothy D. Morgan
Mr. Timothy D. Morgan received the 2003 College of Engineering Distinguished Engineer
Alumni Award for his outstanding contributions in Electrical Engineering.
Mr. Morgan received a BS in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry from the University of North
Alabama in Florence and an MSE in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of
Alabama in Huntsville (1986). He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Alabama.
Timothy D. Morgan is currently the President/ Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Research
Corporation (MORGAN). He assumed this role in January of 2002, after having led the Defense
Programs and Technology Strategic Business Unit (SBU) the previous year. Mr. Morgan co-founded the
company in July of 1988 and has been a key driving force behind its growth ever since. As President, he
is responsible for the day-to-day operations of MORGAN, overseeing business initiatives, maintaining
interfaces to key clients and the customer community, and the execution of the company’s strategic plan.
Prior to assuming the role of President, Mr. Morgan served as Senior Vice President for almost 10
years. During his tenure, his responsibilities included technical and administrative oversight of
MORGAN’s Defense Programs SBU, oversight of all developmental projects within government
agencies, assessment of the current market and its impact on the corporation, and achieving the goals
established in the company’s strategic business plan. Mr. Morgan also served as the company’s first
President from 1988 to 1990. In these early days of the company, he was responsible for the operation of
all technical programs, performance and direction of all projects, directing all administrative functions,
and guiding daily business operations.
Davie E. Smith
Mr. Davie E. Smith received the 2003 College of Engineering Distinguished Engineer
Alumni Award for his outstanding contributions in Electrical Engineering.
Mr. Smith received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the
University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) in 1982. In 1996, he was awarded a diploma from
the US Air Force Air War College (AWC) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL. Mr.
Smith is currently a GG-15 and is the Chief of the Office for Analytical Systems (MSA) within
the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center (DIA/MSIC). He
assumed this position in September 2002.
As the Chief, Office for Analytical Systems, Mr. Smith is responsible for providing
Scientific and Technical (S&T) Information Technology (IT) and multimedia support to all
elements of DIA/MSIC in the areas of Applications Software, Modeling and Simulations (M&S),
Computer Systems, and Information Services. Mr. Smith plans, directs, reviews, oversees, and
supervises the activities of approximately 100 civilian and military employees and approximately
30 on-site contractor personnel. He also serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO)
responsible for identifying and communicating requirements (both functional and budgetary) for
all desired IT and multimedia systems and equipment. He is responsible for executing oversight
responsibilities for the day-to-day functions of the Department of Defense (DoD) Modeling and
Simulation Executive Agent for Intelligence (MSEA (I)), and he serves as the DIA lead for Jointlevel M&S Programs. He provides S&T IT support within the greater Defense Intelligence
Community by exercising oversight responsibilities for key national and international IT
programs and by hosting and maintaining a High Performance Computer System for the Defense
Intelligence Community.
ECE Dept., UAH
4
Real Time, Spring 2003
2003 Outstanding Student Awards
Robin Gremillion was named UAH Outstanding Undergraduate Student
in the Electrical Engineering Program during National Engineer’s Week
and at the UAH Honors Convocation, Spring 2003. Robin
completed her BSE at UAH in EE in December 2002, and finished with
a high GPA. “I'm still at COLSA, now working as a Systems Engineer,
and I'm enjoying my free time now after finally finishing my degree.”
Roy Cole is the recipient of the award for UAH Outstanding Student
in the Computer Engineering Program during National Engineer’s
Week and at the UAH Honors Convocation, Spring 2003. Roy
graduated in the spring of 2003. He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi
and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies. In addition to his studies, Roy
works as a co-op student with the Mentor Graphics Corporation. Roy
plans to either pursue his master's degree in computer engineering
and/or obtain a job working in the Huntsville area.
Thomas Michael Burleson was named UAH Outstanding Undergraduate
Student in the Optical Engineering Program during National Engineer’s
Week and at the UAH Honors Convocation, Spring 2003. Thomas
completed his BSE at UAH in OPE in December 2002 with a second
major in EE and carried a high GPA. He is currently enrolled in the
UAH Graduate School.
Sin Ming Loo received the award for the UAH Outstanding Graduate
Student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
during the 2003 Engineer’s Week. Sin Ming Loo's research interests
include scheduling, cluster computing, hardware/software codesign
and massively parallel computational simulation. He recently
defended his PhD dissertation that focuses on applying scheduling
theory to investigate the efficient usage of reconfigurable hardware.
ECE Dept., UAH
5
Real Time, Spring 2003
Fall 2003 Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Course List
Course Credit
Hrs.
Short Title
Course Credit
Hrs.
Electrical Engineering
EE100
EE100L
EE201
EE202
EE300
EE301
EE305
EE307
EE310
EE313
EE315
EE321
EE382
EE383
EE384
EE410
EE411
EE412
EE414
EE420
EE421
EE424
EE425
EE426
EE427
EE436
EE447
EE448
EE451
EE453
EE454
EE461
EE468
EE494
EE500
EE504
EE505
EE506
3
0
1
3
3
1
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Electrical Engineering
Concepts in Digital Signals and Sys
Laboratory for EE100
Digital Logic Design Lab
Intro to Digital Logic Design
Electrical Circuit Analysis I
Electronic Measurement Lab
Electronic Devices and Design Lab I
Electricity and Magnetism
Solid State Fundamentals
Electrical Circuit Analysis II
Intro Electronic Analysis & Design
Computer Organization
Analytical Methods for Continuous-Time Systems
Analyt Meth for Multivariable & Discrete-Time Sys
Digital Signal Processing Laboratory
Selected Topics: ECE
Electric Power System
Sr. Design Project: IEEE Car Project
Analog & Digital Filter Design
Random Signals & Noise
Microcomputers (EE421L = Lab)
Intro Data Communication Networks
Intro to Control and Robotic Systems
Communication Theory
VLSI Design I (with EE427L = Lab)
Digital Electronics
Electromagnetic Waves
Analytical and Computational Methods Elec Engr I
Optoelectronics
Laser Systems
Optical Fiber Communications
Optical Systems Design
Intro to Computer Networks I
EE Design Projects
Random Signals & Noise
Intro Data Communication Networks
Intro to Control and Robotic Systems
Communication Theory
EE510
EE516
EE521
EE527
EE528
EE534
EE541
EE542
EE548
EE607
EE609
EE610
EE612
EE616
EE619
EE648
EE691
EE692
EE697
EE699
EE701
EE704
EE710
EE744
EE799
OPE451
OPE453
OPE454
OPE459
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Selected Topics/ECE
Digital Electronics
Microcomputers (EE521L = Lab)
Electromagnetic Waves
Analy & Comp Methods Elec Engr I
Optical Fiber Communications
Optics I
Physical Optics
Intro to Computer Networks
Robotic Systems Control
Electromagnetic Field Theory
ST: Adv. Techniques in Microelectronics
Graduate Design Project
Microelect Devices / Integr Circuits
Intro Radar Systems
Digital Signal Processing
Graduate Seminar I
Graduate Seminar II
Master’s Project for Plan II
Master’s Thesis
Advanced Linear Control Theory
Nonlinear Control Sytems
ST: Sliding Mode Control
Coding Theory & Spread Spectrum
Doctoral Dissertation
Computer Engineering
CPE112
CPE212
CPE321
CPE381
CPE412
CPE421
CPE427
CPE431
CPE438
CPE448
CPE490
CPE495
CPE512
CPE521
CPE527
CPE531
CPE538
CPE548
CPE590
CPE645
CPE656
CPE690
CPE695
CPE699
CPE720
CPE730
CPE799
Optical Engineering
OPE441
Short Title
Optical Systems Design
Optoelectronics
Laser Systems
Optical Fiber Communications
Optical Engineering Design
Please see an academic advisor before
you register for ECE classes.
Check the web for updates:
http://www.ece.uah.edu/
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Intro Comp Prog for Engrs (CPE112L = Lab)
Fundamentals of Software Engr
Computer Organization
Fund Signals & Sys for Comp Engr
Intro to Parallel Programming
Microcomputers (CPE421L = Lab)
VLSI Design I (CPE427L = Lab)
Intro to Computer Architecture
Real Time & Embedded Systems
Intro to Computer Networks
ST: Hardware/Software Computer Design
Computer Engineering Design I
Intro to Parallel Programming
Microcomputers (CPE521L = Lab)
VLSI Design I (CPE527L = Lab)
Intro to Computer Architecture
Real Time & Embedded Systems
Intro to Computer Networks
ST: Hardware/Software Computer Design
Computer Network Security
Software Engineering Studio I
Selected Topics in Computer Engr
Projects in Computer Engineering
Master’s Thesis
Selected Topics in VLSI Design
ST: Advanced Computer Architecture
Doctoral Dissertation
For information call: (256) 824-6316
Or inquire via email: eceinfo@ece.uah.edu
ECE Dept., UAH
6
Real Time, Spring 2003
Dennis Hite,
ECE Lab
Manager
The Electrical and Computer Engineering laboratories are an
invaluable resource providing the students a place to make the
transition from theory to application. The Electrical and
Computer Engineering Faculty continue to demonstrate their
support of the laboratories by assuming an active role and
contributing to their development and growth. For example,
Dr. Aleksandar Milenkovic has received a donation from
Xilinx in equipment worth over $244,000.00. The donation
includes 1 AFX Virtex development board, 1 MultiLINX
programming cable, and more than 450 XCV1000 FPGA
devices.
Lab equipment upgrades continue. Over the last two
months, six Agilent 100 MHz MSO oscilloscopes were
added to the Rapid Prototyping Lab (EB226), four Agilent
60 MHz MSO oscilloscopes, four Agilent power supplies
and four new Digital Multimeters were added to
Electronics Project/Senior Design Lab (EB144), and two
Agilent 60 MHz MSO oscilloscopes were placed in the
Micro-computer Lab (EB106). Twenty-one new Pentium 4
workstations have been ordered for the Multi Media/Digital
Signal Processing classroom (EB109). If all goes as
planned, the workstations will be set up and ready to use by
the beginning of the Summer 2003 term.
The Department has acquired, through the University
Software Program, the Cadence Design Tools for the PC
platform. The design tools include the Orcad Family
products, Schematic Capture, PSspiceA/D, and Layout
Plus. The Orcad software provides a very powerful design
environment and is commonly used in industry. I hope the
Cadence Design Tools will provide students with an
opportunity to increase their design skills and familiarize
themselves with a software suite that they may encounter in
industry. Over the next few years the Orcad software will
become increasingly utilized in the Electrical and
Computer Engineering courses. Currently we are working
on two tutorials, one for the Schematic Capture Tool and
the other for Netlists/Pspice simulations. The tutorials are
designed to get you started with the software. They will be
posted at the following link on the Electrical and Computer
Engineering website.
http://www.ece.uah.edu/facilities/Facil_Links/CadencePage
.htm
According to Dr Milenkovic, Xilinx is the leading supplier of
complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced
integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system
functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field
engineering support. The donation will help our undergraduate
and graduate students to implement their projects in advanced
digital design, reconfigurable computing, and digital-signal
processing. All students interested in FPGA design are
encouraged to contact Dr. Milenkovic.
For more information contact:
Dr. Aleksander Milenkovic
milenka@ece.uah.edu
__________________________________________________
Cadence also provides a free student version of Pspice it is
available at
http://www.cadencepcb.com/products/downloads/PSpicest
udent/default.asp
Users of Engineering computer systems should know
about the support web site at the address below.
As you have probably heard, the department recently under
went a mock ABET visit. I have heard from several people
that the Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratories
faired quite well in their evaluation. I would like to thank
all the faculty, staff, and graduate students, especially Dr.
Jovanov, Dr. Wells, Jason Winningham, Sin Ming Loo, and
Dejan Raskovic, who spend many hours a week providing
additional support for the laboratories. The instructional
laboratories could not survive without this team effort. I
would also like to thank the ECE students who help by
keeping their work areas orderly and reporting problems
promptly. Of course, all of us should thank Dr. Adhami for
his efforts and success in securing the funds for the lab
equipment upgrades, which I might add he was able to
accomplish even during a time of proration.
ECE Dept., UAH
Among the resources available are:
an online help request
the online account request
online documentation for several software packages
the Frequently Asked Questions page ("the FAQ")
lab hours
support news
http://support.eng.uah.edu
7
Real Time, Spring 2003
Dr. Rhonda Gaede
10-Year Service Award
Recipient
Dr Tim Boykin
10-Year Service Award
Recipient
Dr. Tim Boykin, Associate Professor, received a UAH 10year Service Award at the Spring 2003 awards luncheon.
Dr. Rhonda Gaede, Associate Professor, received a UAH
10-year Service Award at the Spring 2003 awards
luncheon.
Highlights of his research include the first numerically-stable,
realistic bandstructure empirical tight-binding calculation for
a resonant-tunneling diode including space-charge regions
(1991), investigations of nonparabolicity effects on quantumconfined heterostructures (1993-95), the generalized
eigenproblem method for obtaining surface and interface
states (1996), incompleteness in tight-binding models (1995),
analytic effective mass expressions for and investigations of
the capabilities of many commonly employed tight-binding
models (1997-99), representing electromagnetic interactions
in tight-binding (1999-2002), and modeling of strain in
heterstructures (2002).
Dr. Rhonda Kay Gaede was hired in September 1992 as a
Visiting Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department. In 1994, she joined the tenure
track as an Assistant Professor, earning tenure and being
promoted to Associate Professor as of Fall 2000.
Her primary areas of interest are computer architecture,
hardware description languages, performance monitoring,
and optical interconnects.
She received her BSEE degree in 1981 from Southern
Methodist University and her MSEE and Ph.D. degrees in
1986 and 1988, respectively, from The University of Texas
at Austin.
Dr. Boykin received a BSEE from Rice University in 1987.
He earned the MSEE and Ph.D. from Stanford University in
1988 and 1992, respectively.
Dr. Gregory Nordin
10-Year Service Award
Recipient
Dr. B. Earl Wells
10-Year Service Award
Recipient
Dr. Gregory Nordin, Professor, received a UAH 10-year Service
Award at the Spring 2003 awards luncheon.
Dr. Earl Wells, Associate Professor, received a UAH 10year Service Award at the Spring 2003 awards luncheon.
Dr. Nordin’s research interests include diffractive optical
elements, microfabrication (including conventional and
holographic photolithography, dry etching, and thin film
deposition), real-time 3-D displays, optical interconnections ,
volume holographic optical memories, stratified volume
holographic optical elements, holographic materials, and
electrooptics (including organic polymer and liquid crystal
materials and devices).
Dr. Wells' major research interests include real-time
systems, computer architecture, and parallel processing. He
has recently performed research in the areas of
reconfigurable computing for space-based applications,
parallel processing of multidimensional grid-based
problems, and embedded diagnostics for real time systems.
Dr. Wells majored in Electrical Engineering, earning the
BS, MS and Ph.D. in 1983, 1988, 1992, respectively, from
the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Dr. Nordin was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from
USC in 1992. He earned a BS and MS in Physics from Brigham
Young in 1984 and UCLA in 1986, respectively.
Dr. Joiner Honored by College of Engineering
Outstanding Assistant Professor Award
Each year the College of Engineering recognizes the outstanding achievements of both junior and senior
faculty members in the areas of teaching, research and service. This year Dr. Laurie Joiner was honored
as the College of Engineering's Outstanding Assistant Professor at the Alabama Society of Professional
Engineers’ 2003 Engineering Week Banquet.
Dr. Joiner joined the faculty in August 1998 as an Assistant Professor. She received her BSEE, MSEE,
and Ph.D. degrees in 1992, 1994, and 1998, respectively, from Clemson University. Her research areas
of interest are in digital communications, error control coding, and wireless networks.
ECE Dept., UAH
8
Real Time, Spring 2003
Visiting Alma Matter
Dr. John Jarem
15-Year Service
Award Recipient
Professor Alexander Poularikas, the first Ph.D. of the School of
Engineering at the University of Arkansas, enjoyed his visit for the
Razorbacks’ Homecoming Game at his alma mater. While he was
there he verified that his PhD was actually awarded to him by seeing it
written in stone!!! This is a good practice as far as the department of
records is concerned. If a file gets lost, the walk is inspected to verify
the status of alumni. It is customary since 1871 to imprint the names of
each graduating student. The class of 1875 has only two names.
Professor John Jarem received a 15-Year Service Award at the
2003 UAH Service Award luncheon.
Dr. Jarem joined the ECE Department in the September 1987.
His primary research areas are electromagnetics and optics. He
co-authored the book Computational Methods for Electromagnetic
and Optical Systems, Marcel-Dekker Inc., July 2000, (437 pages)
with Dr. Partha P. Banerjee.
Dr. Jarem was awarded the following degrees in Electrical
Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania: PhD, June 1975, MS, June 1972, and BS, June
1971.
____________________________________________________
Congratulations to Faculty and Staff
The ECE Department expresses its sincere
appreciation to the faculty and staff for their hard
work and excellence in performance of duty. Many
of you have been with us for 10, 20, 30, and even
35 or more years; others have recently joined us.
Special congratulations and thanks to those who
received the UAH 10-year and 15-year service
awards in March 2003.
We look forward to working together for many
years to come!
Sincerely,
Reza Adhami, ECE Chair
Linda Grubbs
10-Year Service Award
Recipient
Angelia Heulett
Welcome to the Staff
Angelia Heulett joined the ECE staff in January 2003 as a Staff
Assistant, working with ABET documentation and personnel action
forms for the dept.
Linda Grubbs, Technical Secretary, received a UAH 10-year Service
Award at the 2003 UAH Service Award luncheon in March.
Linda joined the ECE staff in February 1993 after working as a temp
in the Dean’s office for five months. Linda’s duties include working
with electronic communications media, typing drafts and formatting
camera-ready copy for technical journal articles, conference papers,
and preparing draft and final copies of NSF and NASA proposals and
submitting them on the web sites. Linda also produces the ECE Dept.
brochure and newsletter, Real Time; she became the ECE webmaster
in June 2002.
Before joining us, Angelia worked at Alabama A&M University for 4
years as a Secretary for the Departments of Marketing and Office
Systems Management and for the Madison/Marshall County Chapter,
American Red Cross for 9 years.
Angelia is currently pursing a degree in Business Administration at
A&M. She is also a Marketing Rep for her brother who is an artist.
ECE Dept., UAH
9
Real Time, Spring 2003
Publications, Presentations and Awards
ELECTROMAGNETICS
HARDWARE & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Nagendra Singh, Professor
Journal Articles
Aleksandar Milenkovic, Assistant Professor
Singh, N, “Space-time Evolution of Electron-beam Driven Electron
Holes and Their Effects on the Plasma,” Nonlinear Processes in
Geophysics, 10, 53-63, 2003.
Conference Papers
A. Milenkovic, M. Milenkovic, N. Barnes, “A Performance
Evaluation of Memory Hierarchy in Embedded Systems,” in
Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE Southeastern Conference on
System Theory, Morgantown WV, USA, March 2003.
Singh, N., and George Khazanov, “Double Layers in Expanding
Plasmas and Their Relevance to the Auroral Plasma Processes,”
Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 8007, 2003.
OPTICS
Singh, N, “Temporal and Spatial Features of Waves and Electron
Holes Driven by Double Layers and Their Relevance to VLF
Saucers,” Geophysical Research Letters, 29, 1833, 2003.
Richard Fork, Professor
Conference Papers
Conference Papers
Singh, N., and Saikat Saha, “Anomalous Resistivity and Magnetic
Reconnection in a Thin Current Sheet,” Proceedings of the 2003
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 2002.
“Pumped Solid State Lasers for Space Solar Power:
Experimental Path,” 54th International Astronautical Congress,
Bremen, Germany, October 2, 2003.
Singh, N., and George Khazanov, “Double Layers in Expanding
Plasmas and Their Relevance to the Auroral Plasma Processes,”
Proceedings of the 2003 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco,
December 2002.
Richard L. Fork, Spencer T. Cole, Wesley W. Walker, Steven J.
Anacker, “Solar Pumped Laser for Space Power,” Space Power
Symposium Session IAC-02-R.2.07 of the 2002 World Space
Congress, Houston, TX, Tuesday, October 16, 2002.
ELECTRON DEVICES
Richard Fork, Mike Burleson, Wesley Walker, “Unipolar Optical
Pulse Generation and Beamed Optical Power for Lift-to-Orbit,”
1st International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion,
Huntsville, AL, 8:50 a.m., November 7, 2002.
Fat Duen Ho, Professor
Journal Article
Richard L. Fork, Spencer Cole, Jason Green, Rustin Laycock,
Wesley Walker, “Ultrafast Lasers for Space Solar Power,” 6th
Annual Southeast Coherent Spectroscopy and Ultrafast
Conference, Gainesville, FL, January 18, 2003. Invited Plenary
Talk.
Todd MacLeod and Fat Duen Ho, “Simulation Model of a
Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistor,” Integrated Ferroelectrics,
Vol. 49, pp. 51-59, 2002.
Conference Papers
Richard L. Fork, Spencer Cole, Wesley Walker, Rustin Laycock,
and Jason Green, “High Peak Power High Average Power
Lasers,” Joint UAH ECE and Physics Colloquium, January 28,
2003.
Frederick Clarke, Fat Duen Ho, Asif Khan, Grigory Simin, J. Yang,
Remis Gaska, and Michael S. Shur, “Gate Current and Analytical
Modeling in Insulating Gate III – N Heterostructure Field Effect
Transistor,” Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., Vol. 743, 2003 (to appear).
Richard L. Fork, Spencer T. Cole, Wesley W. Walker, Rustin L.
Laycock, Jason J. A. Green, “High Average and Peak Power
Integrated Laser for Propulsion,” NASA/MSFC/JPL/UAH 14th
Annual Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop (ASPW 2003),
Huntsville, AL, April 16, 2003.
Todd McLeod and Fat Duen Ho, “Design of a Ferroelectric
Programmable Logic Gate Array,” presented in the 15th
International Symposium on Integrated Ferroelectrics, Colorado
Springs, March 9-12, 2003.
____________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Dashen Shen, Professor
Jamshid Nayyer, Professor
Conference Papers
Conference Papers
“Microstructure and Electrical Properties of AlN Thin Films for
SOI Application,” Z. R. Song, Y. H. Yu, S. C. Zou, L. L. Cheng,
Y. M. Lei, C. X. Ren, X. Wang, D. S. Shen, B. Sundaravel, E. Z.
Luo, S. Lin, W. Y. Cheung, S. P. Wong, J. B. Xu and I. H.
Wilson, IIT 2002, Taos, NM, Sep. 2002, published in Sep 2002.
J. Nayyer, S. Nazzal and G. Nordin, “Polarization sensitivity of
intersecting waveguide type optical modulators/switches at
presence of absorption loss,” presented at Optics in the Southeast,
Oct. 24-25, 2002.
Jamshid Nayyer and Gregory Nordin, “Optical intersecting
waveguide type switches with built-in refractive index
differences,” International Telecommunication Conference,
ICT’2003, Tahiti.
“A study of the sp3 Content in Amorphous Carbon thin film by
spectroscopic ellipsometry,” W.J. Li, Z.R. Song, Y.H. Yu, X. Wang,
S.C. Zou, D.S. Shen, IIT 2002, Taos, NM, Sep. 2002, published in
Sep 2002.
ECE Dept., UAH
10
Real Time, Spring 2003
Publications, Presentations and Awards
OPTICS
SIGNAL PROCESSING / COMMUNICATIONS
Gregory Nordin, Professor
Journal Articles
Laurie Joiner, Assistant Professor
G. P. Nordin, S. Kim, J. Cai, and J. Jiang, “Hybrid integration of
conventional waveguide and photonic crystal structures,” Opt. Express
10(23), 1334-1341 (2002),
http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-10-23-1334.
Journal Articles
Joiner, L.L. and J. J. Komo, “Errors and Erasures Decoding of
BCH and Reed-Solomon Codes for Reduced M-ary Orthogonal
Signaling,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 51, no. 1,
pp. 57-62, January 2003.
D. M. Chambers, G. P. Nordin, and Seunghyun Kim, “Fabrication and
performance of a three-layer stratified volume diffractive optical
element high-efficiency grating,” Opt. Express 11(1), 27-38 (2003),
http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-11-1-27.
Calhoun, P., R. Adhami, and L. L. Joiner, “Application of Horizon
Sensor Measurements in Kalman Filtering Techniques for Onboard Orbit Navigation During Aerobraking,” Circuits, Systems
and Signal Processing: CSSP, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 399-413, August
2002.
L. Li, G. P. Nordin, J. M. English, and J. Jiang, “Small-area bends and
beamsplitters for low-index-contrast waveguides,” Opt. Express 11(3),
282-290 (2003),
http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-11-3-282.
__________________________________________
Conference Papers
Emil Jovanov, Associate Professor
Shengrong Chen, Jaime Cardenes, Gregory P. Nordin, Christopher
Topping, Jack J. Jin, Jennifer Thomson, John M. Ballato, Stephen
H. Foulger, and Dennis W. Smith, Jr., “Direct micro-transfer
molding of perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymer waveguides,”
Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4805, (2002).
Journal Articles
E. Jovanov, A. Lords, D. Raskovic, P. Cox, R. Adhami, F.
Andrasik, “Stress Monitoring Using a Distributed Wireless
Intelligent Sensor System,” to appear in IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Magazine, May/June 2003.
L. Li, G. P. Nordin, J. M. English, and J. Jiang, “90° bends in low
index contrast waveguides,” in Integrated Optics: Devices,
Materials, and Technologies VII, Yavov Sidorin and Ari
Tervonen, Editors, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4987, (2003).
E. Jovanov, D. Raskovic, “Wireless Intelliegent Sensors,” in R.H.
Istepanian, S. Laxminarayan, C.S. Pattichis, Eds, M-Health:
Emerging Mobile Health Systems, Kluwer Academic/Plenum
Publishers, 2003.
G. P. Nordin, J. Jiang, S. Kim, and J. Cai “Micro-genetic
algorithm-based design of combined conventional waveguide and
photonic crystal devices,” in Photonic Crystal Materials and
Devices, Ali Adibi, Axel Scherer, and Shawn-Yu Lin, Editors,
Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 5000, (2003).
B. Priddy, E. Jovanov, “Wireless LAN Technologies for
Healthcare Applications,” in R.H. Istepanian, S. Laxminarayan,
C.S. Pattichis, Eds, M-Health: Emerging Mobile Health Systems,
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2003.
___________________________________________
David Pollock, Assoc. Research Professor
L. Collier, E. Jovanov, “A Prototype Emotion-Sensing HumanComputer Interface Device for PDA’s,” International Journal of
Psychophysiology, Vol. 45, No. 1-2, July 2002, pp. 91.
Pollock, D. B., T. L. Murdock, R. U. Datla, A, Thompson, “Traceable to
SI Units,” Conference for Characterization and Calibration for Remote
Sensing, September 2000, Utah State University, published
International Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol 24, Number 2, p225-236,
2003.
Conference Papers
J. Allison, R. Hormigo, E. Jovanov, “A Low-Power
Geographically Distributed Data Acquisition System with WWVB
Synchronization,” 35th Southeastern Symposium on System
Theory (SSST2003), Morgantown, West Virginia, March 2003.
SIGNAL PROCESSING / COMMUNICATIONS
David Pan, Assistant Professor
J. Gastler, E. Jovanov, “Distributed Intelligent Sound Processing
System,” 35th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory
(SSST2003), Morgantown, West Virginia, March 2003.
Conference Papers
D. W. Pan, A. Basso and L. Bottou, “An Iterative Algorithm for
Accurate Motion Estimation in Very Low Bit Rate Video
Coding,” International Signal Processing Conference, March 31April 3, 2003, Dallas, Texas.
SOLID STATE
D. W. Pan, S.-M. Yoo and R. Adhami, “Prediction of Raleigh
Fading Channels based on Hidden Markov Modeling of Sequential
Channel Decoding Complexity,” 35th IEEE SSST, March 16-18,
2003, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Timothy Boykin, Associate Professor
Journal Article
Timothy B. Boykin, “Derivatives of the Dirac delta function by
explicit construction of sequences,” Am. J. Phys., vol 71, p. 462
(2003).
Award
Dr. David W. Pan received the 2003 UAH Mini-Grant to
investigate very low bit rate video compression and
communications.
ECE Dept., UAH
11
Real Time, Spring 2003
ADTRAN TDP Class of 2003
Pictured above at the ADTRAN graduation reception (left to right): Jorge Aunon (UAH Dean of Engineering), Frank Franz (UAH President), Howard Thraikill (ADTRAN
President, COO, Director), Brent Priddy (ADTRAN TDP graduate), Jason Gastler (ADTRAN TDP graduate), Jonathan Pardeck (ADTRAN TDP graduate), Jay Allison
(ADTRAN TDP graduate), Jenika Rajbhandari (ADTRAN TDP graduate), Chris Sanders (ADTRAN TDP graduate, and Reza Adhami (UAH Chair of ECE),.
We celebrated the graduation of the fourth group of Master's students
from our new ADTRAN Technical Development Program (TDP) in
Electrical and Computer Engineering on May 5, 2003. Six students
graduated from TDP in Spring/Summer 2003. This was not simply a
worthy achievement for these individual students, but it is a milestone
for a unique partnership between UAH and ADTRAN, and a tribute to
a new kind of alliance between academia and industry.
Brent Priddy started college at UAH in the summer of 1996 and
received his BSEE in the Spring of 2001. During most of his college
career Brent was a co-op student at ADTRAN working on Routing and
Security Software. He started the TDP program in the Fall of 2001.
Brent has participated in UAH's Pep Band for 7 years as a trumpet
player and as the Assistant Director for 1 year.
Jenika Rajbhandari received her BSEE from North Carolina State
University in May 2001. She joined ADTRAN as a Design Engineer
in the summer of 2001, and started the TDP program in August of
2001.
The TDP is a two-year program that integrates engineering design
work experience with university graduate study. TDP participants are
full time employees at ADTRAN while active in the program.
Participants receive paid, 50% released time from work during
academic terms when taking nine semester hours. Both internal and
external candidates may apply to the program (e.g., current employees,
new graduates, and experienced non-employees). TDP participants are
selected using the normal evaluation and selection process utilized by
ADTRAN.
Christopher Robert Sanders from Wesson, MS, received his BSEE
from Mississippi State University in Fall 2000. He worked as a Co-op
student for ADTRAN for 3 semesters starting in Spring 1999. Chris
began full-time employment with ADTRAN in January 2001 as
Analog Design Engineer and started the UAH TDP Fall 2001.
Jason Gastler graduated from University of Missouri – Rolla with a
BSEE in December of 2000. He started a co-op at ADTRAN in the
Fall of 1998, went full time at ADTRAN in January of 2001, and
started the TDP in the Fall of 2001. Jason is currently working in
Charlie Wilson's Group in the Enterprise Networks Division.
Jay Allison (Jones E Allison III) graduated from Mississippi State
University, Magna Cum Laude, Bachelor of Science, College of
Engineering (Computer Engineering), May 2000; and Mississippi
State University, Master of Business Administration, August 2001.
Jay has been a Design Engineer with ADTRAN since August 2001.
Jonathan Travis Pardeck received his BSE in Computer Engineering
from the University of Missouri – Rolla in May of 2001 and . Soon
after an internship in the summer of 2000, he accepted a full-time job
as a Design Engineer with ADTRAN and started in May of 2001. He
began the Technical Development Program (TDP) a few months after
joining ADTRAN.
UAH
Congratulations ADTRAN Grads!
We want to hear from you!
The ECE Department looks forward to hearing your views and your success stories.
Contact us to share your news and comments about your career and interests. Your
story should be sent to
realtime@ece.uah.edu
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PAID
Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, AL 35899
PERMIT #283
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ECE Dept., UAH
12
Real Time, Spring 2003