Spring Semesters
ECE382M-25: Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits
The RFIC course provides a comprehensive introduction to modern wireless communication systems and radio-frequency integrated circuit design. Students will study the fundamentals of wireless communication, including key performance specifications and common RF transceiver architectures. The course also covers transistor-level circuit design in modern CMOS technologies, with emphasis on building blocks such as low-noise amplifiers, mixers, voltage-controlled oscillators, and power amplifiers. In addition, students will learn about passive components implemented in CMOS processes, including inductors, capacitors, transformers, and transmission lines. Practical design skills will be developed through the use of Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS), a widely used platform for circuit- and system-level simulation. Students will apply the concepts learned in the course through a simulation-based RF integrated circuit design project that integrates theoretical analysis with practical implementation.
New in Spring 2026: The course introduced emerging AI-enabled RFIC design workflows. Students who opted in completed a course project to design a commercial-grade Wi-Fi receiver using either a fully optimization-driven or an agentic workflow, integrating the RFIC knowledge developed throughout the course. Their designs achieved record-high figures of merit. The designs from the top three teams are shown here: Team1; Team2; Team3!!!
Fall Semesters
ECE411: Circuit Theory
This course provides a systematic, in-depth treatment of the design and analysis of (mostly) linear electric circuits and their associated circuit components. Topics covered will include the following: capacitance and inductance; RC, RL, and RLC circuits; operational amplifiers and op-amp circuits; sinusoidal steady-state analysis and phasors; an introduction to solid-state electronic devices; frequency response and Bode plots; passive and active filter circuits; frequency-domain analysis; Laplace transforms and applications to circuit analysis; Fourier series and transforms; two-port networks. Laboratory exercises are a key component of the course.