Electrical and Computer Engineering: An Overview

1
Electrical and Computer Engineering An Overview

• Trac D. Tran
• ECE Department
• The Johns Hopkins University
• Baltimore, MD 21218

2
Outline

• Introduction. Main objectives
• General course information. Course outline
• Brief history of electrical engineering and
  computer engineering (ECE)
• Current research areas in ECE
• Motivations
• ECE applications in our daily life
• Career paths
• ECE present and future

3
Main Objectives

• Provide a survey past, present, future of the
  field of electrical and computer engineering
• Introduce fundamental ideas and concepts in ECE
• Provide hands-on experience in the laboratory
• Discuss other topics related to the broader field
  of engineering
• Familiarize students with the design process
• Improve problem-solving skills, teamwork and
  communication skills

4
Concentration

• Information technology
• Information representations
• Information theory
• Information processing and manipulation
• Information coding. Data compression
• Information communications and transmission
• Information technology via an electrical signal
  and system perspective

5
Immediate Benefits

• 520.213 Circuits
• 520.142 Digital System Fundamentals
• 520.214 Signals and Systems
• 520.345 ECE Labs
• 520.219 Fields, Matter, and Waves
• 520.435 Digital Signal Processing
• 520.401 Basic Communication

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Electricity
Elektor
Greek beaming sun
Electricus
Latin produce from amber by friction
Electricity
Microsofts Encarta Dictionary a fundamental form
of kinetic or potential energy created by the
free or controlled movement of charged particles
such as electrons, positrons, and ions
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Electrical Engineering

• The study and design of electrical signals and
  electrical systems
• To distribute and convert energy between various
  forms
• To gather, store, process, communicate, present,
  and display data or information
• Many branches of electrical engineering
• Electronics, circuits, networks, and systems
• Microelectronics solid-state devices, integrated
  circuits, and devices
• Signal processing, communications, information
  technology
• Microwave, quantum, and optical electronics
• Electromagnetic wave radiation and propagation

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Computer Engineering

• The analysis, design, and evaluation of both
  hardware (devices, components) and software
  (programs) for computer systems, computer
  networks, memory devices, and input/output
  devices
• Key computer engineering topics
• Computer architecture
• Algorithms
• Correctness robustness
• Communications security
• Complexity computational cost

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ECE Specialties
Digital signal processing Communications Informati
on theory Control theory
Information Engineering
Algorithms Architecture Complexity Programming
Language Compilers Operating Systems
Computer Engineering / Computer Science
Electronics Circuits Optics Power
systems Electromagnetic
Electrical Engineering
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A Generic System Diagram
Input or signal source electrical, mechanical, ac
oustical
Sensor, detector, or transducer signals as
voltages and currents
Signal conditioning filter, amplifier, limiter
Output display, device activation, signal output
for next system component
A/D conversion, signal processing
Computation decision, control

• CD / DVD recoders and players
• Cell phones

• Robotic control
• Weather prediction systems

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System Example
input
Microphone
Encoder
Transmitter
Speaker
Decoder
Receiver
output
The Telephone System
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520.137 How does your cell phone works?

• iPhone 3G has inside all engineering
  technologies, concepts, ideas covered in this
  course!

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iPhone 3G Overview

• 620 MHz ARM processor under-clocked to 412 MHz
• GPU PowerVR MBX Lite 3D
• 128 MB DRAM
• Up to 16 GB of storage
• 420 x 320 Multi-touch LCD Screen
• Networks 3G GSM Cellular, Bluetooth, WiFi
• GPS

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Inside the iPhone 3G

• Total cost of all components 173

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Common Engineering Elements

• Emphasis on practicality
• Quantitative computations numerical results
  computer-reliant
• Modeling simplifying components, systems,
  phenomena
• Materials properties, behaviors
• Relationship to sciences physics, chemistry
• Safety factor
• Cost. Complexity
• Reliability
• System approach control and stability
• Environmental impact
• Inter-disciplinary. Communication. Teamwork

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History

• 1679 G. W. Leibniz, binary arithmetic
• 1729 S. Gray, conduction of electricity
• 1750 B. Franklin, electrical fluid, lightning
  rod
• 1785 C. Coulomb, electric charges
• 1800 A. Volta, first electric battery
• 1816 J. Henry, inductance
• 1820 A. M. Ampere, current-induced magnetism
• 1827 G. S. Ohm, electrical resistance
• 1831 M. Faraday, electromagnetic induction
• 1837 S. Morse, telegraph
• 1854 G. Boole, algebra of logical functions
• 1865 J. C. Maxwell, theory of electromagnetic
  field

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History

• 1876 A. G. Bell, telephone
• 1877 T. A. Edison, phonograph
• 1879 T. A. Edison, incandescent lamps
• 1888 H. Hertz, experimental foundations on
  electromagnetism
• 1888 N. Tesla, AC induction motor
• Late 1800s Early 1900s EE degrees and depts
• 1901 G. Marconi, trans-atlantic wireless
  telegraphy
• 1910 L. De Forest, first commercial radios
• 1927 J. L. Baird, television
• 1927 E. H. Armstrong, FM radio
• 1936 A. Turing, mathematical logic for computer
  design

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History

• 1940s J. Von Neumann, computer conceived
• 1947 W. Shockley, J. Bardeen, W. H. Brattain,
  transistor
• 1948 C. E. Shannon, information theory
  communications
• 1950 R. Hamming, error-correction codes
• 1958 J. S. Kilby, first integrated circuits
• 1960 I. S. Reed, G. Solomon Reed-Solomon codes
• 1968 Intel
• 1980 Sony Philips, CD technology
• 1980 Microsoft
• 1980s Global Positioning System (GPS)
• 1989 Tim Berners-Lee et al, World Wide Web
• 1980s-1990s JPEG, MPEG, MP3
• 1996-Present DVD technology, cellular phones,
  PDA
• 2000s HDTV, blue-ray player, H.264, iPhone 3G

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Predicting the Future

• Heavier-than-air machines are impossible, Lord
  Kelvin, President of British Royal Society, 1895
• I think there is a world market for maybe five
  computers, Thomas Watson, IBM Chairman, 1943
• We dont like their sound, and guitar music is
  on the way out, Decca Recording Company
  rejecting the Beatles, 1962
• 640K ought to be enough for anybody, Bill
  Gates, Microsoft Chairman, 1981

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Future ECE Trends/Contributions

• Faster broadband communications, more bandwidth,
  increased channel capacity
• More compact display and computing devices
• Greater connectivity
• Computational power increases. More
  special-purpose computers
• Better tools for storing, archiving, searching,
  accessing, and retrieving information
• Improved bio-medical applications more accurate
  diagnosis and better treatment based on improved
  instrumentation and DNA