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Communication Systems & Signal Processing Institute (COSSPI)

 

The Communication Systems and Signal Processing Institute at San Diego State University is an organized research and development unit within the SDSU College of Engineering. It was established in recognition of the fact that San Diego has become the leading world-class center of research and development in the field of wireless communication, with virtually every major wireless and cellular communication system manufacturer and provider represented among the large number of local R&D organizations. Membership of the Institute consists of faculty drawn from the College of Engineering (and primarily from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering), who have professional interests and expertise in different aspects of communication systems. The Institute is led by its Director, Dr. Madhu S. Gupta, RF Communication Systems Industry Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering, and is guided by a steering committee having industrial representation. The Institute enters into contracts with external agencies through the San Diego State University Foundation, and its laboratories are housed in the Engineering Building on SDSU campus.

Institute Goals 
The Institute seeks to advance the state-of-the-art in communication systems through research, scholarship, education, service, and outreach. The Institute conducts research, development, and design work, and serves as a vehicle for fostering collaboration and scientific exchange between industry and academia. Through corporate and government sponsorship, the Institute supports faculty, graduate students, visiting scholars, and engineering professionals engaged in this field. 

Areas of Expertise 
The areas of research investigation and study reflect the breadth of faculty interests, and currently include the following: 

  • Development and implementation of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms
  • Development, prototyping and evaluation of ASIC, mixed-mode, and FPGA based digital signal processing systems
  • Analog and digital converter architectures
  • Phase-locked loops and frequency synthesizers
  • RF devices and integrated circuits; their performance characteristics
  • Software radios; receiver and transmitter architectures
  • Source Coding for speech, audio, still images, and moving images
  • Multimedia and computer networks; internetworking
  • Waveform design for communication and sensing/detection applications
  • Modulator and encoder design for multiple-antenna (MIMO) communication
  • Signal integrity and power integrity
  • Numerical electromagnetics for simulation of interconnects and IC packages

Capabilities and Facilities 
The Institute infrastructure includes laboratory equipment and software for designing, testing, and evaluating high-speed DSP boards, ASICs and mixed-mode RF integrated circuits, computer networks, and optical communication links as well as high-frequency characterization and electromagnetic simulation of transmission lines and printed circuit boards. Instrumentation is available for network analysis, signal generation and complex modulation, signal analysis, precision measurements, and performance verification. 

Current Activities 
The Institute activities include both the basic research and on-going core activities, as well as work on sponsored projects which change from time to time. Current activities include the following:

  • Software radio design algorithms
  • Development of algorithms to reduce jamming of GPS receivers by windowing techniques
  • Algorithms for constant-Q channelized receivers using FFT
  • Architecture of GPS receivers with carrier and timing recovery
  • Development of low power architectures for direct digital frequency synthesizers
  • Generating spectrally efficient orthogonal signals for M-ary UWB systems
  • Development of new simultaneously time-limited and band-limited signals.
  • Acoustic signal processing with Chirplet and S transforms
  • Development of a test platform for testing analog and digital SDR functions
  • Simulation of phase noise in RF sources, and designs for its minimization
  • Performance of spread spectrum CDMA systems
  • On-going lecture series by invited world-class experts on state-of-the-art developments in signal processing and communication systems
  • Teaching of short courses on recent developments
  • Technical advice and expert advice for trade-off studies and design review
  • Development of efficient error-control coding techniques for OFDM based modems
  • Development of transmitter adaptation algorithms for fading-resistant communication
  • High-frequency characterization of dielectric constant, loss tangent, and surface roughness
  • Design techniques to eliminate simultaneous switching noise in IC packages

Members 
The membership of the Institute currently consists of the following individuals

  • Faculty:
    • Dr. Madhu S. Gupta, Director
    • Dr. Yusuf Ozturk
    • Dr. Santosh Nagaraj
    • Dr. Ege Engin
  • Research Associates
    • Mr. Wade Lowdermilk
    • Mr. Dragon Vuletic

Contact 
For more information contact:
Madhu S. Gupta, Ph.D.
E-mail: [email protected] 
Phone: (619) 594-7015