ACP Communications and Embedded Systems Design Engineering

Overview

The demand for intelligent products that operate and exchange information efficiently has created a worldwide need for technical professionals involved in developing communication and embedded systems. To succeed in the global marketplace, corporations and professionals must be able to integrate software, small scale hardware, and network and communication technologies into their products ranging from consumer electronics to commercial aircraft. Develop the practical skills required to help conceptualize, design, integrate and implement these exciting new technologies into tomorrow’s products.

Benefits

• Design and develop new communication systems and embedded devices that meet the expanding needs of the global marketplace
•  Learn practical embedded systems and systems on a chip (SOC) design skills utilizing a hands-on approach with industry standard software, hardware, design automation (EDA) tools and design kits
• Develop a "systems engineering" approach to the communication and embedded engineering product development process 
• Enhance the design and performance of existing products that rely on embedded and communication systems
• Develop a network of contacts that can help define and obtain career or educational goals
• Sharpen communication and presentation skills in the Professional Communications Seminar
• Earn your certificate in 3 months plus gain valuable professional experience in an optional internship

Who Should Attend

• Engineering, information systems and technical professionals
• Engineering, computer science, and telecommunications students

Minimum Requirements

Students should have a fundamental understanding of electrical and computer engineering, information systems, computer science, telecommunications, or related technologies.

Certificate Requirements

In order to earn the Communications Systems Design Engineering Certificate, students must complete all the courses listed below with a grade “C” or higher in each course.

All certificate programs at UC Irvine Extension require professional-level English language proficiency in listening and note-taking, reading comprehension and vocabulary, written expression, and oral presentation. International students who do not meet certificate program admissions requirements are invited to enroll first in one of our English language program offerings.

Admission Requirements

Stay Informed About
Graduate-level Professional Certificates

"Through UC Irvine Extension, I learned how to integrate the power of business and engineering. Through an internship, I have had the opportunity to understand how projects are designed, combining my engineering and financial knowledge."
Javier Lopez, Spain
Graduate Student,
Universidad Europea de Madrid
ACP Communications Systems Design Engineering, ACP Business Administration, Internship Administration

Schedule

Tuition: $10,900
Internship: $1,850

	2012	2013
Winter	Jan 4 - Mar 28	Jan 4 - Mar 28
Spring
Summer
Fall	Sept 20 - Dec 17	Sept 20 - Dec 16

Curriculum

Professional Communications
Seminar (PCS)
Understand American business culture, sharpen your communication and presentation skills, learn professional etiquette, and improve your business English.

Courses

• Systems Requirements Engineering
  Learn an effective method for defining a set of requirements for a system. The focus is on the initial problem space definition, defining user needs, concept of operations, systems, segment, subsystem requirements, and architecture. Gain an understanding of the following five key requirements: elicitation of requirements, documentation and specifications, analysis and functional decomposition, requirements management, and verification and validation.
• C Programming for Embedded Systems
  Increase understanding of the essential embedded language features required for embedded systems programming. Developers benefit from this course by expanding their knowledge of using pointers and arrays, bit manipulation, using key words such as "volatile" and "register," and learning more about source code solutions to common embedded software problems.
• Introduction to Communications and Networking
  Increase your knowledge of the basic principles of data communications. Gain a comprehensive overview of the following topics: analog and digital transmission, voice, video and data processing, open systems interconnect (OSI) model, clientserver architectures, bridges and routers, local area and wide area networks, and modern state-of-the-art technologies. An introduction to Ethernet, TCP/IP, other high-speed protocols, broadband communications, and wireless communications is also presented. Participants actively learn through real world case studies and modern data communication systems scenarios.
• Communications Systems Design
  Learn how to analyze requirements and technical goals using the latest methods, technologies and tools. A typical communications system design process is discussed including identifying customer needs and goals, network configurations, transmission media and technology alternatives (copper wire, coaxial cable, fiber optics, and wireless). System testing and reliability, cost and performance analysis, leased versus private facilities, and regulatory and administrative considerations are also covered.
• Fundamentals of Embedded Systems Design and Programming
  Learn how to plan and execute complete embedded systems designs that are cost-effective and competitive. Determine and document system requirements for new designs as well as for improving existing systems. Learn analysis techniques for optimizing system specifications and selecting microcontrollers for specific designs. Hands-on development is facilitated with an embedded system development kit.
• Embedded System Architecture
  Learn the difference between embedded design and traditional electronic device design. Discuss the special demands on embedded systems including real-time programming, portability, low power usage, and miniaturization. The course introduces models and architectures. Additional topics covered include specification, system partitioning, design quality, and developing synthesizable models.
• Writing Portable Devices Drivers
  Gain practical knowledge of what constitutes a device driver, how to build one from a hardware datasheet, and how to write the code that will be portable across multiple platforms and operation systems. Discuss timing, interrupt handling, direct memory access (DMA), how to avoid pitfalls, and other critical issues fundamental to writing device drivers. Hands-on lab exercises reinforce code writing skills.

Internships
As an optional last course and for an additional fee, you have the opportunity to apply academic theory and gain practical experience in a variety of businesses and industries for up to three months. A research project provides additional training. Also included in the internship are the Resume Development and Interviewing Skills workshops.
Learn More