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MASTER
OF SCIENCE IN
APPLIED MATHEMATICS CONCENTRATION IN MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS Description The goal of this program is to prepare students for employment in the communications industry. Students will work with a broad spectrum of mathematics pertinent to communications including coding theory, cryptography, information theory, Fourier signal analysis, linear systems, and modulation methods. Courses are designed to give students rigorous mathematical training while maintaining a focus on practical engineering problems. The program is also good preparation for doctoral work in electrical engineering or applied mathematics. Students in the program are mentored by faculty members who are active researchers in the theory and practice of communication. The current areas of research of the faculty include coding theory, especially low-density parity-check codes, algebraic geometry codes and codes over rings, data compression, modulation, and signal detection and analysis. Graduates of the program should find interesting employment opportunities. The communications industry is expanding rapidly with the dramatic growth in the use of cellular telephones, personal communication devices, and the internet for electronic commerce. San Diego is one of the nations leaders in communications technology. Qualcomm, the biggest private employer in San Diego County, pioneered the use of CDMA technology which is now used in wireless networks and handsets all over the world. Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), founded in La Jolla, is an international force in telecommunications. The San Diego offices of Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments, the U. S. Navy and many other firms do significant work in communications. Faculty James
Bond: (Senior staff scientist at SAIC and Adjunct Professor of Mathematics
at SDSU) Signal Processing, Low-Density Parity-Check codes, Data Compression,
and Modulation Theory Admission Requirements To be admitted to the program, the student should have training equivalent to that required for an undergraduate degree in mathematics or electrical engineering with a strong background in mathematics. Students with degrees in other areas but have strong mathematical backgrounds may also be considered for admission. In addition, all students must satisfy the general requirements for admission to the university with classified graduate standing. The
Department maintains a web page with further information on admission
and financial support. Course Work The
following courses are required: Courses under development are: (Two of these have been taught as special topics courses, Math 696.) Undergraduate
Level Cryptography The graduate division requirements for a Master's degree are that a student complete 30 units of course work at the 500, 600 or 700 level. As noted above under Course Work, this program has a number of required courses. In addition, a master's thesis must be completed, which counts for 3 units of the 30. The thesis is written under the direction of a faculty member who works closely with the student in both the reseach and the writing of the thesis. The student can choose any faculty member in the program to be the thesis adviser. The student and the adviser will determine the topic of the thesis, generally on a topic of interest to both. The average student takes 6 months or less to complete a thesis. The
Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers many other courses of
interest to students in the program, including complex analysis, real
analysis, number theory, abstract algebra and matrix analysis. Some
of the these activities are listed in the home pages of faculty members.
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