Program of Study

Students studying VLSI design or computer engineering recommended to follow this program of study leading to a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering or a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering under the "Thesis Option".
Students working toward a degree under the "No Thesis Option" should take an additional three courses (nine hours) instead of the six thesis hours (ECE 8000).

Courses not listed on this page are allowed only by written permission, and only with very good cause.

Note that at least one-half of all credit hours (not including ECE 8000) must at the 7xxx or 8xxx level (no more than six hours of ECE 7000 are allowed). For example, a "thesis MS degree" program must contain at least four courses at the 7xxx/8xxx level, and a "non-thesis MS degree" must containt at least six courses at the 7xxx/8xxx level.

It is the responsibility of each graduate student to make out a detailed graduate program of study signed by their advisor Professor during the student's first semester of their graduate study. By the following semester, the program should include the signatures of all committee members. Graduate students should realize that any course work taken before their program of study is placed on file in the Office of Graduate Studies and in the ECE department, is subject to disapproval by the committee.

Extra course work to eliminate a student's deficiencies may be required. These requirements will be determined by the student's graduate committee and/or graduate coordinator.

Students Entering in the Fall Semester

Fall Semester (AY1)	Spring Semester (AY1)	Summer Term (AY1)
ECE 6713 Computer Architecture (0) ECE 6743 DSD or ECE 6263 VLSI (0),(1) Minor 6xxx/8xxx Elective (2)	ECE 6743 DSD or ECE 6263 VLSI (0),(1) ECE 8013 Switching Theory I or Minor 6xxx/8xxx Elective (2) ECE 8063 Parallel Computer Architectures I (3)	ECE 7000 Directed Individual Study (4) -- OR -- Industry Internship
Fall Semester (AY2)	Spring Semester (AY2)	Summer Term (AY2)
ECE 8273 VLSI Systems I ECE 8053 Computer Arithmetic Minor 8xxx Elective (5)	ECE 8000 Thesis Research	ECE 8000 Thesis Research (6)

Students Entering in the Spring Semester

	Spring Semester (AY1)	Summer Term (AY1)
	ECE 6713 Computer Architecture (0) ECE 6263 Principles of VLSI Design (0) Minor 6xxx/8xxx Elective (2)	ECE 7000 Directed Individual Study (4) -- OR -- Industry Internship
Fall Semester (AY2)	Spring Semester (AY2)	Summer Term (AY2)
ECE 6743 Digital Systems Design (0) ECE 8053 Computer Arithmetic ECE 8273 VLSI Systems I	ECE 8013 Switching Theory I or Minor 6xxx/8xxx Elective (2) ECE 8063 Parallel Computer Architectures I (3) Minor 8xxx Elective (5)	ECE 8000 Thesis Research
Fall Semester (AY3)
ECE 8000 Thesis Research (6)

(0) If the student has received MSU undergraduate credit for this course, substitute another ECE 6xxx or ECE 8xxx course from the appropriate track below.
(1) Students taking ECE 6743 Digital Systems Design during their first semester at MSU should take ECE 6263 Principles of VLSI Design during their second semester. Likewise, students taking ECE 6263 Principles of VLSI Design during their first semester at MSU should take ECE 6743 Digital Systems Design during their second semester.
(2) Choose a 6xxx or 8xxx course from list of approved MA or CS courses. The chosen area is called the "minor". (Students can request the minor be another study area in ECE.)
(3) Students may substitute another ECE 8xxx class on computer architecture or analog IC circuit design.
(4) While technically not required, the student should desire academic credit for the research performed during the summer terms
(5) Choose an 8xxx "Minor" course from the list of approved MA or CS courses. If an appropriate course is not available, one should be taken during the next semester
(6) If needed.

**ECE Electives**
ECE 6223 Error Correcting Digital Codes	ECE 6773 Digital Signal Processing	ECE 6273 Microelectronics Device Design
ECE 6813 Communications Theory		ECE 6283 Microelectronics Process Design

ECE 8013 Switching Theory I	ECE 8990 Random Signals and Systems	ECE 8990 Special Topics in RF CMOS Circuit Design
ECE 8023 Switching Theory II	ECE 8363 Digital Spectral Analysis	ECE 8990 Special Topics in Advanced Semiconductor Device Design
ECE 8043 Advanced Processor Architectures	ECE 8373 Adaptive Signal Processing	ECE 8990 Special Topics in Advanced Analog IC Design
ECE 8063 Parallel Computing Architectures I	ECE 8433 Statistical Signal Processing	ECE 8990 Special Topics in Mixed Signal IC Design
ECE 8073 Parallel Computing Architectures II	ECE 8990 Intelligent Systems	ECE 8523 Wafer Scale Integration
ECE 8990 VHDL Modelling
ECE 8223 Analog Integrated Circuit Design

"Minor" Electives

Mathematics (MA/ST)	Computer Science (CS)
MA 6133 Discrete Mathematics	CS 6213 Software Engineering I
MA 6143 Graph Theory	CS 6223 Software Engineering II
MA 6153 Matrix and Linear Algebra	CS 6633 Artificial Intelligence
MA 6163 Group Theory	CS 6643 Expert Systems Design
MA 6173 Number Theory	CS 6743 Operating System II
MA 6543 Introduction to Mathematics Statistics I	CS 6833 Introduction to Analysis of Algorithms
MA 6573 Introduction to Mathematics Statistics II	CS 8153 Advanced Data Communications
MA 6753 Complex Variables	CS 8643 Intelligent Systems
MA 8113 Modern Higher Algebra I	CS 8653 Knowledge Representation and Knowledge Bases
MA 8123 Modern Higher Algebra II	CS 8663 Neural Computing
MA 8133 Advanced Discrete Mathematics	CS 8733 Advanced Systems Programming
MA 8253 Operational Mathematics	CS 8823 Combinatorics & Graph Theory
MA 8273 Special Functions	CS 8833 Algorithms
MA 8283 Calculus of Variations
MA 8293 Integral Equations
MA 8313 Ordinary Differential Equations I
MA 8713 Complex Analysis I
MA 8723 Complex Analysis II
ST 8533 Applied Probability
ST 8543 Stochastic Processes

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