Communications and signal processing has traditionally been a very strong area in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Syracuse University . Prominent contributions have been made by some world known experts in areas such as adaptive radar signal processing (Profs. Tapan Sarkar, Hong Wang, and Don Weiner), space-time adaptive processing (Profs. Tapan Sarkar, Hong Wang), and data fusion and distributed detection (Prof. Pramod Varshney). They have garnered national and international recognition as well as millions of dollars of external research funding including the prestigious MURI award. Recent hires in this area, Profs. Biao Chen and Lisa Osadciw along with Profs. Mehrotra and Mohan and our colleague Prof. P. Chen in Mathematics Department further strengthen our capability to conduct outstanding research. The diversity of this research group allows us to carry out broad systems level research in the areas of communications and signal processing.

Faculty with Expertise in this Area

• Biao Chen (EECS): Wireless communications,.
• Pinyuen Chen (Mathematics): Radar signal processing, statistical methods.
• Kishan Mehrotra (EECS): Statistical signal processing and information fusion.
• Chilukuri Mohan (EECS): Intelligent signal processing.
• Lisa Osadciw (EECS): Communications, Radar signal processing, RF sensor technology.
• Tapan Sarkar (EECS): (IEEE Fellow) Adaptive signal processing, space-time signal processing.
• Pramod Varshney (EECS): (IEEE Fellow, President of the International Society on Information Fusion) Data fusion, signal and image processing, and wireless communications.
• Hong Wang (EECS): Space time adaptive processing, radar signal processing and design.
• Don Weiner (EECS): (IEEE Fellow) Adaptive radar signal processing, Modeling and analysis of electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Radar Signal Processing
In current and future military operations, surveillance and reconnaissance systems are becoming more mobile on the ground, air, and in space. These systems are also gaining new capabilities through signal processing which is relatively inexpensive. Having sensors on moving platforms requires significant signal processing capability to be able to obtain crucial information regarding the target area. For example, effective space- time adaptive processing algorithms are indispensable for airborne radar. On the ground, advanced clutter processing is required due to the increased dynamic range resulting from new digital signal processing hardware. Increasing the resolution through new adaptive signal processing techniques is a goal for future surveillance systems.

The research work in this field has been funded by DARPA, AFRL and other DOD agencies. Significant contributions have been made over the years that resulted in numerous publications. Professors Sarkar, Wang and Weiner are well-known experts in this area and their research has been well cited around the world. In addition, Prof. Biao Chen with his recent publications in the area of target detection, Prof. Pinyuen Chen with his work on radar signal processing and Prof. Osadciw with her industrial experience at Lockheed-Martin add significantly to this area of expertise.

Data Fusion and Distributed Detection
In both military and commercial applications, having multiple sensors deployed (e.g., multiple platform radar systems) has the advantage of increased reliability, survivability and enhanced system performance. How to process the data from multiple sensors to fully utilize the potential of multiple sensor systems is of critical importance.

Prof. Varshney is the world leading authority in this area and has made many fundamental contributions to this field. His book on Data Fusion and Distributed Detection has been widely used by researchers in this area. His work on image fusion and registration has applications in medical imaging, remote sensing and homeland security. His research, funded by many DOD agencies (including the prestigious MURI award), has garnered interest around the world. As a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society, he has been invited to give plenary talks in this area around the world. Professors Mehrotra and Mohan are currently contributing to the multi-disciplinary MURI project on mobile augmented battlespace visualization. Our research in this area is further strengthened and diversified by the addition of new faculty members Prof. Biao Chen and Prof. Lisa Osadciw who have brought their own expertise related to this area.

Adaptive Algorithms for Wireless System Design
In future generation of Metal detectors to be installed by EG&G at the various airports all over the world it is necessary to distinguish between large structures like a knife as opposed to small structures like coins. In addition a similar mathematical problem arises in mobile communication where interferences due to multipath effects can cause serious degradation in the performance. This is important because these two important problems affect our daily lives and the potential payoff for a good system will be very high.

NSF and AFRL have supported current work under the leadership of Prof. Sarkar. Innovative methodology has been developed and will be used by EG&G in the next generation of Metal detectors. Specifically, the Matrix Pencil technique that Prof. Sarkar has developed over the last two decades has proven to be one of the most stable solutions for the problem.