ECE Faculty Member Receives Funding for Detecting and Classifying Waveforms from Radio Frequency Data
July 26, 2023
Dr. Ali C. Gurbuz
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Ali Cafer Gurbuz has received over $145,000 to develop a system that can automatically detect and classify varying radar and communication waveforms directly from the complex radio frequency (RF) data using more interpretable deep learning architectures.
The project, titled Interpretable Complex Sinc-Nets for RF Waveform Detection and Classification in Time-Frequency Domain with Software Defined Radio Implementation, is supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) through The Minority Leaders – Research Collaboration Program (ML-RCP).
Gurbuz noted the project is important because deep learning (DL) architectures are commonly a black box without enough interpretability and physical understanding.
He said, “Combining the underlying physical information and bringing additional interpretability to DL architectures have the potential to respond to the challenges in learning-based recognition of RF waveforms in various dynamic environments.”
He added the proposed study has potential to create results leading to computationally efficient, interpretable learning specifically for areas such as electronic warfare, time-frequency domain analysis and radar/communication coexistence.
To learn more about Dr. Gurbuz’s areas of interest, visit his ECE faculty page.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University consists of 27 faculty members (including seven endowed professors), seven professional staff, and over 700 undergraduate and graduate students, with approximately 100 being at the Ph.D. level. With a research expenditure of over $14.24 million, the department houses the largest High Voltage Laboratory among North American universities.