Course Concept: All systems can be viewed from the perspective of
input verses output. An amplifier, for
instance may have a 1 volt sine wave as its input and a 10 volt sine wave as
its output. Similarly, one may look at
the heart as a system which has a blood pressure and/or flow rate as its input
and a different pressure/flow as its output.
A skeletal muscle may have a set of neural impulses as its input and a
specific tensile force as its output.
There are multiple complicating factors in these systems, such as
non-linearity, time variance, and hysteresis, but as
a first approach we can treat them as time invariant linear systems. This course provides the student with the
tools necessary to analyze such systems and provides physiological example of
their application.
Text Book:
Two books are required for this course, “Signals and Systems” by Hsu, and
“Signals and Systems Made Ridiculously Simple” by Karu. Despite its title, the book by Karu is highly regarded by students at MIT and other
institutions (you may want to read about it on amazon.com). It provides the student with a basic and
almost intuitive understanding of the concepts to be covered, without
inundating the student with mathematical details.
Course Policies
1. Students
must read the assigned material by the due date specified under reading assignments below. A 5 minute quiz will be given, on average
about once a week. These quizzes will
not be counted against you, but will be added as bonus points.
2. There will be three exams, two
midterms (25% each) and one final (25%).
The exams must be taken during
class time on the day specified. There
will be no early exams or late exams, except with a medical excuse signed by a
physician. Explanations such as “my
alarm clock didn’t go off,” or “I already made reservations to fly to my Aunt’s
house on November 12th” will not excuse you from taking the test at
the assigned time. The remaining 25%
will be Homework, and an additional 5% will be based on bonus quizzes.
Homework is an integral part of this course and must be
turned in. Late homework will not be accepted for grading. Note that a fair number of assignments will
be taken from the book by Hsu, which already has the answers in it. It is in your best interest to attempt to do
the problems before you look at the answers.
Otherwise you will be in trouble during the exams. Yes, I do expect these assignemnts
to be turned in! A standard grading
scale will be used:
90-100: A, 80-90: B, 70-80:C, 60,70:D, <50:F
Homework will be graded in class.
Please fold your homework in half, lengthwise, and mark the outside, at the top
of the page, with your name, the course number, and the number of the homework
set, and the due date. For example, see
the layout to the right.
Also mark each page with your name & the page
number e.g. John Doe, page 1 of 4).
3. Attendance
regulations: All students are expected to attend the lectures.
4. Office Hours: Please observe my office
hours. If you must see me outside of
office hours, please make an appointment.
Although time spent with students is generally enjoyable, it can distract
from my other duties if not kept under control.
Also, please do come to see me
during my office hours. This is often the best way for me to
determine what concepts the class may need more help
with.