EECS 501 - Winter 2009

Probability and Random Processes
Lecture Mon and Wed 1:30-3:00PM, 3427EECS
Discussion Fri 1:30-3:00PM, 2305GGBL

Instructor: Alfred Hero: 4234A EECS - hero at eecs.umich.edu - 734 763-0564
GSI: Ali Kakhbod: 4438 EECS - akakhbod at umich.edu
Textbook: "Probability and Random Processes for Electrical and Computer Engineers," John Gubner, Cambridge, 2006, ISBN 0521864704.
Instructor office hours: 4234A EECS, T and W 3-4:30PM
GSI office hours: 4438 EECS, W 6-7:30PM and F 3:4:30PM


Course description (from catalog)

Prerequisite: EECS 401 or graduate standing. I, II (4 credits). Introduction to probability and random processes. Topics include probability axioms, sigma algebras, random vectors, expectation, probability distributions and densities, Poisson and Wiener processes, stationary processes, autocorrelation, spectral density, effects of filtering, linear least-squares estimation, and convergence of random sequences.

Course Mechanics

This is a graduate level introduction to probability and random processess and the organization and order of topics will roughly follow that of the Gubner texbook. Lectures will take place on Mon and Wed and and the recitation/discussion will take place on Fri from 1:30-3PM and in 3427 EECS.
Your grade in this course will be determined by a weighted average of scores from the following:
  • Exam 1: 30%
  • Exam 2: 30%
  • Biweekly quizzes: 15%
  • Weekly homeworks: 25%
    We will drop the quiz with lowest score and the homework with lowest score in determining your grade.

    Some important information

  • Homework assignments and solutions will be posted on the course webpage.
  • Homeworks are to be turned in to Prof. Hero before class on the due date and solutions to the homework will be posted soon thereafter. No late homeworks will be accepted.
  • Corrected homeworks will be returned to students at the recitation/discussion sessions on friday.

    Exam Dates
    Midterm inclass exam, Mon. Feb 16, 6-8PM, 1005 EECS : solns
    Comprehensive final exam: Wed April 29, 1:30-3:30 in EECS1200.


    Homework assignments: (All assignments are exercises in Gubner)
    Due F 01/16/09 (hand-in before beginning of discussion): 1.6, 1.23, 1.29, 1.36, 1.53, 1.55, 1.63, 1.68
    Due M 01/26/09: 2.3, 2.4, 2.9, 2.14, 2.23, 2.26
    Due M 02/2/09: 2.34, 2.38, 2.40, 2.41, 2.45, 2.52
    Due W 02/11/09: 2.43, 3.1, 3.6, 3.8, 3.17, 3.26, 3.38, 3.43 (4.2, 4.6 postponed to next hwk)
    Due M 03/2/09: 4.2, 4.6, 4.23, 4.28, 4.40, 4.46, 4.49, 4.55, 4.66
    Due M 03/9/09 5.10, 5.20, 5.29, 5.34, 5.35, 5.37, 5.51, 5.56
    Due M 03/16/09: 7.7, 7.20, 7.30, 7.33, 7.39, 7.59, 8.9, 8.10
    Due W 03/23/09: 8.13, 8.14, 8.22, 8.24, 8.28, 8.29, 8.46
    Due W 04/1/09: 9.8, 9.12, 10.1, 10.16, 10.14, 10.15, 10.23
    Due M 04/13/09: 10.28, 10.36, 10.42, 10.50, 10.55, 10.60
    Due M 04/20/09: 11.9, 11.12, 11.14, 11.15, 11.27, 11.33
    Useful links:

  • UM Academic Calendars
  • Michigan Internet Auction (Used Textbook Auction organized by UM students).

    Policies and Guidelines

    All Undergraduate and Graduate students are expected to abide by the College of Engineering Honor Code as stated in the Student Handbook and the Honor Code Pamphlet. This applies to inclass exams, to takehome exams, and to all assigned homeworks. Violation of the Honor Code and the following policies is grounds for me to initiate an action that would be filed with the Dean's office and would come before the College of Engineering's Honor Council. If you have any questions about this policy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

    Exam Policies

    For all exams the work must be entirely your own, you are not allowed to consult with anyone else on these problems. For take home exams you will be allowed to use materials from library and computer facilties but no discussion of the exam with other individuals is permitted during the exam period. In particular you are prohibited from discussing or exchanging information concerning methods of solution, overall solution strategies, computer code, or technical references that you located which can help solve the problem.

    Homework Policy

    All home work assignments (problem sets) are to be completed on your own. You are allowed to consult with other students in the current class during the conceptualization of a problem but all written work, whether in scrap or final form, are to be generated by you working alone. You are not allowed to sit together and work out the details of the problems with anyone. You are not allowed to discuss the problem set with previous class members, nor anyone else who has significant knowledge of the details of the problem set. Nor should you compare your written solutions, whether in scrap paper form, or your final work product, to other students (and vice versa). You are also not allowed to possess, look at, use, or in anyway derive advantage from the existence of solutions prepared in prior years, whether these solutions were former students' work product or copies of solutions that had been made available in previous years.


    Contact Information:

    Prof. Alfred O. Hero III
    Systems Graduate Program
    Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
    The University of Michigan
    1301 Beal Avenue
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
    Tel. (764) 763-0564
    FAX: (764) 763-8041
    email: hero@eecs.umich.edu