I am Handan Agirman

I have been working as a research associate at the Center for Communications and Signal Processing Research CWCSPR at New Jersey Institute of Technology since March 2010 concentrating on modulation classification techniques for MIMO signals. I received my PhD. degree from the ECE department of NJIT in December 2009. During my doctoral studies, I studied under the supervision of Prof. Ali N. Akansu. In my dissertation, I have introduced a new DFT based framework named as Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Non-linear Phase. This new framework was applied to CDMA and OFDM based systems and shown to improve system imperfections such as multi-user interference.

Before coming to the US, I worked as an RF Engineer at ASELSAN Inc. , Turkey for 3 years and as a researcher at TUBITAK, UEKAE , Turkey for 6 months. As an RF engineer, I worked on the design of a radar transmitter and receiver systems especially on system simulation through ADS and lumped element filter design. As a researcher at TUBITAK, I worked on system simulation of Radar systems through Matlab/Simulink.

Research Interests

  • Digital Signal Processing: Orthogonal block Transforms (DFT, DCT etc.), Subband Trees, Wavelets, Time-frequency Analysis, Radar Signal Processing.
  • Communications: MIMO communication systems, Modulation classification, Statistical learning and Support Vector Machines, Clustering techniques, Multi-user, Inter-carrier, Inter-symbol Interference cancellation methods, spreading code design for CDMA systems, PAPR Reduction in OFDM-based systems, Physical layer system simulation or implemetation, radar waveform design, orthogonal modulation techniques.
  • Microwave and RF: Lumped element filter design, RF system analysis and implementation, coverage analysis of microwave systems, antenna measurement techniques.

My Education History

    • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Jan 2010
    • New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, NJ
    • Thesis Title: Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Non-linear Phase: Theory and Design
    • Advisor: Prof. Ali N. Akansu
    • GPA: 3.91/ 4.00
    • M.S. in Electrical Engineering, 2005
    • Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, TURKEY
    • Thesis Title: Waveform Design for Pulsed Doppler Radar
    • Advisor: Prof. Mete Severcan
    • GPA: 3.44/ 4.00
    • B.S. in Electrical Engineering, 2002
    • Hacettepe University, Ankara, TURKEY
    • Senior Project: Simulation of an OFDM System on AWGN and Rayleigh Channel using Advanced Design System (ADS) Software
    • Advisor: Prof. Mehmet Safak
    • GPA: 3.53/ 4.00

My Publications and Patents

    • - Journal Papers details...
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, "Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Nonlinear Phase," IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 58, no. 9, pp. 4547-4556, Sep. 2010.
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, Mustafa Ugur Torun, ""Optimal Design of Phase Function in Generalized DFT," Physical Communication, Elsevier, to appear, 2010.
    • - Conference Papers details...
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, "Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Optimum Correlations," Proc. IEEE ICASSP, pp. 4054-4047, March 2010.
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, "Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform: Theory and Design Methods," Proc. IEEE Sarnoff Symposium, March 2009.
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, "Improved Correlation of Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Nonlinear Phase for OFDM and CDMA Communications," Proc. EUSIPCO European Signal Processing Conference, Aug. 2009.
    • - H. Agirman-Tosun and A.N. Akansu, "Continuous Phase Modulation for Multi-Level Spreading Codes in CDMA Communications," Proc. Sarnoff Symposium, pp. 1-5, April 2008.
    • - H. Agirman-Tosun and A.N. Akansu, "BER Performance of DS-CDMA Communications for Continuous Phase Modulation and Various Binary Code Families," Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems Proceedings, pp. 330-334, March 2008.
    • - Patents details...
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun "Generalized Fourier Transform with Efficient Algorithms and Improved Performance." Provisional patent application, 2008.
    • - A.N. Akansu and H. Agirman-Tosun, "Peak to Average Power Ratio Reduction Method in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Based Communications Systems Employing Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform with Selective Mapping." Invention disclosure, April 2009.

My Work Experience

    • - Research Asssociate, NJIT, Newark, NJ, USA March 2010 - present
    • -Working on feature-based modulation classification techniques using support vector machines for MIMO signals
    • - Research Assistant, NJIT, Newark, NJ, USA June 2009 - Dec. 2009
    • -Proposed a novel framework for constant modulus sets with superior correlations, Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform (GDFT) with Non-linear Phase, where several popular orthogonal waveforms and transforms shown to be special solutions.
    • -Developed an efficient GDFT-SLM based PAPR reduction method for OFDM communications with improved battery life.
    • - Instructor, NJIT, Newark, NJ, USA, 2008 - 2009 (Summer Sessions)
    • -Taught undergraduate courses ECE252 (Microprocessors) and ECE 292 (Electrical Engineering Lab II).
    • - Teaching Assistant, NJIT, Newark, NJ, USA, Sep. 2006- June 2009
    • -Helped and supported the instructors of freshman course, FED101 (Fundamental of Engineering Design) for six semesters.
    • - Research Engineer, Department of National Research Institute of Electronics and Cryptology, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, Ankara, TURKEY, Jan. 2006 - Aug. 2006
    • -Simulated a Firefinder radar system in Simulink (MATLAB).
    • - RF Engineer, Department of Radar Electronic Warfare and Intelligence Systems, ASELSAN INC., Ankara, TURKEY, Aug. 2002 - Dec. 2005
    • -Worked on design, development and testing of an advanced radar receiver and transmitter system.
      • Simulated the RF receiver and transmitter of the radar system in ADS: Quantified the corrupting effects of basic RF components in a radar system (i.e. mixers, filters, amplifiers).
      • Designed lumped element IF filters for the transceiver: Experienced in Agilent filter design software, Genesys and in Agilent Network Analyzers and Impedance Analyzers.
      • Worked on radar waveform design (particularly on pulse compression): Designed a set of new non-binary pulse compression waveforms increasing security and developed a new phase shaping filter reducing 90% and 99% bandwidths of a typical phase modulated radar waveform.
    • -Experienced in measuring the patterns of prototype antennas in anechoic chamber.
    • -Worked on coverage analysis of electronic warfare systems (EW) using CIPAS and RadioLink software.
    • -Worked on development of an optic-delay-line based radar target simulator and used it to test several radar systems.
    • - Research Intern, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA, July 2008 - Aug. 2008
    • -Gave several presentations to the Microwave Team of ETRI, South Korea on the basics of radar systems and the past and recent research studies

About Me