Ashkan Ashrafi, Currculum Vitae - San Diego State University

CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr., E-403F
San Diego, CA 92182-1309
Office: (619)-594-3703
Fax: (619)-594-2654
E-Mail: ashrafi@mail.sdsu.edu
URL: http://jason.sdsu.edu/~ashrafi
PERSONAL DATA
Married, Permanent Resident of the United States.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
ASHKAN ASHRAFI
My research interests include digital signal processing systems and their VLSI implementations, direct digital
frequency synthesizers, digital filters, orthogonal signals, Hilbert spaces and wavelets, discrete transforms,
statistical signal processing, multivariate spectral estimation, applications of convex optimization in signal
processing particularly in digital filter design, empirical mode decomposition and applied mathematics
especially Matrix Theory. I am also conducting research on biomedical signal processing particularly in
neurological signal processing. My main goal in biomedical signal processing research is to study new
techniques for extracting useful information from neurological signals such as EEG and EMG signals. I am
currently a member of the NSF funded Engineering Research Center in Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at San
Diego State University (collaborating with University of Washington and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology) where I am conducting research on real-time bio-interface for neurological signal analysis.
EDUCATION
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (with the highest honor) May 2006
Dissertation: “A Quasi-Linear Interpolation Method to Develop a Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer with
VLSI Implementation.” Advisor: Professor Reza Adhami
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL
M.S. in Electrical Engineering (with the highest honor) May 2004
Thesis: “Mapping From Phase to Sine Amplitude in Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizers Utilizing Chebyshev
Polynomial Interpolation”. Advisor: Professor Reza Adhami
K.N.Toosi University of Technology Tehran, Iran
M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (with the highest honor) June 1995
Thesis: “Design and Construction of Precision Capacitive Sensors”. Advisor: Professor Hossein Golnabi
K.N. Toosi University of Technology Tehran, Iran
B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) January 1992
Graduated as the best (#1) student (in a class of ~150).
Ashkan Ashrafi 1/6

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
San Diego State University San Diego, CA
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering August 2007 – Present
Adjunct Professor of Computational Science Research Center March 2012 – Present
Director, Real-Time DSP and FPGA Development Lab
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL
Visiting Assistant Professor August 2006 – May 2007
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL
Graduate Teaching Assistant August 2001 – May 2006
HONORS AND DISTINCTIONS
The 2012 Outstanding Faculty Award of the ECE Department, San Diego State University.
The 2005 Iliana Martin Chittur Outstanding Graduate Student Award, University of Alabama in Huntsville
College of Engineering 2005 National Engineer’s Week, Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Department of
ECE, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America (60 th Edition 2006, 61 st Edition 2007 and 65 th Edition 2011)
Listed in Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering (9 th Edition 2007)
Listed in Marquis Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders (1 st Edition Dec. 2006)
School of Graduate Studies Dean’s List, Academic Year 2002-04, University of Alabama in Huntsville.
The 1995 Best (#1) Graduate Student Award, Department of Electrical Engineering, K.N.T. University of
Technology
The 1992 Best (#1) Undergraduate Student Award (summa cum laude), Department of Electrical Engineering,
K.N.T. University of Technology
Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Member of Phi-Kappa-Phi Honor Society
Member of Eta-Kappa-Nu Honor Society
Member of Sigma-Xi Honor Society
TEACHING AND ADVISING EXPERIENCE
ECE Department, San Diego State University August 2007 – Present
Undergraduate classes taught:
EE-330L (Engineering Electronics Laboratory)
EE-410 (Signals and Systems)
EE-556 (Digital Signal Processing)
Graduate courses taught:
EE-658 (Advanced Digital Signal Processing)
Advising:
Sudheep Thota, M.S.E. (2008) (Currently with Apple Inc.)
Vishal R. Jain, M.S.E. (2009) (Currently with, Jaisu Shipping Company Pvt. Ltd., India)
Nivedita Sreenivasamurthy, M.S.E. (2009) (Currently with Netflix, Los Gatos, CA)
Nathan Fuhrer, M.S.E. (2010) (Currently with SPAWAR, San Diego CA)
Weiwei Zheng, M.S.E. (2010) (Currently with Intel, Chengdu, China)
Praveen K. Chaurasiya, M.S.E. (2010) (Currently with Qualcomm, San Diego, CA)
Amith Dharwarkar, M.S.E (2010) (Currently with Broadcom, San Diego, CA)
Shivashekar Murali Shankar, M.S.E. (2011) (Currently with Intel, Folsom, CA)
Anil Garhwal, M.S.E. (2011) (Currently with Sony, San Diego, CA)
Eric Nunziato, M.S.E. (2012) (Currently with Panasonic Avionics, Lake Forest, CA)
Ashkan Ashrafi 2/6

University of Alabama in Huntsville August 2001 – May 2007
Undergraduate classes taught:
PUBLICATIONS
EE-382, Analytical Methods for Continuous Time Systems, Spring 2007
EE-383, Analytical Methods for Multivariable and Discrete Time Systems, Spring 2005, Summer
2005, Spring 2006, Summer 2006, Fall 2006
EE-414, Analog and Digital Filter Design, Fall 2005
EE-384, Digital Signal Processing Lab, Spring 2002-Fall 2004
Peer Reviewed Journal Papers:
J18. Ashkan Ashrafi, “The Frequency Domain Walsh Functions and Sequences: An Introduction”,
(submitted)
J17. Ashkan Ashrafi, and fredrick j. harris, “A Novel Square-Root Nyquist Filter Design with Prescribed ISI
Energy”, Signal Processing (submitted)
J16. Praveen K. Chaurasiya, Ashkan Ashrafi and Santosh Nagaraj, “Novel Spectrally Efficient UWB Pulses
Using Zinc and Walsh Basis Functions”, The ETRI Journal (to appear)
J15. Ashkan Ashrafi, “Optimized Linear Phase Square-Root Nyquist FIR Filters Satisfying the CDMA IS-95
and UMTS Standards”, Signal Processing, Vol.93, No.4, pp.866-873, April 2013.
J14. Tanya T. Nguyen, Ashkan Ashrafi, Jennifer D. Thomas, Edward P. Riley and Roger W. Simmons,
“Children with Heavy Prenatal Alcohol Exposure have Different Frequency Domain Signal
Characteristics when Producing Isometric Force”, Neurotoxicology and Teratology Vol. 35, pp. 14-20,
Jan.-Feb. 2013
J13. Ashkan Ashrafi, “On the SFDR Upperbound in DDFS Utilizing Polynomial Interpolation Methods”,
IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems Part-II, Express Briefs, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 307-311, May 2012.
J12. Ashkan Ashrafi, Reza Adhami and Aleksandar Milenković, “Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizers
Based on the Quasi-Linear Interpolation Method”, IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems Part-I, Regular
Papers, Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 863-872, April 2010.
J11. Yuri B. Shtessel, Parisa Kaveh and Ashkan Ashrafi, “Harmonic Oscillator Utilizing Double-Fold
Integral, Traditional and Second Order sliding Mode Control,” Journal of The Franklin Institute, Vol.
346, No.9, pp. 872-888, Nov. 2009.
J10. Ashkan Ashrafi and Reza Adhami, “Theoretical Upperbound of the Spurious Free Dynamic Range in
Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizers Realized by Polynomial Interpolation Methods”, IEEE Trans. on
Circuits and Systems Part-I, Regular Papers, Vol. 54, No. 10, pp. 2252-2261, Oct. 2007.
J9. Peter Meenen, Ashkan Ashrafi, and Reza Adhami, “The Utilization of a Taylor Series-Based
Transformation in Fingerprint Verification,” Pattern Recognition Letters, Vol. 27, No.14, pp. 1606-1618,
October 2006.
J8. Ashkan Ashrafi and Reza Adhami, “Comments on ‘A 13-Bits Resolution ROM-Less Direct Digital
Frequency Synthesizer Based on a Trigonometric Quadruple Angle Formula’,” IEEE Transactions on
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, Vol.13, No.9, pp. 1096-1098, Sept. 2005.
J7. Ashkan Ashrafi and Peter M. Gibson “Eigenvalues of Hadamard powers of large symmetric Pascal
matrices”, Linear Algebra and its Applications, Vol. 405, pp. 60-66, August 2005.
J6. Ashkan Ashrafi and Peter M. Gibson “An involutory Pascal matrix”, Linear Algebra and its
Applications, Vol 387, pp. 277-286, August 2004.
J5. Ashkan Ashrafi, Reza Adhami, Laurie Joiner and Parisa Kaveh, "Arbitrary Waveform DDFS Utilizing
Chebyshev Polynomials Interpolation", IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Part-I, Regular
Papers, Vol 51, No.8, pp. 1468-1476, August 2004.
J4. Ashkan Ashrafi and Hossein Golnabi, "A High Precision Method for Measuring Very Small
Capacitance Changes", Rev. of Sci. Instrum., Vol. 70 (8), pp. 3483-87, August 1999.
Ashkan Ashrafi 3/6

J3. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "Phase Shift Generation and Monitoring by a Simple Circuit", Rev. of Sci.
Instrum., Vol. 76 (5), pp. 2017-2019, 1996.
J2. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "Producing 180° out of Phase Signals from an Input Sinusoidal Waveform",
IEEE Transactions on Instrum. and Meas., Vol. 45, No.1, pp. 312-314, Feb. 1996.
J1. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "Theoretical Studies of Electrical Characteristics of the Nitrogen Laser",
Journal of Engineering, IR Iran, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 143-153, August 1994.
Peer Reviewed Conference Papers:
C14. Ujjal Bhowmik, A. Ashrafi, and Reza Adhami “A Fingerprint Verification Algorithm Using the Smallest
Minimum Sum of Closest Euclidean Distance”, Proc. of the 19th International Conference on
Electronics, Communications and Computers, CONIELECOMP 2009, pp. 90-95, May 2009.
C13. A. Ashrafi, and Sudheep Thota, “A Novel Pre-Truncated Fixed-Width Digital Squarer”, Proc. of the
IEEE 2008 Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems MWSCAS-2008, pp. 959-961, August 2008.
C12. A. Ashrafi, A. Milenkovic and R. Adhami, “A 1GHz Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer Based on the
Quasi-Linear Interpolation Method”, Proc. of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and
Systems ISCAS-2007, May 2007.
C11. A. Ashrafi and R. Adhami, “An Optimized Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer Based on Even Fourth
Order Polynomial Interpolation,” Proc. of the IEEE 38 th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, pp.
109-113, March 2006.
C10. A. Ashrafi and R. Adhami, “A Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer Utilizing Quasi-Linear
Interpolation Method,” Proc. of the IEEE 37 th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, pp. 144-148,
March 2005.
C9. P. Kaveh, A. Ashrafi and Y. Shtessel, “Robust Sliding Mode Harmonic Oscillator Suitable for Low
Frequencies,” Proc. of the IEEE 37 th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, pp. 249-252, March
2005.
C8. P. Kaveh, A. Ashrafi, Y. Shtessel, “Integral and Second Order Sliding Mode Control of Harmonic
Oscillator”, Proc. of the 44 th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and European Control
Conference (CDC-ECC’05), pp. 3941 – 3946, December 2005.
C7. P. Kaveh, A. Ashrafi and Y. Shtessel, “Robust Harmonic Oscillator Control via Integral and High Order
Sliding Modes”, Proc. of the 8th International Workshop on Variable Structure Systems (VSS'04).
C6. Ashkan Ashrafi, Zexin Pan, Reza Adhami and B. Earl Wells, “A Novel ROM-less DDFS Based on
Chebyshev Polynomial Interpolation”, Proc. of IEEE 36 th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory,
pp. 393-397, March 2004.
C5. Ashkan Ashrafi, Reza Adhami and Paul Cox, “A Simple Wide-Band Frequency Independent
Quadrature Phase Shifter”, Proc. of IEEE 34 th Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, March 2002.
C4. Hossein Golnabi, A. Ashrafi and Habib. Golnabi, "Fiber Optic Sensing of Displacement and Pressure",
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing
(FAIM'96), Begell House, New York, pp. 149-158, 1996.
C3. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "Design and Construction of a Reliable Fiber Optic Sensor", Proc. of the 5th
International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM'95), Begell
House, New York, pp. 910-917, 1995.
C2. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of a Computer-Controlled
Angle Tuning System", Proc. of the 4th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Integrated
Manufacturing (FAIM'94), Begell House, New York, pp. 834-843, 1994.
C1. H. Golnabi and A. Ashrafi, "The Role of Sensor Systems in Automated Manufacturing", Proc. of the 4th
International Conference on Flexible Automation and Integrated Manufacturing (FAIM'94), Begell
House, New York, pp. 646-654, 1994.
Poster Presentations:
Po1. Roger W. Simmons, Ashkan Ashrafi, Tanya T. Nguyen, Susan S. Levy, Jennifer D. Thomas,
Edward P. Riley. “Frequency response characteristics of isometric force regulation in children
with prenatal alcohol exposure”, Society for Neuroscience, San Diego Nov. 2010.
Ashkan Ashrafi 4/6

Talks:
Ta1. “Artifact Removal from EEG Signals Using Empirical Mode Decomposition”, Microelectrode
Workshop, University of Washington, Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, Jan. 2013.
Patent applications:
P3. Ashkan Ashrafi, “Optimized Linear-Phase Square-Root Nyquist FIR Filters for CDMA IS-95 and
UMTS Standards”, Disclosed to the SDSU Technology Transfer Office.
P2. Ashkan Ashrafi, “Rectangular Power Densities of Orthogonal Functions”, United States Patent
Application, US 2012/0120787 A1, May 17 th , 2012.
P1. Ashkan Ashrafi and Reza Adhami, “Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer with Phase Selectable
Interpolator” United States Patent Application 20080298527.
Tutorials:
Tu4. Amith Dharwadkar and Ashkan Ashrafi, “Cadence Tutorial”, June 2010.
Tu3. Mark Sison Manola and Ashkan Ashrafi, “Tutorial: Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA ML506 Edition”,
August 2011.
Tu2. Mark Sison Manalo and Ashkan Ashrafi, “Implementing Filters on FPGA”, April 2012.
Tu1. Mark Sison Manalo and Ashkan Ashrafi, “USB Interfacing and Real-Time Data Plotting with
MATLAB”, May 2012.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES/SERVICES
Senior Member IEEE.
Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Part-I (2012 – present)
Lead Guest Editor, Special Issue on Hardware Implementation of Digital Signal Processing Algorithms,
Hindawi’s Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Served as a Reviewer for Journals/Publishers:
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Part-I, Regular Papers
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Part-II, Express Briefs
IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonic Ferroelectric and Frequency Control
IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in BioMedicine.
IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing
IEEE Signal Processing Letters
IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS2009)
Digital Signal processing (Elsevier)
Circuits, Systems and Signal Processing (Springer)
Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Hindawi)
Journal of Control Science and Engineering (Hindawi)
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) Journal
Microelectronics Journal (Elsevier)
Journal of the Franklin Institute (Elsevier)
Optics and Lasers in Engineering (Elsevier)
Oxford University Press
Cengage Learning Pub
John Wiley and Sons
Ashkan Ashrafi 5/6

GRANTS
“Study of an Orthogonal Function Set with Rectangular Power Spectral Density”,
Funding Agency: San Diego State University Grant Program
Role: PI
Status: Funded, $8092
Duration: Jan. 2008 to June 2009
“Bio-inspired Real-Time Signal Processing for Neural Interface”
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation (SDSU-Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor
Neural Engineering)
Role: PI
Status: Funded ($24,000 from October 2011 to June 2013)
“Using Convex Optimization in Designing the Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizers”,
Funding Agency: San Diego State University Grant Program
Role: PI
Status: Funded, $6,472
Duration: Jan. 2013 to June 2014
Ashkan Ashrafi 6/6