1770 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 48, NO.

6, NOVEMBER 1999

A Matlab-Based Modeling and Simulation Package

for Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Design
Karen L. Butler, Member, IEEE, Mehrdad Ehsani, Fellow, IEEE, Preyas Kamath, Member, IEEE

Abstract— This paper discusses a simulation and modeling used to improve energy efficiency and vehicle emissions while
package developed at Texas A&M University, V-Elph 2.01. V- the ICE provides extended range capability. Though many
Elph facilitates in-depth studies of electric vehicle (EV) and different arrangements of power sources and converters are
hybrid EV (HEV) configurations or energy management strate-
gies through visual programming by creating components as possible in a hybrid power plant, the two generally accepted
hierarchical subsystems that can be used interchangeably as classifications are series and parallel [3].
embedded systems. V-Elph is composed of detailed models of four Computer modeling and simulation can be used to reduce
major types of components: electric motors, internal combustion the expense and length of the design cycle of hybrid vehicles
engines, batteries, and support components that can be integrated
by testing configurations and energy management strategies
to model and simulate drive trains having all electric, series
hybrid, and parallel hybrid configurations. V-Elph was written before prototype construction begins. Interest in hybrid vehicle
in the Matlab/Simulink graphical simulation language and is simulation grew in the 1970’s with the development of several
portable to most computer platforms. prototypes that were used to collect a considerable amount of
This paper also discusses the methodology for designing vehicle test data on the performance of hybrid drive trains [4]. Studies
drive trains using the V-Elph package. An EV, a series HEV,
a parallel HEV, and a conventional internal combustion engine
were also conducted to analyze hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)
(ICE) driven drive train have been designed using the simulation concepts [5]–[11]. Several computer programs have since been
package. Simulation results such as fuel consumption, vehicle developed to describe the operation of hybrid electric power
emissions, and complexity are compared and discussed for each trains, including: simple EV simulation (SIMPLEV) from
vehicle. the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory [12], MARVEL from
Index Terms—Electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, model- Argonne National Laboratory [13], CarSim from AeroViron-
ing, simulation. ment Inc., JANUS from Durham University [14], ADVISOR
from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory [15],
I. INTRODUCTION Vehicle Mission Simulator [16], and others [17], [18]. A
previous simulation model (ELPH) developed at Texas A&M

P RESENTLY, only electric and low-emissions hybrid ve-

hicles can meet the criteria outlined in the California Air
Regulatory Board (CARB) regulations which require a pro-
University was used to study the viability of an electrically
peaking control scheme and to determine the applicability of
computer modeling to hybrid vehicle design [19], but was
gressively increasing percentage of automobiles to be ultralow essentially limited to a single vehicle architecture. Other work
or zero emissions beginning in the year 1998 [1]. Though conducted by the hybrid vehicle design team at Texas A&M
purely electric vehicles (EV’s) are a promising technology University is reported in papers by Ehsani et al. [20]–[24].
for the long-range goal of energy efficiency and reduced V-Elph [25], [26] is a system-level modeling, simulation,
atmospheric pollution, their limited range and lack of sup- and analysis package developed at Texas A&M University
porting infrastructure may hinder their public acceptance [2]. using Matlab/Simulink [27] to study issues related to EV and
Hybrid vehicles offer the promise of higher energy efficiency HEV design such as energy efficiency, fuel economy, and
and reduced emissions when compared with conventional
vehicle emissions. V-Elph facilitates in-depth studies of power
automobiles, but they can also be designed to overcome the
plant configurations, component sizing, energy management
range limitations inherent in a purely electric automobile by
strategies, and the optimization of important component pa-
utilizing two distinct energy sources for propulsion. With
rameters for several types of hybrid or electric configuration
hybrid vehicles, energy is stored as a petroleum fuel and in an
or energy management strategy. It uses visual programming
electrical storage device, such as a battery pack, and is con-
techniques, allowing the user to quickly change architectures,
verted to mechanical energy by an internal combustion engine
parameters, and to view output data graphically. It also in-
(ICE) and electric motor, respectively. The electric motor is
cludes detailed models that were developed at Texas A&M
This work was supported by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating University of electric motors, internal combustion engines,
Board Advanced Technology Program (ATP), Texas A&M University Office and batteries.
of the Vice President for Research, and Associate Provost for Graduate
Studies through the Center for Energy and Mineral Resources and the Texas This paper discusses the methodology for designing system-
Transportation Institute. level vehicles using the V-Elph package. An EV, a series HEV,
K. L. Butler and M. Ehsani are with the Department of Electrical Engineer- a parallel EV, and a conventional ICE driven drive train have
ing, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3128 USA.
P. Kamath is with the Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, IL USA. been designed using the simulation package. The simulation
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9545(99)09279-8. results are compared and discussed for each vehicle.
0018–9545/99$10.00  1999 IEEE
BUTLER et al.: MATLAB-BASED MODELING AND SIMULATION PACKAGE 1771

Fig. 1. System-level representation of a general vehicle drive train in Fig. 2. Component input/output interface.
V-Elph.

II. DRIVE TRAIN DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Several levels of depth are available in V-Elph to allow
users to take advantage of the features that interest them.
At the most basic level, a user can run simulation studies
by selecting an EV, series, or parallel hybrid vehicle, or
conventional vehicle drive train model provided and display
the results using the graphical plotting tools. In addition to
being able to change the drive cycle and the conditions under
which the vehicle operates, the user can switch components in
and out of a vehicle model to try different types of engines,
motors, and battery models. The user can also change vehicle
characteristics such as size and weight, gear ratios, and the
size of the components that make up the drive train.
An intermediate user can create his/her own vehicle config-
urations using a blank vehicle drive train template as shown
in Fig. 1. This drive train was constructed graphically by
connecting the main component blocks (drive cycle, controller,
power plant, and vehicle dynamics) using the Simulink vi-
sual programming methodology through the connection of
the appropriate input and output ports. The power plant is Fig. 3. Library of components.
blank and is designed using component models selected from
a component library. Components can be isolated to run dependent on the complexity of the component models used
parameter sweeps that create performance maps which assist in in a vehicle design. Various detailed component models are
component sizing and selection. A controller block is designed currently utilized in the V-Elph package. They were developed
with logic statements which create the signals required to by members of the ELPH research team at Texas A&M
control the individual system-level components. A vehicle University and designed based on steady-state and dynamic
dynamics block is designed with input parameters such as equations.
road angle, mass, and drag coefficient necessary to compute
vehicle output dynamic parameters such as engine speed and III. DESIGN OF VEHICLE DRIVE TRAINS
road speed. The drive cycle block is designed by selecting a In this section, the design and analysis of an EV drive train,
drive cycle from those supplied by the package or creating a two parallel HEV drive trains with different control strategies,
new drive cycle. a series HEV drive train, and a conventional ICE-driven
Finally, advanced users can pursue sophisticated design vehicle drive train using the V-Elph package are discussed.
objectives such as the creation of entirely new component A description is given of the performance specifications and
models and the optimization of a power plant by creating the control strategy and power plant developed for each
add-on features that are compatible with the modeling system vehicle design. A typical mid-sized family sedan was used
interface. V-Elph allows the interconnection of many types of as the basis for each vehicle. The vehicles’ components
electrical or mechanical component utilized in a vehicle drive were sized to provide enough power to maintain a cruising
train, even experimental technologies such as ultracapacitors. speed of 120 km/h on a level road and an acceleration
Component models can be created from lookup tables, empir- performance of 0–100 km/h in 16 s for short time intervals.
ical equations, and both steady-state and dynamic equations. The vehicles were also designed to maintain highway speeds
Each component model is created using the general model and for several hundred seconds. The ICE, motor, battery, and
interface shown in Fig. 2. The component models are stored vehicle dynamics models were appropriately customized to
in a library, called the library of components as shown in meet the specific vehicle performance requirements for each
Fig. 3. The speed at which the simulation executes is highly vehicle design.
1772 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 48, NO. 6, NOVEMBER 1999

Fig. 4. Power plant representation of conventional vehicle drive train de-

signed using V-Elph.

TABLE I
SPECIFICATIONS OF ICE DRIVE TRAIN

Fig. 5. Parallel HEV drive train configuration.

other design parameters become considerably more complex in

a parallel hybrid due to the sheer number of choices and their
effect on a vehicles performance given a particular mission.
The vehicle drive train configuration in Fig. 5 was designed
in V-Elph for a parallel HEV. It is based on a typical mid-
sized family sedan with a gross mass of 1838 Kg that includes
the additional batteries used in the hybrid power plant. The
drive train includes a controller which manipulates the torque
Simulation studies were performed for each vehicle using a contributions of the electric motor and ICE. The battery
simple acceleration and deceleration drive cycle, an FTP-75 ur- provides power for the induction motor. The ICE model was
ban drive cycle, a federal highway drive cycle, and a commuter sized to provide enough power to maintain a cruising speed of
drive cycle. Various performance parameters generated during 120 km/h on a level road and the electric machine was sized
the simulation studies are graphically presented in the paper. to provide acceptable acceleration performance of 0–100 km/h
A table is included which compares performance parameters in 16 s for short time intervals.
such as fuel consumption and emissions for each simulation The ICE model was designed based on Powells engine
study. analysis [29]. The induction machine model [20] performs two
functions in the drive train: as a motor it provides torque at the
A. ICE Conventional Drive Train Design wheels to accelerate the vehicle, and as a generator it recharges
the battery during deceleration (regenerative braking) or when-
The conventional ICE-driven drive train was designed based ever the torque produced by the power plant exceeds the
on the specifications of a Buick LeSabre (1991 model) [28]. demand from the driver. Vector control was utilized to extend
The vehicles four-speed automatic transmission was modeled the constant power region of the motor, making it possible to
as a manual transmission with a clutch, retaining the same run the motor over a wide speed range. The motor can provide
overall gear ratios. It is a four-door sedan six-passenger vehicle the requested torque up to the constant power threshold at
with a desired 0–60 mph in the 10-s range characteristic and a speeds above the base speed of the motor; operation beyond
curb weight of 3483 lbs (1580 kgs). The power plant is shown this point is restricted to avoid exceeding the motor’s power
in Fig. 4. Table I shows the engine and vehicle specifications
rating. The HEV design utilizes the wide speed range of
utilized to design the conventional drive train.
the vector-controlled induction motor to improve the overall
system efficiency.
B. Parallel Hybrid Electric Drive Train Design The battery model [23] uses the current load and battery
In a typical parallel design, consisting of an ICE and an state of charge to determine dc bus voltage. Voltage tends to
electric motor in a torque-combining configuration, either the drop as the state of charge decreases and as the amount of
ICE or the electric motor can be considered the primary current drawn from the battery increases. At low currents, the
energy source depending on the vehicle design and energy battery efficiency is reasonably high regardless of the state of
management strategy. The drive train can also be designed charge.
so that the ICE and electric motor are both responsible for Two parallel HEV drive trains were designed using different
propulsion or each is the prime mover at a certain time in control strategies, referred to as control strategy 1 and control
the drive cycle. A component’s functional role could change strategy 2. Control strategy 1 operates such that the ICE
within the course of a drive cycle due to battery depletion runs at a constant fuel throttle angle and the electric machine
or other vehicle requirements. Vehicle architecture decisions, makes up the difference between the torque requested by the
control strategies, component selection and sizing, gearing, and driver and the torque produced by the ICE. This scheme aims
BUTLER et al.: MATLAB-BASED MODELING AND SIMULATION PACKAGE 1773

TABLE II TABLE III

COMPONENTS OF PARALLEL HYBRID DRIVE TRAIN COMPONENTS OF SERIES HYBRID DRIVE TRAIN

Fig. 6. Drive train for series hybrid vehicle. Fig. 7. EV drive train.

to minimize the amount of time that the ICE is in use by mode, current is drawn from the battery (discharging) and
maximizing the speed at which the ICE is engaged to the during generation mode current is supplied to the battery
wheels while maintaining the battery state of charge over the (charging).
drive cycle. Control strategy 2 operates such that the ICE When the APU is on, the ICE is running at its optimum
runs over its entire speed range and makes the ICE throttle speed and the induction generator charges the battery; in the
angle a function of speed to meet the steady-state road load. “off” mode, the ICE idles. Thus, the APU is responsible for
The general principle behind each strategy is that the electric decreasing the drain on the battery pack, especially during
motor provides power for propulsion during the transients, the acceleration phases of the drive cycle. The ICE control is
acceleration to deceleration, and the ICE provides propulsion based on a “constant throttle strategy” which was found to be
during cruising. optimum [30].
The sizes of the components for the parallel hybrid drive The system control strategy for a series hybrid is not
train are stated in Table II. required to be as complex as the controller for a parallel hybrid
since there is only one torque provider. For the series design
discussed in the paper, the classic proportional, integral, and
C. Series Hybrid Electric Drive Train Design
derivative (PID) controller [31] is utilized.
In a series hybrid EV, only one energy converter provides The sizes of the components for the series hybrid drive
torque to the wheels while the others are used to recharge an train are stated in Table III.
energy accumulator, usually a battery pack. In a typical series
hybrid design, an ICE/generator pair charges the batteries and
only the motor actually provides propulsion. The series hybrid D. Electric Drive Train Design
drive train shown in Fig. 6 includes a controller and power In EV’s, all of the onboard systems are powered by batteries
plant and was designed based on Hochgraf’s work [30]. A and electric motors. The electric drive train designed using
vector-controlled induction motor powered by a dc battery V-Elph is shown in Fig. 7.
pack of 156 V supplies the power at the drive wheels. In In the EV, all the torque demanded at the drive wheels is
addition, there is an auxiliary power unit (APU) comprising solely met by a vector-controlled induction motor powered by
of an ICE driving an induction generator. The APU supplies a dc battery pack of 240 V. The controller demands a torque
power to the battery when the demanded current by the (positive or negative) from the induction motor, depending
induction motor exceeds a threshold value of 75 A. The local upon the torque demanded by the vehicle to meet the drive
controller is responsible for the following tasks: cycle speed. The induction motor tries to meet this demanded
• demanding a torque (positive or negative) from the in- torque. Positive power is demanded from the induction motor
duction motor depending on drive cycle requirements; (operating in motoring mode) during acceleration and cruise
• for switching on/off the APU. phases of the drive cycle and negative power is demanded
The torque demanded from the induction motor is positive during the deceleration phase of the drive cycle (operating
during acceleration and cruise phases of the drive cycle in generator mode). During the motoring phase the induction
(motoring mode) and is negative during the deceleration phase motor draws current from the battery pack (discharging) and
of the drive cycle (generator mode). During the motoring during the generator mode the induction motor supplies current
1774 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 48, NO. 6, NOVEMBER 1999

TABLE IV
COMPONENTS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE DRIVE TRAIN

Fig. 9. FTP-75 urban drive cycle—drive cycle two.

Fig. 8. Drive cycle one consisting of acceleration, cruise, and deceleration.

to it (recharging). The induction motor and battery pack are

sized to satisfy the peak power requirements of the drive cycle.
The sizes of the components for the EV drive train are
stated in Table IV.

IV. SIMULATION STUDIES

To illustrate the performance potential of new technology
vehicles such as electric and hybrid EV’s, an electric, parallel
HEV, and series HEV were designed using the V-ELPH
package. Since the engine model and motor model were not
Fig. 10. Federal highway drive cycle—drive cycle three.
fine-tuned to a set of physical components, the simulation re-
sults have some inaccuracies. The authors, therefore, designed
a conventional ICE-driven vehicle to serve as the baseline
vehicle. Then instead of attaching significance to the exact
simulation results, the performance of the new technology
vehicles is interpreted in comparison to the baseline vehicle.
Four drive cycles were applied to the various vehicle
drive train designs. Drive cycle one consisted of a gradual
acceleration to 120 km/h, cruise, and then a deceleration
back to stop as shown in Fig. 8. Drive cycles two and three
were composed of the FTP-75 urban drive cycle and the
federal highway drive cycle [32] as shown in Figs. 9 and 10,
respectively. Drive cycle four was a commuter drive cycle as
shown in Fig. 11 which was developed by combining three
FTP-75 urban drive cycles with two federal highway drive
cycles. The two highway cycles are interspaced between each
of the urban cycles.
Fig. 11. Commuter drive cycle—drive cycle four.
The V-Elph package includes plotting tools that provide
graphical displays of output variables generated during simu-
lation studies. Also, V-Elph provides a mechanism to facilitate parallel vehicle using control strategy 1. It illustrates how the
the study of various aspects related to electric and hybrid electric motor torque increases with the increase in vehicle
EV drive train design such as control strategies and vehicle speed. When the vehicle reaches cruising speed, the electric
configurations (e.g., EV and HEV). The following figures motor torque reduces to a slightly negative constant value
illustrate the results of various simulation studies conducted while the ICE torque maintains a constant value. Then during
using the four drive cycles with the five vehicle configurations. the deceleration phase of the drive cycle, the ICE torque is at
Fig. 12 shows a plot of electric motor (EM) torque and its idling torque while the electric motor torque is providing a
ICE torque versus time for the drive cycle one applied to the negative torque, operating in generating mode.
BUTLER et al.: MATLAB-BASED MODELING AND SIMULATION PACKAGE 1775

Fig. 12. EM torque and ICE torque for drive cycle one applied to the parallel (a)
vehicle with control strategy 1.

(b)
(a)
Fig. 14. (a) EM torque for federal urban drive cycle applied to parallel
vehicle with control strategy 2. (b) ICE torque for federal urban drive cycle
applied to parallel vehicle with control strategy 2.

(b)
Fig. 13. (a) EM torque for federal urban drive cycle applied to parallel
vehicle with control strategy 1. (b) ICE torque for federal urban drive cycle
applied to parallel vehicle with control strategy 1.

Fig. 15. EM torque for federal urban drive cycle applied to series HEV.
Fig. 13 and 14 show the split of the ICE and electric motor
torque for control strategies 1 and 2.
Fig. 15 and 16 show the EM torque for the federal urban
drive cycle applied to the series hybrid EV and EV which are
similar because for both vehicles the electric machine is the
sole source of propulsion. In Figs. 17 and 18, the differences
in the battery current for the two test cases are illustrated; the
battery current is larger for the EV than the series HEV.
Table V shows a summary of results generated by the V-
Elph package during the application of the four drive cycles to
the five vehicle drive trains. The weight and control complexity
is included in the table for each vehicle drive train. The control Fig. 16. EM torque for federal urban drive cycle applied to EV.
complexity was determined by assessing the complexity of
the system controller used to manipulate the components developed by Ramachandra in 1975 [33] are implemented
providing propulsion to the wheels, e.g., the controller for in the V-Elph package to compute the emissions. The fuel
the parallel HEV controls the ICE and electric machine. For consumption is computed as the total distance traveled divided
each drive cycle the following parameters were tabulated: by the total fuel consumed during the drive cycle. A fuel rate
the total chemical emissions and fuel consumption of the is computed based on work by Powell [29] and then integrated
engine and the amount of energy supplied or depleted by the over the time of the drive cycle to yield the fuel consumed.
batteries. A negative value for the amount of energy represents General observations of the comparison of the conventional
energy depleted and a positive value for the amount of energy vehicle to the new technology vehicles show that: the fuel
represents energy supplied to the batteries. Complex equations consumption improved for each of the HEV’s which yielded a
1776 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 48, NO. 6, NOVEMBER 1999

TABLE V
COMPARISONS BETWEEN VARIOUS VEHICLE DRIVE TRAIN CONFIGURATIONS

reduction in emissions. In generally comparing the EV to the which uses this fuel source to provide power to recharge the
HEV’s, the battery usage was less. batteries.
The results for the urban drive cycle, which is composed The strategy of the controller for the parallel HEV using
of many quick acceleration and deceleration instances, show control strategy 1 was to minimize the use of the ICE.
an improvement in the fuel consumption for the parallel HEV Fig. 13(a) and (b) shows the division of the ICE and EM
and series HEV compared to the conventional vehicle. Also torque for the urban drive cycle applied to the parallel vehicle
the engine emissions were greatly reduced. From Figs. 15 and drive train using control strategy 1. The ICE torque is only
16, it was noted earlier that the EM torque are very similar generated when the demanded vehicle speed is greater than
for the federal urban drive cycle applied to the series HEV 60 km/h. Hence, the motor provides most of the power to the
and EV. However, the difference in their change in the battery wheels during the drive cycle. This behavior can be seen by
usage are due to the inclusion of the ICE in the series HEV comparing the energy usage for the series HEV of 2.82 MJ
BUTLER et al.: MATLAB-BASED MODELING AND SIMULATION PACKAGE 1777

presented. The results of applying simple, commuter, federal

urban, and federal highway drive cycles are compared. These
results illustrate the flexibility of the package for studying
various issues related to electric and hybrid EV design. The
simulation package can run on a PC or a Unix-based work-
station.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of
Fig. 17. Battery current for federal urban drive cycle applied to series HEV.
Z. Rahman in preparing this paper.

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Detroit, MI, Feb. 1997, pp. 19–25. of the Texas Applied Power Electronics Center
[27] “Matlab/simulink,” Version 4.2c.1/1.3c, The Mathworks Inc., Natick, (TAPC). He is the author of more than 180
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and computer controlled energy management,” SAE J. SAE/SP-96/1156, Dr. Ehsani was the recipient of the Prize Paper Award in static power
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[31] G. Franklin, J. D. Powell, and M. Workman, Digital Control of Dynamic 1987, and 1992 Annual Meetings. In 1992, he was named the Halliburton
Systems. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1990, pp. 222–229. Professor in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. In 1994,
[32] U. Adler, Ed., Automotive Handbook, 2nd ed. Stuttgart, Germany:
he was also named the Dresser Industries Professor in the same college. He
Robert Bosch GmbH, 1986.
has been a member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society AdCom, past
[33] P. Ramachandra, “Optimal and suboptimal control of automotive en-
Chairman of the PELS Educational Affairs Committee, past Chairman of
gine efficiency and emissions,” Ph.D. dissertation, Purdue Univ., West
the IEEE-IAS Industrial Power Converter Committee, and past Chairman of
Lafayette, IN, 1975.
the IEEE Myron Zucker Student-Faculty Grant program. He was the General
Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conference for 1990. He is an
IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Distinguished Speaker and IEEE Industry
Applications Society Distinguished Lecturer. He is a registered Professional
Karen L. Butler (M’94) was born in Plaquemine, Engineer in the State of Texas.
LA, in 1963. She received the B.S. degree from
Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, in 1985, the
M.S. degree from the University of Texas at Austin
in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree from Howard Uni-
versity, Washington, DC, in 1994, all in electrical
engineering.
From 1988 to 1989, she was a Member of Tech-
nical Staff at Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Culver
City, CA. She is currently an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Electrical Engineering at Texas
A&M University, College Station. Her research focuses on the areas of Preyas Kamath (S’94–M’98) was born on October 25, 1973 in Bombay,
computer and intelligent systems applications in power, power distribution India. He received the B.S. degree from the University of Bombay, Bombay,
automation, and modeling and simulation of vehicles and power systems. in 1996 and the M.S. degree from Texas A&M University, College Station,
She is the author of several publications in the areas of power system both in electrical engineering.
protection and intelligent systems and has made invited presentations in He was a Research Assistant for the ELPH group at Texas A&M University
Nigeria and India. She is the Assistant Director of the Power System between 1996 and 1998 during which he modeled HEV’s and performed
Automation Laboratory at Texas A&M University. comparison studies. Currently, he is with Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, IL, as
Dr. Butler is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society (PES), a Systems Engineer. His current responsibilities include modeling complex
American Society for Engineering Education, and the Louisiana Engineering communication systems and working on wide-band air interface. His interests
Society. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the States of Louisiana, include wireless communications, signal processing, and system modeling. He
Texas, and Mississippi. has published articles in the field of signal processing/communications.