Chapter Overview

The theories that digital signal processing (DSP) are based on were first proposed by two nineteenth century scientists, Fourier and Laplace (pronounced four-ee-aay and la-ploss). Little did they know the many ways that their contributions would apply to twenty-first century technologies. Fourier was working on heat flow and Laplace was working on planetary motion. They developed mathematical techniques that were useful for their own efforts. Today, their techniques are used to design digital filters (and to do many other things as well). Digital computers arrived in the 1940s and by the 1950s a few engineers and scientists were using computers to simulate analog circuits. Digital signal processing began to emerge as a separate discipline. Then, in the early 1980s, DSP integrated circuits arrived. This changed everything because, for the first time, DSP became a practical solution for a wide range of problems. Today, DSP is the fastest growing segment of the semiconductor market. Many technical workers now need a working knowledge of DSP.

This chapter will help you to:

1. Explain the popularity of DSP.

2. Discuss the conversion of continuous signals to discrete form.

3. Sketch the block diagram for a typical DSP system.

4. List some advantages of DSP.

5. Explain how signals are represented in time and frequency.

6. Explain the operation and design of digital filters.

7. Discuss other applications.

8. List some limitations of DSP.

9. Troubleshoot DSP systems.

Study Outline

16-1 Overview of DSP Systems

16-2 Moving-Average Filters

16-3 Fourier Theory

16-4 Digital Filter Design

16-5 Other DSP Applications

16-6 Limitations of DSP

16-7 DSP Troubleshooting