What is Digital Signal Processing?

The world of science and engineering is filled with signals: images from remote space probes, voltages generated by the heart and brain, radar and sonar echoes, seismic vibrations, and countless other applications. Digital Signal Processing is the science of using computers to understand these types of data. This includes a wide variety of goals: filtering, speech recognition, image enhancement, data compression, neural networks, and much more. DSP is one of the most powerful technologies that will shape science and engineering in the twenty-first century. Suppose we attach an analog-to-digital converter to a computer, and then use it to acquire a chunk of real world data. DSP answers the question: What next?

Some good reasons for learning DSP

# 1
It's the future!
Think how electronics has changed the world in the last 50 years. DSP will have the same role over the next 50 years. Learn it or be left behind!

# 2
DSP can snatch success from the jaws of failure


# 3
A three step approach in explaining concepts
Explain the concept in words; present the mathematics; show how it is used in a computer program. If one doesn't make sense, maybe the other two will help.

# 4
Digital Filters: simple to implement, incredible performance!

...and the best reason for learning DSP:

# 5

Your competition knows DSP
Jobs, promotions, grant money, product sales; we are all in competition. Up-to-date technologies can make the difference- and DSP is one of most powerful!


Digital signal processing, a discipline that spans electrical engineering, computing, mathematics and the physical sciences, includes applications such as: