Product Description

The effects of DSP has entered every phase of our lives, from singing greeting cards to CD players and cell phones to medical x-ray analysis. Without DSP, there would be no Internet. In recent years, every aspect of engineering and science has been influenced by DSP because of the ubiquitous desktop computer and readily available signal processing software. This book provides engineers and scientists, who are relative beginners to DSP, their best opportunity to learn the basic mathematical and practical-engineering aspects of the burgeoning field of DSP. The book strikes the right balance of mathematical level, and practical engineering guidance, making it accessible to the beginner without dumbing down the topic of DSP. This edition of Understanding Digital Signal Processing will continue bridging the gap between DSP theory and practice. The presentation of additional quadrature processing material makes the book more relevant, and useful, to DSP practitioners in the burgeoning fields of digital communications and wireless networking systems. The new digital filtering material covers modern filter design techniques not covered in our competitor's books. Finally, the popular 'Digital Signal Processing Tricks' material will be expanded to further aid working DSP engineers solve their day-to-day signal processing problems as they design and build commercial products and aerospace systems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108466 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 688 pages

From the Author
My hope is that this book helps you learn DSP.
When I first tried to learn DSP it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was a period of understanding, it was a period of confusion, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, I had everything before me, I had nothing before me, I was approaching enlightenment, I was doomed to ignorance. There were kings of DSP with large jaws and mathematical minds on their thrones in universities and industry research centers bestowing their knowledge in cryptic form. In both places it was clearer than crystal to the lords of technology, that things in general were settled forever. (With thanks, apologies, to Charles Dickens.)

Now that I'm finished "clowning around", I want you to know that learning DSP is not quite as dismal as the above paragraph implies. In fact, you're opportunity to learn DSP has never been better, and I hope my book further improves this situation. With that said, here are a few thoughts about the book:

Oh no, not another book on digital signal processing! Don't we have enough of those mysterious books with confusing diagrams and pages filled with equations? Yes, we do, but Understanding Digital Signal Processing is not one of those books. Understanding Digital Signal Processing, written specifically for beginners by someone who's been there, is new and different. A gentle introduction to digital signal processing (DSP), this book is DSP without tears.

Years ago, I realized that the DSP textbook market was in need of a "DSP For the Complete Idiot" kind of book. That is, a book that would enable the practicing engineer to understand the fundamental principles and speak the language of DSP without formal training. I was convinced that a book that provided a slow, gentle introduction, with well-chosen examples and plenty of drawings, would be useful to many people. I was sure that learning DSP just wasn't as hard to learn as it appeared.

If that's true, then why does the subject have the reputation of being hard to understand? The answer lies partially in how the material is typically presented in the literature. It's difficult to convey technical information, with its mathematical subtleties, in written form. It's one thing to write equations, but it's another matter altogether to explain what those equations really mean from a practical standpoint, and that's the goal of this book.

Too often written explanation of DSP theory appears in one of two forms: mathematical miracles occur and you're simply given a short and sweet equation without further explanation; or you face a flood of complex variable equations and phrases such as "it is obvious that," "such that W(f) is greater than or equal to 0 å f," and "with judicious application of the homogeneity property." In their defense, DSP authors provide the needed information, but too often the reader must grab a pick and shovel, put on a miner's helmet, and try to dig the information out of a mountain of mathematical expressions. How many times have you been forced to follow the derivation of an equation, after which the author states they're going to illustrate that equation with a physical example, which turns out to be just another equation? A recipe for technical writing that's too rich in equations is hard for the beginner to digest.

The broad field of digital signal processing (DSP) covers the processes of analyzing, filtering, generating, and transmitting signals that are in digital form. Due to the proliferation of computer hardware, and the power of DSP techniques, our technical world is rapidly going from analog to digital. Applications for DSP abound and are growing: from below us with deep-sea geological mapping to above us with deep-space communications and radio astronomy; from products as superfluous as talking greeting cards to applications as serious as medical imaging. Without DSP there would be no on-ramps to the Information Super Highway (Internet), no digital television, cellular phones or CDs, and special effects in the movies would still be clay models. This overwhelming change in technology, commercial products, and information from analog to digital sets the stage for the fundamental topics all practicing and future engineers and scientists must understand.

While the primary audience for this book is practicing electrical and software engineers, with no background in DSP, the book is useful for anyone analyzing, or manipulating data of any kind using a computer. This audience includes a wide array of professions because technology has switched its signal analysis and data communications processes from analog to digital. Understanding Digital Signal Processing can be beneficial to Electrical and Communications Engineers, Computer Programmers, Mechanical Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Physicists, and college students

I wrote this book with one goal in mind; to provide an introduction to DSP that's readable, understandable, and comprehensive. With full sympathy for the struggling DSP beginner, I've tried to write a book that uses just enough mathematics to develop a fundamental understanding of DSP theory, and then illustrate that theory with examples

The book attempts to:

-Enable the reader to understand the fundamental principles and speak the language of DSP without having to attend formal training.

-Concentrate on practical signal processing fundamentals as opposed to mathematically rigorous discussions of discrete system theory.

-Provide just enough mathematics to develop a fundamental understanding of the theory and then illustrate that theory using practical examples.

-Explain the meaning of every mathematical equation in the book and illustrate key equations with figures.

-Provide, in addition to a comprehensive index, a list of references at the end of each chapter for the DSP reader who wants to explore further

The book begins with a complete explanation of the important, but often misunderstood, topics and applications of periodic sampling. Next, the introduction to the preeminent discrete Fourier transform, and its fast Fourier transform (FFT) implementation, is the most lucid and illuminating explanation available anywhere. That material includes recommendations to help the reader use the FFT in practice. The reader is also introduced to the important process of digital filtering. Both finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (IIR) digital filters are covered, followed by a discussion of the use and benefits of signal averaging.

Next, you'll encounter the concepts used in advanced periodic sampling. The digital filter and advanced sampling chapters demystify the abstruse topics of the Convolution theorem and complex signals. The practical utility of binary number formats are also described and compared. Finally, a collection of tricks-of-the-trade, used by professionals to make DSP algorithms more efficient, is provided to help you apply DSP concepts successfully.

The appendices include a number of topics to help the beginner understand the mathematics of DSP, such as the arithmetic of complex numbers, complex signals and negative frequency, statistics fundamentals, and the use of the logarithmic decibel scale. The last appendix provides a glossary of the terminology used in the field of digital filters.

With Best Regards, and Wishes,

[-Rick-]

From the Back Cover

Amazon.com's top-selling DSP book for 5 straight years-now fully updated!

Real-world DSP solutions for working professionals!

Understanding Digital Signal Processing, Second Edition is quite simply the best way for engineers, and other technical professionals, to master and apply DSP techniques. Lyons has updated and expanded his best-selling first edition-building on the exceptionally readable coverage that made it the favorite of professionals worldwide.

This book achieves the perfect balance between theory and practice, making DSP accessible to beginners without ever oversimplifying it. Comprehensive in scope and gentle in approach, keeping the math at a tolerable level, this book helps readers thoroughly grasp the basics and quickly move on to more sophisticated techniques.

This edition adds extensive new coverage of quadrature signals for digital communications; recent improvements in digital filtering; and much more. It also contains more than twice as many "DSP Tips and Tricks"… including clever techniques even seasoned professionals may have overlooked.

• Down-to-earth, intuitive, and example-rich, with detailed numerical exercises
• Stresses practical, day-to-day DSP implementations and problem-solving
• All-new quadrature processing coverage includes easy-to-understand 3D drawings
• Extended coverage of IIR filters; plus frequency sampling, interpolated FIR filters
• New coverage of multirate systems; including both polyphase and cascaded integrator-comb FIR filters
• Coverage includes: periodic sampling, DFT, FFT, digital filters, discrete Hilbert transforms, sample rate conversion, quantization, signal averaging, and more

About the Author

RICHARD G. LYONS is consulting systems engineer and lecturer with Besser Associates in Mountain View, CA. He has been lead hardware engineer for multimillion dollar DSP systems for both the National Security Agency (NSA) and TRW, Inc. Lyons has taught DSP at the University of California Santa Cruz Extension and has authored numerous articles on DSP. As Associate Editor for IEEE Signal Processing, he created and edits the magazine's "DSP Tips & Tricks" column.

Customer Reviews

* * * * * * I give this book a 6 star rating!
Over the past couple years I have been teaching myself DSP. In that quest, I've purchased tens of books on the subject and had varying degrees of success. Some of the classics (Oppenheim & Schafer, Proakis & Manolakis, etc.) were too dry and dense for my unassisted introduction to the subject. Many others were far too shallow, or too narrow in focus.

Richard G. Lyons' book was the breakthrough I needed. His fascination with the subject is obvious and somehow he is able to distill a complex subject into understandable fragments without sacrificing depth or taking shortcuts which may haunt you later.

Absolutely the best introduction to DSP I've come across.

Very good book...enlightens without dumbing down!!!
I'm a grad student in EE, and have had half-a-dozen DSP classes over the years. Many questions have remained unanswered over this time and I'm happy to say that this book filled in the missing pieces. Judging from the topics Lyons chooses to elucidate, it is obvious that he has traveled this confusing road himself, emerging victorious on the other side of the tunnel. He graciously shares his hard-won information with the reader, shedding light on various ubiquitious DSP confusion causing topics (i.e. convolution, digital filter design methods, DFT/FFT, etc.) If you're a EE that needs to really acquire an intuitive feel for DSP, this book is the answer. He doesn't dumb down the subject, either. Although one can certainly delve deeper (many references are provided), Lyons does a good job of explaining and describing the math. He has a wonderful colloquial style that makes it seem like you're discussing this stuff with a buddy. I can't recommend this book high enough. It's worth several times the purchase price.

If you really want to understand DSP, you need this book.
If you are like me and want to truly understand a subject rather than just manipulate formulae and tools, this book is for you. This is a rare book that is not only superb for the novice, but can be helpful for anyone at any level of Digital Signal Processing skill. DSP is a subject which can leave you with an uncomfortable "half-understanding" of many critically important concepts even for the advanced practitioner. This book explain even the most difficult topics in a style that is clear and easy to digest. Negative frequencies, Euler's equation, digital filters, Fourier transforms and much more. If you want to truly understand and enjoy these topics, yes enjoy, this is the book to get. An amazing book in a fascinating field.