Product Description

In addition to its thorough coverage of DSP design and programming techniques, Smith also covers the operation and usage of DSP chips. He uses Analog Devices' popular DSP chip family as design examples. Also included on the CD-ROM is technical info on DSP processors from the four major manufacturers (Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, Motorola, and Lucent) and other DSP software.

*Covers all major DSP topics
*Full of insider information and shortcuts
*Basic techniques and algorithms explained without complex numbers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46720 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 650 pages

About the Author
By Steven Smith

Customer Reviews

The perfect compliment to any standard DSP text
DSP can be a daunting subject at the best of times. To make matters worse, most standard texts such as the definitive "Discrete-Time Signal Processing" by Oppenheim et al, lean heavily on the mathematical theory behind Fourier analysis, filter design, etc., which can leave most readers dazed and confused. Precious little insight is to be gained from studying page after page of equations which stare blankly back at you.

This is where Smith's practical guide steps in. With economical use of mathematics, this book provides clear and concise explanation of all the essential elements of DSP, providing the overall picture so sadly lacking in more technical texts.

There are only a few texts that match up to Smith's guide, the next best being "Understanding Digital Signal Processing" by Lyons. While much of the same material is covered and with the same sensitivity to maintaining your sanity, the real selling point that separates these two is the CDROM that accompanies Smith's book. On it you'll find all the code that is littered throughout the book, as well as the book itself! Simply put, this book is the one all others have to aspire to.

Best text book I have read
I have never read such a clear, entertaining and yet informative technical text book before this one. It is not for the general reader, but knowledge of DSP need only be rudimentary to start learning fascinating and useful knowledge from this book. The balance of the book is just right; you can follow mathematical ideas up further, or just understand the concepts and use them 'cookbook' style, which Smith encourages the reader to do, if that's all that's needed for what they want.

There are programming examples of all the major concepts covered; DFT/FFT, filters, compression etc. The book itself inspired me to implement an FIR filter design program, incorporating an FFT function, which has now been used at my workplace by other engineers. A great return on my investment. It is hard to imagine a more accessible book on a subject like this, and the style of writing is something I will try and emulate in my own modest technical documentation. Even if you never think you'll use DSP directly, read this book for an understanding of a subject that may yet prove useful to you.

Brilliant example of technical writing
This book stands out as an example of clear technical writing.
Every concept is introduced carefully and is explained 3 ways: with equations, with example graphs, and with code.
The equations are always explained and they start very simple (taking the mean of samples). Every equation has a margin note reminding you what it's about and what all the variables mean - ideal if you delve into the book, or pick it up after a few days, you don't have to go back pages to try to find out what the nomenclature is.
The graphs are by way of examples. For instance when explaining signal to noise ratios there are graphs of signals with various ratios so you can get a feel of how corrupted these signals would be.
The code is simple. I was shocked innitially because it's in BASIC! Yuck. But in fact this doesn't matter, it's short, simple, commented, and can be straightforwardly translated into some other language. It does the job.
The book leaves the hard maths to the end, which is a real relief after other DSP books and web articles. But it's there, and the author really succeeds in getting across the "meaning" of Laplace and Z spaces.
There are some unexpected inclusions, such as a large section on neural networks - I had not seen this covered as DSP before.
This book would suit either for student study (there are no exercises), or stand-alone for those wishing to implement some DSP in a real design.
There's a CD-ROM whivh I haven't looked at. As far as I know it includes all the code samples - one improvement might be for these to be included in C, if only on the disk.