Introduction

to
Signal Processing
Engr. Sadeeq Jan

Course Info
Books:

Signals & Systems by Oppenheim, Nawab

Digital Signal Processing: Principles, Algorithms and Applications
by J. G. Proakis and D. G. Manolakis

Oppenheim, A.V., Schafer, R.W, "Discrete-Time Signal Processing", Second

Edition, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1999, ISBN 0-13-083443-2.

Steven W. Smith, The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal

Processing, California Technical Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0-9660176-3-3.
http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm (You can download the entire book!)

V.K. Ingle and J.G. Proakis, "Digital Signal Processing using MATLAB",
Bookware Companion Series, 2000, ISBN 0-534-37174-4.

Digital Signal Processing, A Computer-Based Approach by S. K. Mitra

Course Information
Introduction
Overview of the Course
Introduction to Signals
Classification of Signals
Applications of DSP

Basic signals
Discrete time, continuous time signals
Introduction to systems
Basics of Sinusoids
Introduction to Complex numbers

Course Information
Sampling
Sampling theorem
Sampling rate, aliasing

Operations on signals
Time shifting, time scaling, amplitude scaling,
transformation, multiplication etc.

Introduction to Systems
Types of systems, system properties, LTI
Systems

Course Info contd..

Convolution Sum
Continuous and discrete time convolution
Examples (numerical)
Properties of convolution

LTI Systems
Properties of LTI systems
Impulse response and convolution

Course Info-contd..
Laplace transform
ROC for Laplace transform
Inverse Laplace transform

Fourier Analysis
Representation of periodic signals
Discrete time Fourier series

Fourier transform
Time domain, frequency domain
representation

Course Info--contd
Z-transform
ROC, properties, numerical etc
Inverse Z-transform, properties, numerical

Introduction to Filters
Types of filters
FIR, IIR filters
Design parameters and examples

Signal
What is a signal
Means to convey information (variables that carry
information)
A signal is a function of independent variables
such as time, distance, position, temperature,
pressure, etc.

Most signals are generated naturally but a signal

can also be generated artificially using
a computer
Examples: The voltage varies with time

v
t

Signal
The Speech Signal

The ECG Signal

Signal
The image

Signal

Signal
It is the variation pattern that conveys the information, in
a signal

Signal may exist in many forms like sound, image, video,

electrical, heat & light signal

System
An entity that responds to a signal
input

Examples
Circuit

system

output

System
The camera
Image

The Speech Recognition System

Identified

System
The audio CD-player
Block Diagram representation of a system
Visual representation of a system
Input Signal

system

Output Signal

Shows inter-relations of many signals involved in the

implementation of a complex system
Look at everything around and try to identify the signals and
systems !!

Mathematical Representation
A signal can be represented as a function of one or more
independent variables
Examples

t
v t sin t

0 t 2

s t

Mathematical Representation
The image is a function of two spatial variables

sx, y

Continuous-time signals
A value of signal exists at every instant of time

t
Independent variable

t
Independent variable

Discrete-time signals
The value of signal exists only at equally spaced
discrete points in time

t
Independent variable

t
Independent variable

Notation
A continuous-time signal is represented by enclosing the
independent variable (time) in parentheses ()

xt

t
A discrete-time signal is represented by enclosing the
independent variable (index) in square brackets []

xn

Signals
A signal is a pattern of variation of some form
Signals are variables that carry information
Examples of signal include:
Electrical signals
Voltages and currents in a circuit
Mechanical signals
Velocity of a car over time
Video signals
Intensity level of a pixel (camera, video) over time

Signals (cont)
 1D/2D/3D signals
 1D signal=f(x); x=time, distance, etc.
 2D signal=f(x,y); x,y=spatial positions
 3D signal=f(x,y,z); x,y,z=spatial positions

 Time series
 1D signals with amplitude, pressure,
intensity, etc. as a function of time, f(t)

 2D/3D signals
 Example: images as functions of 2 or 3
spatial coordinates

Signal analysis
 Signals carry information
 A signal which does not carry information or carries
information not desired is known as noise/noisy signal

 Aim of signal analysis

 Extract useful information carried by the signal to suit
the application

 Methods
 The methods for signal analysis will depend on the
type of the signal and nature of the information being
carried by the signal
 There are some common methodologies and some
specific ones for specific signals

Basic Definitions

Signals may be classified into four categories

depending on the characteristics of the timevariable and values they can take:

continuous-time signals (analogue signals),

discrete-time signals,
continuous-valued signals,
discrete-valued signals.

 Continuous-time signals - are usually

referred to as analog signals
Definition: a quantity that is taken at every value of
time and take on values in the continuous interval
Discrete-time signals - are values taken at
certain specific values of time.
Continuous-valued signals - a signal that
takes all possible values on a finite or an
Discrete-valued signals - a signal that takes
on values from a finite set of possible values
Other important terms

Signals
Signal: A function that conveys
information
Amplitude
Continuous
Continuous

analog signals

continuous-time
signals

discrete-time
signals

digital signals

Time
Discrete

Discrete

Classification - Discrete/continuous signals (cont)

 Analogue signal
Continuous time signal with continuous amplitude, eg. music
stored on cassette tape
Continuous-time signals - are usually referred to as analog signals

 Digital signal
 Discrete time signal with discrete valued amplitudes
represented by a finite number of digits, eg. music stored on
hard disk

 Sampled data signal

 Discrete time signal with continuous valued amplitudes (i.e.
amplitude can take any value)
 Digital signal is thus quantised sampled data signal

 Quantised boxcar signal

 Continuous time signal with discrete valued amplitudes

Classification - Discrete/continuous signals (cont)

Amplitude- continuous

Amplitude- discrete

Time-continuous

Time-discrete

Figures from S.K.Mitra, DSP 3e

Amplitude- continuous

Amplitude- discrete

Time-discrete

Time-continuous

Signal processing
Modify a signal to
extract/enhance/rearrange the information
Origin in analog electronics e.g. radar
Examples
Noise reduction
Data compression
Representation for recognition/classification

Digital Signal Processing

DSP = signal processing on a computer
Two effects: discrete-time, discrete level

Discrete time signals and

sampling
A discrete-time signal is represented as a sequence of numbers:
x = x[n],
-infinity <n < infinity
Here n is an integer, and x[n] is the nth sample in the sequence.
Discrete-time signals are often obtained by sampling continuoustime signals.
In this case the nth sample of the sequence is equal to the value of
the analogue signal Xa(t ) at time t = nT :
x[n] = Xa (nT),
-infinity <n < infinity
The sampling period is then equal to T , and the sampling
frequency is
fs = 1/T

Discrete time signals and sampling

DSP vs. analog SP

Signal Process Systems

continuous-time
signal
signal

discrete-time signal
signal

analog
output
system

discretetime output
system

continuous-time
signal

discrete-time signal

digital signal

digital signal
signal

digital
output
system

What is Digital Signal Processing?

Digital: operating by the use of discrete signals to
represent data in the form of numbers
Signal: a parameter (electrical quantity or effect) that can
be varied in such a way as to convey information
Processing: a series operations performed according to
programmed instructions
changing or analysing information
which is measured as discrete
sequences of numbers

Applications of DSP - Radar

Radar and Sonar:
Examples
1) target detection - position and
velocity estimation
2) tracking

Applications of DSP - Biomedical

Biomedical: analysis of biomedical signals,
diagnosis, patient monitoring,
preventive health care, artificial
organs
Examples:
1) electrocardiogram (ECG) signal - provides
doctor with information about the condition of
the patients heart
2) electroencephalogram (EEG) signal - provides
Information about the activity of the brain
7

Applications of DSP - Speech

Speech applications:
Examples
1) noise reduction - reducing background noise
in the sequence produced by a sensing device (microphone)
2) speech recognition - differentiating
between various speech sounds

3) synthesis of artificial speech - text to speech

systems for blind

Applications of DSP - Communications

Communications:
Examples
1) telephony - transmission of information in digital form via
telephone lines, modem technology, mobile phones

2) encoding and decoding of the information

sent over a physical channel (to optimize
transmission or to detect or correct errors in
transmission)

Applications of DSP - Image Processing

Image Processing:
Examples
1) content based image retrieval - browsing,
searching and retrieving images from database

2) image enhancement

2) compression - reducing the redundancy in

the image data to optimise transmission /
storage

Applications of DSP - Music

Music Applications:
Examples:
1) Recording

2) Playback

3) Manipulation (mixing, special effects)

Applications of DSP - Multimedia

Multimedia:
generation storage and
transmission of sound, still
images, motion pictures
Examples:
1) digital TV

2) video conferencing

DSP chips
Introduction of the microprocessor in the late 1970's and

early 1980's meant DSP techniques could be used in a

much wider range of applications.
DSP chip - a programmable
device, with its own native
instruction code
designed specifically to meet
numerically-intensive
requirements of DSP

Bluetooth
headset

Household
appliances

Home theatre
system

capable of carrying out

millions of floating point
operations per second

DSP Implementation -Analog/Digital Conversion

To implement DSP we must be able to:

Analog
Signal

Sampling

Digital
Signal

DSP

Digital
Signal

1) convert analog signals into the digital information

- sampling & involves analog-to-digital conversion
e.g. Touch-Tone system of telephone dialling (when button is
pushed two sinusoid signals are generated (tones) and
transmitted, a digital system determines the frequencies and
uniquely identifies the button - digital (1 to 12) output

DSP Implementation - Operations

To implement DSP we must be able to:

Input

Digital
Signal

DSP

Digital
Signal

Output

2) perform numerical operations including, for

example, additions, multiplications, data transfers
and logical operations
either using computer or special-purpose hardware

DSP Implementation - Digital/Analog Conversion

To implement DSP we must be able to:
Digital
Signal

DSP

Digital
Signal

Reconstruction

Analog
Signal

3) convert the digital information, after being processed

back to an analog signal
- involves digital-to-analog conversion & reconstruction
e.g. text-to-speech signal (characters are used to generate artificial
sound)

DSP Implementation

To implement DSP we must be able to:

Analog
Signal

Sampling

Digital
Signal

DSP

Digital
Signal

Reconstruction

perform both A/D and D/A conversions

e.g. digital recording and playback of music (signal is sensed by
microphones, amplified, converted to digital, processed, and
converted back to analog to be played

Analog
Signal

Pros and Cons of Digital Signal

Processing

Pros
Stable and robust: not varying with temperature, storage without
deterioration
Easy to duplicate (Repeatable)
Flexibility and upgrade: can use general purpose computer for
processing
Accuracy can be controlled by choosing word length
Flexibility can be achieved with software implementations
Non-linear and time-varying operations are easier to implement
Digital storage is cheap
Digital information can be encrypted for security
Price/performance and reduced time-to-market

Pros and Cons of Digital Signal

Processing

Cons
Sampling causes loss of information
Limitations of ADC and DAC
High power consumption and complexity of DSP implementations
unsuitable for simple low power applications.
Limited speed of processors
Quantization and round-off errors

Limitations of DSP - Aliasing

Most signals are analog in nature, and have to be sampled
loss of information
we only take samples of the signals at intervals and
dont know what happens in between
aliasing
cannot distinguish between
higher and lower frequencies

Sampling theorem: to avoid

aliasing, sampling rate must be
at least twice the maximum
frequency component
(`bandwidth) of the signal
Gjendemsj, A. Aliasing Applet, Connexions, http://cnx.org/content/m11448/1.14

Limitations of DSP - Frequency Resolution

Most signals are analog in nature, and have to be sampled
loss of information
we only take samples for a limited period of time

limited frequency
resolution
does not pick up relatively
slow changes

Limitations of DSP - Quantisation Error

Most signals are analog in nature, and have to be sampled
loss of information
limited (by the number of bits available) precision in data
storage and arithmetic

quantisation error
smoothly varying signal
represented by stepped
waveform

Advantages of Digital over Analog Signal Processing

Why still do it?
Digital system can be simply reprogrammed for other

applications / ported to different hardware / duplicated

(Reconfiguring analog system means hadware redesign, testing, verification)

DSP provides better control of accuracy requirements

(Analog system depends on strict components tolerance, response may drift with
temperature)

Digital signals can be easily stored without deterioration

(Analog signals are not easily transportable and often cant be processed off-line)

More sophisticated signal processing algorithms can be

implemented
(Difficult to perform precise mathematical operations in analog form)