Signals and Signal Processing

Chapter 1

Prepared by: Prof. Iyad Jafar

Instructor: Prof. Dia Abunnadi
 Outline
 Signals

 Classification of Signals

 What is Signal Processing?

 Why Digital Signal Processing?

 Where is DSP?

 How to Obtain Digital Signals?

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 Signals
 A signal is any physical quantity that varies with time,
space, or any other independent variable(s).
 A signal can be represented mathematically by a function
of one or more independent variables
 The value of the signal at specific point is called amplitude
while the variation is called a waveform

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 Classification of Signals
Signal Source
Single source  speech, temperature ….
Multi source  video, remote sensing ….
Signal Values
Real

Complex
Certainty
Deterministic  Can be expressed
mathematically/tables
Random  values are generated randomly and can’t be
predicted ahead of time
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 Classification of Signals
Dimensionality
1-D
2-D
3-D

Continuity of Independent Variable(s)

Continuous  the signal is specified at every point of
the independent variable (Continuous-time CT )
Discrete  the signal is specified at specific points only
(Discrete-time DT )
Continuity in Amplitude
Continuous  the amplitude can take any value
Discrete  the amplitude can take specific values only
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 Classification of Signals
A signal that is continuous
in time and amplitude is
called an analog signal

Signal that is discrete in

time and continuous in
amplitude is called
sampled-data signal
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 Classification of Signals
A signal that is discrete in
time and amplitude is
called an digital signal

Signal that is continuous

in time and discrete in
amplitude is called a
quantized boxcar signal
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 What is Signal Processing?
Signal processing is the process of extracting or
modifying the information carried in the signal.
Before processing, analog signals for physical
attributes are converted to voltage or currents
using sensors and transducers
Analog circuits process these signals using
circuits that are built using
Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Amplifiers,…

Analog signal processing examples

Audio processing in FM radios
(Modulation/demodulation)
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Video processing in traditional TV sets
 Why Digital Signal Processing?
Digital signal processing (DSP) deals with the
processing of digital signals on digital devices or
digital signal processors!
Processing can be in the domain of the original
independent variable (time, space, ..) or in the
transform domain (Laplace, Fourier, DCT, …)
There is a huge trend to process signals digitally!
However, real-world signals are mostly analog and
processing them digitally requires an additional
overhead digital digital
signal signal
analog analog
signal A/D DSP D/A signal

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Why to do it this way?
 Why Digital Signal Processing?
 Digital signals
Are less sensitive to noise
Can be easily and cheaply stored and transferred
 Digital systems are
Less sensitive to precise values and tolerances in component
values
Can be produced in large numbers
Can be easily integrated/interfaced with other systems
Can be easily configured and modified using software
Can be shared by multiple signals
Can implement complex, nonlinear and time-varying
operations
 However, digital processing have some disadvantages
Complexity and computational overhead
Bandwidth and speed
Power consumption is higher (analog systems may consist of
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passive components only.
 Where is DSP?

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 Where is DSP?
 Sound applications
 Compression, enhancement, special effects, recognition, echo
cancellation,…
 Cell Phones, MP3 Players, Movies, Dictation, Text-to-speech,…
 Communication
 Modulation, coding, detection, equalization, echo cancellation,…
 Cell Phones, dial-up modem, DSL modem, Satellite Receiver,…
 Automotive
 ABS, GPS, Active Noise Cancellation, Cruise Control, Parking,…
 Medical
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Tomography, Electrocardiogram,…
 Military
 Radar, Sonar, Space photographs, remote sensing,…
 Image and Video Applications
 DVD, JPEG, Movie special effects, video conferencing,…
 Mechanical
 Motor control, process control, oil and mineral prospecting,…
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 How to Obtain Digital Signals?
Analog signals are continuous in time and
amplitude! (infinite number of points and infinite
possible values)

Such signals can’t be represented and processed

inside digital computers with limited storage and
processing capabilities

Solution! Analog-to-digital conversion (A/D)

which involves three basic steps

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 How to Obtain Digital Signals?
1. Sampling
 Collect representative points at discrete time instants.
 This converts the signal from continuous-time to discrete-
time signal. Usually, the spacing between samples is equal
(uniform or periodic sampling).

x a (t) 
Sampling
 x s [n] = x a (t) t  nT  x a (nT)

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 How to Obtain Digital Signals?
2. Quantization
Samples values are assigned values from a set of a
finite values (quantum levels).

x s [n] 
Quantization
x q [n]
3. Coding
Assign binary codes to quantized values
x q [n] 
Coding
 x[n]
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