Digital Signal Processing
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Digital Image Processing (DIP) represent another facet of the digital revolution. Signals are measurements that vary with time, like sound, or space, like images. Once we digitize the signals -- turn them into a sequence of numbers -- we can design computers and other digital systems to manipulate the mathematical properties of signals and images to make them more useful. Digital filters can separate information (the part we want) from noise (what we do not want). DSP techniques can alter signals in interesting ways, such as the reverberation, fuzz, and other effects rock musicians use to give their music an edge. DSP engineers use pattern recognition techniques to extract information from signals, as in speech recognition. Medical imaging techniques like Computer Aided Tomography (CAT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) depend on DSP techniques to construct 3D images of tissues for diagnosis. DSP methods are used to compress signals for more efficient storage and transmission, with MP3 coding for music, JPEG for images, and MPEG for movies. DSP engineers design with specialized, high-speed data processing components such as Digital Signal Processing chips and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). In addition to general Electrical Engineering topics, students with a concentration in Digital Signal Processing take extra courses in the mathematics of linear systems and in topics specific to DSP, such as Digital Filtering and Digital Image Processing, and in Digital Systems. Interviews with the professionals |
