FUNDAMENTALS OF SIGNAL PROCESSING
1. What is a Signal?
• Definition: A signal is any time-varying or spatially varying quantity that conveys
information. It's a representation of a phenomenon.
• Examples:
o Audio: Sound waves (variations in air pressure).
o Images: Variations in light intensity across a 2D plane.
o Video: A sequence of images over time.
o Biomedical signals: ECG (heart's electrical activity), EEG (brain's electrical
activity).
o Sensor data: Temperature readings, pressure measurements.
o Stock market data: Fluctuations in stock prices.
• Types of Signals:
o Analog: Continuous in both time and amplitude.
o Digital: Discrete in both time and amplitude.
o Continuous-time: Continuous in time but can be analog or quantized in
amplitude.
o Discrete-time: Discrete in time but can be analog or quantized in
amplitude.
2. Why Signal Processing?
Signal processing aims to:
• Extract information: Identify patterns, features, or trends in signals.
• Enhance signals: Improve signal quality by reducing noise or distortion.
• Transform signals: Convert signals into a more useful form for analysis or
transmission.
• Compress signals: Reduce the amount of data needed to represent a signal.
3. Basic Signal Operations:
• Time-domain operations:
o Addition: Combining two signals.
o Multiplication: Multiplying two signals.
o Scaling: Changing the amplitude of a signal.
o Time shifting: Delaying or advancing a signal.
o Time scaling: Compressing or stretching a signal in time.
• Frequency-domain operations (using transforms):
o Filtering: Removing unwanted frequency components.
o Modulation/Demodulation: Shifting the frequency content of a signal.
4. Key Concepts in Signal Processing:
• Sampling: Converting a continuous-time signal into a discrete-time signal by
taking samples at regular intervals. The Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem
states that the sampling rate must be at least twice the highest frequency
component of the signal to avoid aliasing (distortion).
• Quantization: Converting a continuous-amplitude signal into a discrete-
amplitude signal by representing the amplitude values with a finite set of levels.
• Frequency Domain and Fourier Transform:
o The Fourier Transform decomposes a signal into its constituent
frequencies.
o It provides a frequency-domain representation of the signal, showing the
amplitude and phase of each frequency component.
o Types of Fourier Transforms:
§ Continuous-Time Fourier Transform (CTFT): For continuous-time
signals.
§ Discrete-Time Fourier Transform (DTFT): For discrete-time signals.
§ Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT): For finite-length discrete-time
signals (used in digital computers).
• Filtering:
o Removing unwanted frequency components from a signal.
o Types of filters:
§ Low-pass: Allows low frequencies to pass.
§ High-pass: Allows high frequencies to pass.
§ Band-pass: Allows a specific range of frequencies to pass.
§ Band-stop (notch): Blocks a specific range of frequencies.
• Convolution: A mathematical operation that combines two signals. It's
fundamental to understanding the behavior of linear time-invariant (LTI) systems.
• Correlation: Measures the similarity between two signals.
5. Analog vs. Digital Signal Processing:
• Analog Signal Processing: Operates on continuous-time signals using analog
circuits (resistors, capacitors, op-amps).
• Digital Signal Processing: Operates on discrete-time signals using digital
computers or specialized digital signal processors (DSPs).
• Key Differences:
o Implementation: Analog circuits vs. digital algorithms.
o Accuracy: Limited by component tolerances and noise in analog systems;
higher accuracy in digital systems.
o Flexibility: Limited in analog systems; highly flexible and programmable in
digital systems.
o Storage: Difficult to store analog signals; easy to store digital signals.
6. Applications of Signal Processing:
• Audio and video processing: Compression (MP3, JPEG), enhancement, noise
reduction.
• Telecommunications: Modulation, demodulation, channel coding.
• Medical imaging: MRI, CT scans, ultrasound.
• Biomedical engineering: ECG analysis, EEG analysis.
• Radar and sonar: Object detection and tracking.
• Control systems: Feedback control, system identification.
• Image processing and computer vision: Object recognition, image
segmentation.
7. Mathematical Tools:
• Calculus
• Linear algebra
• Differential equations
• Complex numbers
• Probability and statistics
• Transform theory (Fourier, Laplace, Z-transforms)
