By : Vijay K. Madisetti
Douglas B. Williams
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is concernedwith the theoretical and practical aspects of representing
information bearing signals in digital form and with using computers or special purpose digital
hardware either to extract that information or to transform the signals in useful ways. Areas where
digital signal processing has made a significant impact include telecommunications, man-machine
communications, computer engineering, multimedia applications, medical technology, radar and
sonar, seismic data analysis, and remote sensing, to name just a few.
During the first fifteen years of its existence, the field ofDSPsawadvancements in the basic theory of
discrete-time signals and processing tools. Thiswork included such topics as fast algorithms, A/D and
D/A conversion, and digital filter design. The past fifteen years has seen an ever quickening growth
of DSP in application areas such as speech and acoustics, video, radar, and telecommunications.
Much of this interest in using DSP has been spurred on by developments in computer hardware and
microprocessors. Digital Signal ProcessingHandbook CRCnetBASE is an attempt to capture the entire
range of DSP: from theory to applications—from algorithms to hardware.
Given the widespread use of DSP, a need developed for an authoritative reference, written by some
of the top experts in theworld. This need was to provide information on both theoretical and practical
issues suitable for a broad audience—ranging fromprofessionals in electrical engineering, computer
science, and related engineering fields, to managers involved in design and marketing, and to graduate
students and scholars in the field. Given the large number of excellent introductory texts in DSP,
it was also important to focus on topics useful to the engineer or scholar without overemphasizing
those aspects that are already widely accessible. In short, we wished to create a resource that was
relevant to the needs of the engineering community and that will keep them up-to-date in the DSP
field.
