The DSP Online Conference - Right Around the Corner!
It is Sunday night as I write this blog post with a few days to go before the virtual doors of the very first DSP Online Conference open..
It all started with a post in the DSPRelated forum about three months ago. We had just had a blast running the 2020 Embedded Online Conference and we thought it could be fun to organize a smaller event dedicated to the DSP community. So my goal with the post in the forum was to see if...
The Zeroing Sine Family of Window Functions
IntroductionThis is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by introducing a class of well behaved window functions that the author believes to be previously unrecognized. The definition and some characteristics are displayed. The heavy math will come in later articles. This is an introduction to the family, and a very special member of it.
This is one of my longer articles. The bulk of the material is in the front half. The...
Design Square-Root Nyquist Filters
In his book on multirate signal processing, harris presents a nifty technique for designing square-root Nyquist FIR filters with good stopband attenuation [1]. In this post, I describe the method and provide a Matlab function for designing the filters. You can find a Matlab function by harris for designing the filters at [2].
BackgroundSingle-carrier modulation, such as QAM, uses filters to limit the bandwidth of the signal. Figure 1 shows a simplified QAM system block...
Make Hardware Great Again
By now you're aware of the collective angst in the US about 5G. Why is the US not a leader in 5G ? Could that also happen -- indeed, is it happening -- in AI ? If we lead in other areas, why not 5G ? What makes it so hard ?
This hand-wringing has reached the highest levels in US government. Recently the Wall Street Journal reported on a DoJ promoted plan 1 to help Cisco buy Ericsson or Nokia, to give the US a leg up in 5G. This is not a new plan,...
A Fast Real-Time Trapezoidal Rule Integrator
This blog presents a computationally-efficient network for computing real‑time discrete integration using the Trapezoidal Rule.
Background
While studying what is called "N-sample Romberg integration" I noticed that such an integration process requires the computation of many individual smaller‑sized integrations using the Trapezoidal Rule integration method [1]. My goal was to create a computationally‑fast real‑time Trapezoidal Rule integration network to increase the processing...
Third-Order Distortion of a Digitally-Modulated Signal
Analog designers are always harping about amplifier third-order distortion. Why? In this article, we’ll look at why third-order distortion is important, and simulate a QAM signal with third-order distortion.
In the following analysis, we assume that signal phase at the amplifier output is not a function of amplitude. With this assumption, the output y of a non-ideal amplifier can be written as a power series of the input signal x:
$$y=...
A Narrow Bandpass Filter in Octave or Matlab
The design of a very narrow bandpass FIR filter, coded in either Octave or Matlab, can prove challenging if a computationally-efficient filter is required. This is especially true if the sampling rate is high relative to the filter's center frequency. The most obvious filter design methods, using either window-based or Remez ( Parks-McClellan ) functions, can easily result in filters with many thousands of taps.
The filter to be described reduces the computational effort (and thus...
Second Order Discrete-Time System Demonstration
Discrete-time systems are remarkable: the time response can be computed from mere difference equations, and the coefficients ai, bi of these equations are also the coefficients of H(z). Here, I try to illustrate this remarkableness by converting a continuous-time second-order system to an approximately equivalent discrete-time system. With a discrete-time model, we can then easily compute the time response to any input. But note that the goal here is as much to...
A Beginner's Guide To Cascaded Integrator-Comb (CIC) Filters
This blog discusses the behavior, mathematics, and implementation of cascaded integrator-comb filters.
Cascaded integrator-comb (CIC) digital filters are computationally-efficient implementations of narrowband lowpass filters, and are often embedded in hardware implementations of decimation, interpolation, and delta-sigma converter filtering.
After describing a few applications of CIC filters, this blog introduces their structure and behavior, presents the frequency-domain...
Are DSPs Dead ?
Are DSPs Dead ?Former Texas Instruments Sr. Fellow Gene Frantz and former TI Fellow Alan Gatherer wrote a 2017 IEEE article about the "death and rebirth" of DSP as a discipline, explaining that now signal processing provides indispensable building blocks in widely popular and lucrative areas such as data science and machine learning. The article implies that DSP will now be taught in university engineering programs as its linear systems and electromagnetics...
Model a Sigma-Delta DAC Plus RC Filter
Sigma-delta digital-to-analog converters (SD DAC’s) are often used for discrete-time signals with sample rate much higher than their bandwidth. For the simplest case, the DAC output is a single bit, so the only interface hardware required is a standard digital output buffer. Because of the high sample rate relative to signal bandwidth, a very simple DAC reconstruction filter suffices, often just a one-pole RC lowpass. In this article, I present a simple Matlab function that models the combination of a basic SD DAC and one-pole RC filter. This model allows easy evaluation of the overall performance for a given input signal and choice of sample rate, R, and C.
5G NR QC-LDPC Encoding Algorithm
3GPP 5G has been focused on structured LDPC codes known as quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes, which exhibit advantages over other types of LDPC codes with respect to the hardware implementations of encoding and decoding using simple shift registers and logic circuits.
5G NR QC-LDPC Circulant Permutation MatrixA circular permutation matrix ${\bf I}(P_{i,j})$ of size $Z_c \times Z_c$ is obtained by circularly shifting the identity matrix $\bf I$ of...
Evaluate Window Functions for the Discrete Fourier Transform
The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) operates on a finite length time sequence to compute its spectrum. For a continuous signal like a sinewave, you need to capture a segment of the signal in order to perform the DFT. Usually, you also need to apply a window function to the captured signal before taking the DFT [1 - 3]. There are many different window functions and each produces a different approximation of the spectrum. In this post, we’ll present Matlab code that...
Free Goodies from Embedded World - What to Do Next?
I told you I would go on a hunt for free stuff at Embedded World in order to build a bundle for someone to win.
Design IIR Highpass Filters
This post is the fourth in a series of tutorials on IIR Butterworth filter design. So far we covered lowpass [1], bandpass [2], and band-reject [3] filters; now we’ll design highpass filters. The general approach, as before, has six steps:
Find the poles of a lowpass analog prototype filter with Ωc = 1 rad/s. Given the -3 dB frequency of the digital highpass filter, find the corresponding frequency of the analog highpass filter (pre-warping). Transform the...Add the Hilbert Transformer to Your DSP Toolkit, Part 1
In some previous articles, I made use of the Hilbert transformer, but did not explain its theory in any detail. In this article, I’ll dig a little deeper into how the Hilbert Transformer works. Understanding the Hilbert Transformer involves a modest amount of mathematics, but the payoff in useful applications is worth it.
As we’ll learn, a Hilbert Transformer is just a particular type of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter. In Part 1 of this article, I’ll...
Peak to Average Power Ratio and CCDF
Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) is often used to characterize digitally modulated signals. One example application is setting the level of the signal in a digital modulator. Knowing PAPR allows setting the average power to a level that is just low enough to minimize clipping.
However, for a random signal, PAPR is a statistical quantity. We have to ask, what is the probability of a given peak power? Then we can decide where to set the average...
Multiplierless Half-band Filters and Hilbert Transformers
This article provides coefficients of multiplierless Finite Impulse Response 7-tap, 11-tap, and 15-tap half-band filters and Hilbert Transformers. Since Hilbert transformer coefficients are simply related to half-band coefficients, multiplierless Hilbert transformers are easily derived from multiplierless half-bands.
An s-Plane to z-Plane Mapping Example
While surfing around the Internet recently I encountered the 's-plane to z-plane mapping' diagram shown in Figure 1. At first I thought the diagram was neat because it's a good example of the old English idiom: "A picture is worth a thousand words." However, as I continued to look at Figure 1 I began to detect what I believe are errors in the diagram.
Reader, please take a few moments to see if you detect any errors in Figure 1.
...PID Without a PhD
I both consult and teach in the area of digital control. Through both of these efforts, I have found that while there certainly are control problems that require all the expertise I can bring to bear, there are a great number of control problems that can be solved with the most basic knowledge of simple controllers, without resort to any formal control theory at all.
This article will tell you how to implement a simple controller in software and how to tune it without getting into heavy...
Second Order Discrete-Time System Demonstration
Discrete-time systems are remarkable: the time response can be computed from mere difference equations, and the coefficients ai, bi of these equations are also the coefficients of H(z). Here, I try to illustrate this remarkableness by converting a continuous-time second-order system to an approximately equivalent discrete-time system. With a discrete-time model, we can then easily compute the time response to any input. But note that the goal here is as much to...
Evaluate Window Functions for the Discrete Fourier Transform
The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) operates on a finite length time sequence to compute its spectrum. For a continuous signal like a sinewave, you need to capture a segment of the signal in order to perform the DFT. Usually, you also need to apply a window function to the captured signal before taking the DFT [1 - 3]. There are many different window functions and each produces a different approximation of the spectrum. In this post, we’ll present Matlab code that...
A Differentiator With a Difference
Some time ago I was studying various digital differentiating networks, i.e., networks that approximate the process of taking the derivative of a discrete time-domain sequence. By "studying" I mean that I was experimenting with various differentiating filter coefficients, and I discovered a computationally-efficient digital differentiator. A differentiator that, for low fequency signals, has the power of George Foreman's right hand! Before I describe this differentiator, let's review a few...
Frequency-Domain Periodicity and the Discrete Fourier Transform
Introduction
Some of the better understood aspects of time-sampled systems are the limitations and requirements imposed by the Nyquist sampling theorem [1]. Somewhat less understood is the periodic nature of the spectra of sampled signals. This article provides some insights into sampling that not only explain the periodic nature of the sampled spectrum, but aliasing, bandlimited sampling, and the so-called "super-Nyquist" or IF sampling. The approaches taken here include both mathematical...
Time Machine, Anyone?
Abstract: Dispersive linear systems with negative group delay have caused much confusion in the past. Some claim that they violate causality, others that they are the cause of superluminal tunneling. Can we really receive messages before they are sent? This article aims at pouring oil in the fire and causing yet more confusion :-).
IntroductionIn this article we reproduce the results of a physical experiment...
The Most Interesting FIR Filter Equation in the World: Why FIR Filters Can Be Linear Phase
This blog discusses a little-known filter characteristic that enables real- and complex-coefficient tapped-delay line FIR filters to exhibit linear phase behavior. That is, this blog answers the question:
What is the constraint on real- and complex-valued FIR filters that guarantee linear phase behavior in the frequency domain?I'll declare two things to convince you to continue reading.
Declaration# 1: "That the coefficients must be symmetrical" is not a correct
The Power Spectrum
Often, when calculating the spectrum of a sampled signal, we are interested in relative powers, and we don’t care about the absolute accuracy of the y axis. However, when the sampled signal represents an analog signal, we sometimes need an accurate picture of the analog signal’s power in the frequency domain. This post shows how to calculate an accurate power spectrum.
Parseval’s theorem [1,2] is a property of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) that...
Computing Large DFTs Using Small FFTs
It is possible to compute N-point discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs) using radix-2 fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) whose sizes are less than N. For example, let's say the largest size FFT software routine you have available is a 1024-point FFT. With the following trick you can combine the results of multiple 1024-point FFTs to compute DFTs whose sizes are greater than 1024.
The simplest form of this idea is computing an N-point DFT using two N/2-point FFT operations. Here's how the trick...
Free Goodies from Embedded World - Full Inventory and Upcoming Draw Live-Streaming Date
Chances are that you already know that I went to Embedded World a few weeks ago and came back with a bag full of "goodies". Initially, my vision was to do a single draw for one person to win it all, but I didn't expect to come back with so much stuff and so many development kits. Based on your feedback, it seems like you guys agree that It wouldn't make sense for one person to win everything as no-one could make good use of all the boards and there would be lots of...
Computing the Group Delay of a Filter
I just learned a new method (new to me at least) for computing the group delay of digital filters. In the event this process turns out to be interesting to my readers, this blog describes the method. Let's start with a bit of algebra so that you'll know I'm not making all of this up.
Assume we have the N-sample h(n) impulse response of a digital filter, with n being our time-domain index, and that we represent the filter's discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT), H(ω), in polar form...
New Blog Section!
By now, chances are you have noticed the new blogs section (you are actually in it right now!).
Following an email I sent to the members of the site, a few weeks ago, asking for dsp engineers willing to blog here, I received around 50 propositions. I have selected an initial set of 10 bloggers (that I will soon introduce into a seperate post) and I am currently in the process of creating their accounts. Markus and Parth have already...
New Discussion Group: DSP & FPGA
I have just created a new discussion group for engineers implementing DSP functions on FPGAs. The creation of this group has been on my todo list for a long time. If you want to join the group, send a blank email to: fpgadsp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
As usual, it should take a few weeks before there are enough members for interesting discussions to get started.