View source for Lecture 1, 8/24/2009 (ECE 438 Fall09) - Rhea

[[Category:ECE438 (BoutinFall2009)]]

ECE 438 is about digital signals and systems.

What is a digital signal?
A signal that can be represented by a sequence of 0's and 1's.
The signal must be discrete time (D.T.): x[n], n e Z
The signal values must come from a discrete and finite signal.
e.g. x[n] e {0,1}
     x[n] e {0,1,2,3,...,255} (grayscale values)

The digital system

digital signal -> system -> digital signal

Three main types
Software (MATLAB, C Program)
Firmware
Hardware

Advantages of digital signals & systems
Digital Systems are:
-precise
-reproducible
-easy to build
-adaptable
-easy to upgrade/fix
-can be saved on bistable storage device

x(t) CT World -------------------> x[n] DT World
-most natural signals live here    -digital media lives here
-things are intuitive               along with computers, MATLAB,
-easy math                          and digital circuits.

[[ ECE438 (BoutinFall2009)|Back to ECE438 (BoutinFall2009)]]