Classes this week set an expectation of what material we will encounter this semester and what methods we should use to master it.
On Tuesday, Baraniuk emphasized the importance of analyzing learning needs and developing strategies that incorporate them. He also cited evidence that group work improves retention and understanding, and argued that taking notes from a projector is a ‘metacognitive process’ that improves the learning process.
On Thursday, we spent the first 50 minutes of class discussing interesting examples of the use of DSP. The Speak and Spell was a toy from the 1980s that used a TI chip for speech synthesis; this chip fits into a larger history of implementing DSP solutions through specialized hardware. Other products include routers, modems, and music equipment. DSP techniques can eliminate echo and support our massive telecomm infrastructure. DSP allows us to see inside regions we cannot access directly. By using radar and sonar, we can see behind the clouds on Venus and locate oil deposits under the ocean’s floor. We also use signal processing for medical applications including fMRI (Tomography), eye implants, and cochlear implants (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1080910) . We ended our discussion of human modification just a little before going off the deep end regarding the Singularity. If you’re interested in a TV series about cyborgs, identity, and signals, I recommend Ghost in the Shell.
The foundation of signal processing is an understanding of types of signals themselves. We discussed four types of signals, the combinations of continuous or discrete time with continuous or discreet values. We also drew attention to concepts like periodicity (it’s not that different in discrete time), continuity, sampling and digitization, finite length and zero-padding and windowing.
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