The importance of digital signal processors (DSP)

A signal is a piece of information in binary or digital form. Digital signal processing techniques improve signal quality or extract important information by removing unwanted parts of the signal.

The introduction of general purpose microprocessors in the late 1970s and early 1980s made it possible for DSP techniques to be used in a much wider range of applications. Microprocessors such as the Intel x86 family were not well suited for the numerically intensive requirements of digital signal processing, and the growing importance of DSP led major electronics manufacturers to develop DSP chips whose design met all the requirements of digital signal processing. digital signals.

DSP is a programmable chip and is capable of millions of floating point operations per second. Typical application fields for DSP are audio signal processing, video signal processing, image processing, and telecommunication devices. DSP is the basis for many technologies, including mobile phones, personal computers, video recorders, CD players, hard drive controllers, and modems.

The application of digital signal processors in cell phones is very significant. Signal compression, an important application of DSPs, is used in mobile phones to allow a larger number of calls to be handled simultaneously within each local “cell”. Signal compression technology helps communicate with each other by seeing them as they speak. This facility is available with the help of a computer monitor, a small video camera, and a conventional telephone line connecting them. DSPs can be used in applications that require high computational speed. Such applications include computer video cards and specialized coprocessor boards designed for intensive scientific computing.