Application of DSP in Audio Signal
Processing, Echo Location, Sonar,
Radar &Reflection Seismology
AbdulAzam
3/4 EEE
GMRIT
Email:azamakirah@gmail.com
Abstract:
Digital signal processing is one of the
brightest spots in the semiconductor
business today, and one of the few
deserving the title "breakthrough”.
DSP is the processing of signal by
digital means. This paper describes
introduction to DSP, background,
evolution. Now a days DSP is used in
audio signal processing, control
engineering, digital image processing,
and in speech processing. The paper
includes a brief discussion of its
applications highlighting audio signal
processing, radar, sound navigation
and ranging and reflection seismology.
Keywords
Transducer, Embedded controller,
Quantization, Psychoacoustics
INTRODUCTION
DSP, or Digital Signal Processing, as the
term suggests, is the processing of
signals by digital means. A signal in this
context can mean a number of different
things. Historically the origins of signal
processing are in electrical engineering,
and a signal here means an electrical
signal carried by a wire or telephone
V.V.Jagadeesh Naidu
3/4EEE
GMRIT
Email: jaggu_abdul@yahoo.co.in
line, or perhaps by a radio wave. More
generally, however, a signal is a stream
of information representing anything
from stock prices to data from a remote-
Sensing satellite. The term "digital"
comes from "digit", meaning a number
(you count with your fingers - your
digits), so "digital" literally means
numerical; the French word for digital is
numerique. A digital signal consists of a
stream of numbers, usually (but not
necessarily) in binary form. The
processing of a digital signal is done by
performing numerical calculations.
1.Analog and digital signals
In many cases, the signal of interest is
initially in the form of an analog
electrical voltage or current, produced
for example by a microphone or some
other type of transducer. In some
situations, such as the output from the
readout system of a CD (compact disc)
player, the data is already in digital
form. An analog signal must be
converted into digital form before DSP
techniques can be applied. An analog
electrical voltage signal, for example,
can be digitized using an electronic
circuit called an analog-to-digital
converter or ADC. This generates a
digital output as a stream of binary
numbers whose values represent the
electrical voltage input to the device at
each sampling instant.
2.Signal processing
Signals commonly need to be processed
in a variety of ways. For example, the
output signal from a transducer may well
be contaminated with unwanted
electrical "noise". The electrodes
attached to a patient's chest when an
ECG is taken measure tiny electrical
voltage changes due to the activity of the
heart and other muscles. The signal is
often strongly affected by "mains
pickup" due to electrical interference
from the mains supply. Processing the
signal using a filter circuit can remove or
at least reduce the unwanted part of the
signal. Increasingly nowadays, the
filtering of signals to improve signal
quality or to extract important
information is done by DSP techniques
rather than by analog electronics.
3.Development of DSP
The development of digital signal
processing dates from the 1960's with
the use of mainframe digital computers
for number-crunching applications such
as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT),
which allows the frequency spectrum of
a signal to be computed rapidly. These
techniques were not widely used at that
time, because suitable computing
equipment was generally available only
in universities and other scientific
research institutions.
4.Digital Signal Processors
(DSPs)
The introduction of the microprocessor
in the late 1970's and early 1980's made
it possible for DSP techniques to be used
in a much wider range of applications.
However, general-purpose
microprocessors such as the Intel x86
family are not ideally suited to the
numerically-intensive requirements of
DSP, and during the 1980's the
increasing importance of DSP led
several major electronics manufacturers
(such as Texas Instruments, Analog
Devices and Motorola) to develop
Digital Signal Processor chips -
specialized microprocessors with
architectures designed specifically for
the types of operations required in digital
signal processing. (Note that the
acronym DSP can variously mean
Digital Signal Processing, the term used
for a wide range of techniques for
processing signals digitally, or Digital
Signal Processor, a specialized type of
microprocessor chip). Like a general-
purpose microprocessor, a DSP is a
programmable device, with its own
native instruction code. DSP chips are
capable of carrying out millions of
floating point operations per second, and
like their better-known general-purpose
cousins, faster and more powerful
versions are continually being
introduced. DSPs can also be embedded
within complex "system-on-chip"
devices, often containing both analog
and digital circuitry.
5.DSPs vs. Microprocessors
DSPs differ from microprocessors in a
number of ways. Microprocessors are
typically built for a range of general
purpose functions, and normally run
large blocks of software, such as
operating systems like UNIX.
Microprocessors aren't often called upon
for real-time computation. Usually, they
are at liberty to shuffle their workloads
around and choose their own course of
action, waiting to finish a printing job,
for instance, before responding to a user
command. And though microprocessor
has some numeric capabilities, they're
nowhere near fleet enough for most DSP
applications. Where a microprocessor is
well-rounded and versatile, the DSP is a
single-minded specialist, racing through
a smaller range of functions at lightning
speed. DSPs are often used as a type of
"embedded controller," a processor that,
accompanied by all necessary software,
is built into a piece of equipment and is
dedicated to a single group of tasks. In
computer systems, DSPs may be
employed as attached processors,
assisting a general purpose host
microprocessor.
6.DSP Evolution
Just a decade and a half ago, digital
signal processing was more theory than
practice. The only systems capable of
doing signal processing were massive
mainframes and supercomputers and
even then, much of the processing was
done not in real time, but off-line in
batches. For example, seismic data was
collected in the field, stored on magnetic
tapes and then taken to a computing
center, where a mainframe might take
hours or days to digest the information.
The first practical real-time DSP systems
emerged in the late 1970s and used
bipolar "bit-slice" components. Large
quantities of these building-block chips
were needed to design a system, at
considerable effort and expense. Uses
were limited to esoteric high-end
technology, such as military and space
systems. The economics began to change
in the early 80s with the advent of
single-chip MOS (Metal-Oxide
Semiconductor) DSPs. Cheaper and
easier to design-in than building blocks,
these "monolithic" processors meant that
digital signal processing could be cost-
effectively integrated into an array of
ordinary products. The early single-chip
processors were relatively simple 16-bit
devices, which, teamed with 8- or 10-bit
ADCs, were suitable for low-speed
applications,neral-purpcoders such as
talking toys, simple controllers, and
vocoders; (voice encoding devices used
in telecommunications). Since then, free
scale has broadened the market
significantly. The company introduced
the first 24-bit DSP56000 in 1987 and
the first 16-bit single-chip ADC in 1989.
These chips have since been joined by
the 16-bit DSP56100 and DSP56800,
24-bit DSP56300 and DSP56600, 32-bit
96002, and together make up the first
and only architecturally compatible line
of 16-, 24- and 32-bit DSPs.
7.Applications of DSP
DSP technology is nowadays
commonplace in such devices as mobile
phones, multimedia computers, video
recorders, CD players, hard disc drive
controllers and modems, and will soon
replace analog circuitry in TV sets and
telephones. An important application of
DSP is in signal compression and
decompression. Signal compression is
used in digital cellular phones to allow a
greater number of calls to be handled
simultaneously within each local "cell".
DSP signal compression technology
allows people not only to talk to one
another but also to see one another on
their computer screens, using small
video cameras mounted on the computer
monitors, with only a conventional
telephone line linking them together. In
audio CD systems, DSP technology is
used to perform complex error detection
and correction on the raw data as it is
read from the CD.
Although some of the mathematical
theory underlying DSP techniques, such
as Fourier and Hilbert Transforms,
digital filter design and signal
compression, can be fairly complex, the
numerical operations required actually to
implement these techniques are very
simple, consisting mainly of operations
that could be done on a cheap four-
function calculator. The architecture of a
DSP chip is designed to carry out such
operations incredibly fast, processing
hundreds of millions of samples every
second, to provide real-time
performance: that is, the ability to
process a signal "live" as it is sampled
and then output the processed signal, for
example to a loudspeaker or video
display. All of the practical examples of
DSP applications mentioned earlier,
such as hard disc drives and mobile
phones, demand real-time operation.
The major electronics manufacturers
have invested heavily in DSP
technology. Because they now find
application in mass-market products,
DSP chips account for a substantial
proportion of the world market for
electronic devices. Sales amount to
billions of dollars annually, and seem
likely to continue to increase rapidly
7.1Audio signal processing
Audio signal processing, sometimes
referred to as audio processing, is the
processing of a representation of
auditory signals, or sound. The
representation can be digital or analog.
An analog representation is usually
electrical; a voltage level represents the
air pressure waveform of the sound.
Similarly, a digital representation
expresses the pressure wave-form as a
sequence of symbols, usually binary
numbers, which permits digital signal
processing. It must be noted that all real
world audio signals are continuous-time
analog signals. Therefore, sampling and
quantization must be applied to convert
the continuous-time analog signal to a
discrete-time digital representation.
While such a conversion is lossy, most
modern audio systems use this approach
as the techniques of digital signal
processing are much more powerful and
efficient than analog domain signal
processing.
The focus in audio signal processing is
most typically a mathematical analysis
of which parts of the signal are audible.
For example, a signal can be modified
for different purposes such that the
modification is controlled in the auditory
domain. Which parts of the signal are
heard and which are not, is not decided
merely by physiology of the human
hearing system, but very much by
psychological properties. These
properties are analysed within the field
of psychoacoustics.
Processing methods and application
areas include storage, level compression,
data compression, transmission,
enhancement (e.g., equalization,
filtering, noise cancellation, echo or
reverb removal or addition, etc.)
7.2Echo Location
A common method of obtaining
information about a remote object is to
bounce a wave off of it. For example,
radar operates by transmitting pulses of
radio waves, and examining the received
signal for echoes from aircraft. In sonar,
sound waves are transmitted through the
water to detect submarines and other
submerged objects. Geophysicists have
long probed the earth by setting off
explosions and listening for the echoes
from deeply buried layers of rock. While
these applications have a common
thread, each has its own specific
problems and needs. Digital Signal
Processing has produced revolutionary
changes in all three areas.
7.3Radar
Radar is an acronym for Radio
Detection And Ranging. In the simplest
radar system, a radio transmitter
produces a pulse of radio frequency
energy a few microseconds long. This
pulse is fed into a highly directional
antenna, where the resulting radio wave
propagates away at the speed of light.
Aircraft in the path of this wave will
reflect a small portion of the energy back
toward a receiving antenna, situated near
the transmission site. The distance to the
object is calculated from the elapsed
time between the transmitted pulse and
the received echo. The direction to the
object is found more simply; you known
where you pointed the directional
antenna when the echo was received.
The operating range of a radar system is
determined by two parameters: how
much energy is in the initial pulse, and
the noise level of the radio receiver.
Unfortunately, increasing the energy in
the pulse usually requires making the
pulse longer. In turn, the longer pulse
reduces the accuracy and precision of the
elapsed time measurement. This result in
a conflict between two important
parameters: the ability to detect objects
at long range, and the ability to
accurately determine an object's
distance.
DSP has revolutionized radar in three
areas, all of which relate to this basic
problem. First, DSP can compress the
pulse after it is received, providing better
distance determination without reducing
the operating range. Second, DSP can
filter the received signal to decrease the
noise. This increases the range, without
degrading the distance determination.
Third, DSP enables the rapid selection
and generation of different pulse shapes
and lengths. Among other things, this
allows the pulse to be optimized for a
particular detection problem. Now the
impressive part: much of this is done at a
sampling rate comparable to the radio
frequency used, at high as several
hundred megahertz! When it comes to
radar, DSP is as much about high-speed
hardware design as it is about
algorithms.
7.4Sonar
Sonar is an acronym for Sound
Navigation and Ranging. It is divided
into two categories, active and passive.
In active sonar, sound pulses between 2
kHz and 40 kHz are transmitted into the
water, and the resulting echoes detected
and analyzed. Uses of active sonar
include: detection & localization of
undersea bodies, navigation,
communication, and mapping the sea
floor. A maximum operating range of 10
to 100 kilometers is typical. In
comparison, passive sonar simply listens
to underwater sounds, which includes:
natural turbulence, marine life, and
mechanical sounds from submarines and
surface vessels. Since passive sonar
emits no energy, it is ideal for covert
operations. You want to detect the other
guy, without him detecting you. The
most important application of passive
sonar is in military surveillance systems
that detect and track submarines. Passive
sonar typically uses lower frequencies
than active sonar because they propagate
through the water with less absorption.
Detection ranges can be thousands of
kilometers.
DSP has revolutionized sonar in many of
the same areas as radar: pulse
generation, pulse compression, and
filtering of detected signals. In one view,
sonar is simpler than radar because of
the lower frequencies involved. In
another view, sonar is more difficult than
radar because the environment is much
less uniform and stable. Sonar systems
usually employ extensive arrays of
transmitting and receiving elements,
rather than just a single channel. By
properly controlling and mixing the
signals in these many elements, the
sonar system can steer the emitted pulse
to the desired location and determine the
direction that echoes are received from.
To handle these multiple channels, sonar
systems require the same massive DSP
computing power as radar.
7.5Reflection seismology
As early as the 1920s, geophysicists
discovered that the structure of the
earth's crust could be probed with sound.
Prospectors could set off an explosion
and record the echoes from boundary
layers more than ten kilometers below
the surface. These echo seismograms
were interpreted by the raw eye to map
the subsurface structure. The reflection
seismic method rapidly became the
primary method for locating petroleum
and mineral deposits, and remains so
today.
In the ideal case, a sound pulse sent into
the ground produces a single echo for
each boundary layer the pulse passes
through. Unfortunately, the situation is
not usually this simple. Each echo
returning to the surface must pass
through all the other boundary layers
above where it originated. This can
result in the echo bouncing between
layers, giving rise to echoes of echoes
being detected at the surface. These
secondary echoes can make the detected
signal very complicated and difficult to
interpret. Digital Signal Processing has
been widely used since the 1960s to
isolate the primary from the secondary
echoes in reflection seismograms. How
did the early geophysicists manage
without DSP? The answer is simple:
they looked in easy places, where
multiple reflections were minimized.
DSP allows oil to be found in difficult
locations, such as under the ocean.
Conclusion
Digital signal processing has become a
widely accessible commercial
technology. In the last few years, a
variety of high-performance, integrated
DSPs have made digital signal
processing technology easier and more
affordable to use. Digital signal
processing generates business
communication at the user's fingertips
and professional audio sound in real
time. The market for DSP chips is
growing at twice the rate of the
semiconductor industry as a whole,
according to Forward Concepts of
Tempe, Arizona In the next few years,
digital signal processing will give rise to
hundreds of new products and change
what people expect from technology.
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