DSP Archives | Page 14 of 14

July 8, 2016 DSP / Wireless/SDR

Convoluted Correlation between Matched Filter and Correlator

Now we turn out attention towards a topic that causes a lot of confusion for communications and DSP learners: what is the difference between a matched filter and a correlator in a communications receiver? Let us start with the definition of a correlator: A correlator is a device that performs correlation of a received signal with its template within a given window of time. In our context, that window of time is the symbol duration, $T_M$. So a correlator performs the following operations. It takes this sample-by-sample product and sums them together. Next, it samples the output of this accumulation

July 1, 2016 DSP

What is a Signal?

In traditional Digital Signal Processing (DSP) courses, we usually learn about signals in a narrow context. While this is probably the correct approach for an introduction to this field, there is a broader theme to the concept of signals. Let us focus on the purely technical part first. A signal is any measurable quantity that varies with time (or some other independent variable). If you record the words you speak in a computer memory and plot against time, you get a speech signal. As an example, the figure below shows a signal for the words "Hello Wireless" recorded in a

Illustration of peak ISI and asymmetry about -3dB point

July 18, 2016 DSP / Wireless/SDR

Pulse Shaping Filter

In digital logic, a stream of 1s and 0s forms a sequence of rectangular pulses, which can be easily identified at the receiver side by a threshold. In time domain, everything looks nice and perfect. Let us investigate the system characteristics in frequency domain. In a Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) system, the main component that defines the spectral contents of the signal is the pulse shape $p(nT_S)$ at the Tx. We start with our attention towards a simple rectangular pulse shape. Here is a brief outline of what we cover in this article. Table of Contents 1. Spectrum of a

A complex number with its I and Q components

July 4, 2016 DSP

Dealing with Complex Numbers

Although complex notation is not complex to understand, I attempt to avoid complex notation altogether while writing DSP articles. If you are interested in where these complex numbers come from, you can read my real-imaginative guide to complex numbers. A complex number is defined as an ordered pair of real numbers in $(x,y)$-plane. In that respect, complex numbers can be considered as vectors with initial point on the origin $(0,0)$. Addition of complex numbers is then similar to the addition of vectors in $(x,y)$-plane from this perspective. However, multiplication is well defined for complex numbers while it is not defined

Minimum distance rule based detector decisions in a QPSK constellation in the presence of a carrier frequency offset

June 6, 2016 DSP / Wireless/SDR

How a Frequency Locked Loop (FLL) Works

We saw before how a carrier frequency offset distorts the received signal. Later, we also described the classification of frequency synchronization techniques according to the availability of the symbol timing. Today, we will learn about the workings of a frequency locked loop. Background A Phase Locked Loop (PLL) is a device used to synchronize a periodic waveform with a reference periodic waveform. It is an automatic control system in which the phase of the output signal is locked to the phase of the input reference signal. In the article referred above, we also discussed that for a very small frequency