Understanding Digital Signal Processing

Rating:
Summary: Well written. High quality.
Review: Understanding Digital Signal Processing (UDSP), by Richard Lyons, is a high quality textbook and a good place to begin studies in DSP.
As a patent attorney who focuses on writing patents, I often learn new technologies in a short time. For every patent in a technology new to me, I read many books and reviews searching for the best resource to get me up to speed and back to billing. Having gone through this process many times, I appreciate well written textbooks, but typically see substandard texts with common pitfalls.
In my experience many textbook authors (writers generally) develop their books with a common error... incomplete development.
By incomplete development I mean two things: (1) not including the proper foundation for every step forward, and (2) poor organization.
The result of each of these is a reader who must put forth extra effort to connect the dots, or worse, to actually have to fill in holes themselves in order to connect the dots. Similar to a good teacher, a good writer must anticipate potential hangups, and develop their material to alleviate these potential hangups.
Richard Lyons, beyond clearly understanding the topics in UDSP, develops each topic well. The result it a good textbook that makes certain DSP topics simple.

Rating:
Summary: The Best DSP book for beginner
Review: Have you ever tried to study DSP but get intimidated with all the math equations and cryptic explanations?! With Lyons' book, you are not going to have these problems. Lyons' beautifully explains DSP "concept" without going to unnecessary mathematical details. There is still a lot of math in this book, but all of them is presented from practical point of view and only when needed. It teaches you enough basic DSP so when you need to learn advanced DSP concept from other books, you won't be intimidated!

Rating:
Summary: Different approach
Review: I read this book after reading DSP by proakis so i already had an understanding of DSP .
Prior to reading this book it is better if the person has some idea about certain dsp techniques.The first few chapters are good for basics

Rating:
Summary: Worthy of the Nobel and Pulitzer.
Review: Attempting to read several other DSP books, and really never 'getting' it, the quality and explanation of Lyons' "Understanding Digital Signal Processing" stands out in decibels above the others.

This book, like others, explains the fundamental theory, but where this book excels and others fail miserably, is how it relates one theory (ie: Laplace to Fourier, Sinc function to a single frequency bin, etc.) to another. The reader is left with an excellent understanding of the 'big picture' of DSP.

Additionally, the book has several real-world examples that also reinforce the basic concept and theories. (ie: what if my input frequency does not fall on the exact bin number, what is the 'real' frequency of a fft bin, etc.)

If I had this book while taking a DSP class in an undergrad electrical engineering, I would have been out much more drinking with the guys... instead I was inside studying on a Friday night, puzzling over a DSP book written by a professor for other professors. I highly recommend this book for all students and junior engineers trying to grasp DSP concepts. You'll find from this book that the concepts are actually simple, and DSP can be an exciting (instead of frustrating) experience.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read ! The title truly says it like it is!
Review: I ran into a copy of Lyon's text in the library, and on reading a chapter, decided to get my very own copy of this classic! As a student just starting to learn about DSP in electrical engineering, I found myself puzzled by vague explanations of aliasing and basic fundamentals of signals. Very clearly and masterfully, the author describes the key concepts, and unravels the mysteries with great expertise. The struggle and confusion is entirely done away with, and one gets the idea very quickly. I am still reading the book, and my copy is on its way! This book is a gem, and I will add it as a rare treasure to my library of technical books. I hope Lyons will write more books in the various other topics in EE. I'd definitely be very interested in them. In fact, I think I'll add TRW to my list of companies to apply to, when I graduate!Saroj Bon

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to DSP
Review: Unlike many engineering books, this one explains all concepts without assuming you already master DSP ! It goes at a pace that allows you to follow the course of the chapters without forcing you to dive into many other books. However, it covers all the basics from DSP and even more advanced topics.

This is a must-read as an introduction on DSP. Books like Franklins et al.'s "Digital Control of Dynamic Systems" or Oppenheim's "Discrete Time Signal Processing" are not meant to be introductory textbooks...but once you'll be done with this one then you can go to the more advanced ones.

For another introductory book, the one from Proakis and Manolakis also deserves a mention, but Lyons's is my first choice for introduction. Lyons's style and presentation are better... I would recommend using Lyons for a first iuntroduction and then to Proakis and Manolakis for further mastering the subject, but staying at an introductory level...

Rating:
Summary: Not Just Another Textbook!
Review: I just received this book in the mail yesterday and haven't been able to put it down! This is the first review I have ever written but I wanted to express my thanks to the author for this book while also letting others know what a great resource it is.

This book is an excellent source for engineers seeking familiarity with DSP. I'm an Army officer trying to prepare for civilian employment in DSP design, and it has been over 4 years since I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. Until opening this book I had no exposure to engineering since graduation, but I had no trouble understanding the material presented in this amazing book. Mr. Lyons says it all in the following quote from the preface:

"It's one thing to write equations, but it's another matter altogether to explain what those equations really mean from a practical standpoint, and that's the goal of this book."

This book is simply the best-written textbook I have ever encountered, in fact some fictional novels I have read are less engaging than this book! Mr. Lyons discusses very technical concepts clearly and fully, requiring only moderate effort on the part of the reader to fully grasp the material. He also includes occasional historical references or quotes that I found very entertaining, such as the origin of the word 'analog' as it relates to digital systems.

I took two basic courses in signal processing in college, basically manipulating formulas and drawing pictures with no real understanding of what was actually happening. In just two hours of studying Chapter 2, Periodic Sampling, I developed an intuitive understanding of sampling theory, lowpass and bandpass sampling. These topics were merely abstractions in my mind after intense study and several one-on-one sessions with my professor at a challenging technical college! Wonderfully intuitive yet thorough treatment of a complicated subject, Mr. Lyons.

A word of warning - this book is definitely intended for engineers. Treat it like a college course with a prerequisite of basic signal analysis and electrical systems knowledge, along with a working knowledge of engineering mathematics, and you can't go wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: OK, let me first start out by saying that I am a little biased here since I helped review the new edition, but this is a fantastic book. While this book isn't a total replacement for the standard DSP tomes like Oppenheim and Schafer, this is a text that all DSP engineers should own.

The second edition expands on the strong points of the first. The book is written by an engineer for other engineers. The topics are accessible to readers, while not being watered down.

Less understood, but extremely important topics such as quadrature processing and Hilbert transforms have expanded coverage in this edition.

The best improvement to this edition is the vastly expanded chapter on DSP Tricks. The tricks are practical applications of DSP theory. These tricks usually are not taught in school, and are often not well known. The number of pages devoted to tricks has doubled to over 100, and unlike other books, cover a broad range of topics. Application areas cover audio processing, digital communications, simulation, analysis, and others.

In summary, you will not be disappointed with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to DSP
Review: I am a software designer and only interested in how to use the FFT, FIR or IIR to achieve DSP on telephony devices. To me, give me a sub-routine and parameters, all I need to know is how to effectively and correctly use it. This book not only tells me what kind of the parameters might be for these sub-routines and but also the inside of these techniques plus the interrelations among various factors. This book combined with Steven W. Smith's FREE digital signal processing book (online free at http://www.dspguide.com) would allow computer professionals with no previous DSP knowledge quickly get ready for the basic DSP techniques.

Highly recommended! Excellent book for bed time reading! If you only want to buy one book, buy this and download the other free book. You are ready to go!!

BTW, Can anybody send me the errata for this book? (Email: [e-mail]) I found the equation 4-22, 4-23, 4-24 seems not quite correct, am I wrong or the book is wrong? Thanks in advance.

Rating:
Summary: This is how a textbook should be written!
Review: man, truly amazing...i am glad to come cross this one. some Other DSP heavy 'brick' is just waste compare to this one, those authors either lived in math or just don't know how to explain it in clean word. You end up to be total lost finishing those books. I am wondering if those authoers have to get a math dictionary to write their book, but Mr. Lyons could just tell you little by little through thinking. and you have a clear picture of DSP, and most important you know how to think about it! I wish all the textbooks are writen this way! then many people don't even need to waste their time, energy to learn.

this book, "Art of electronics" and "The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing" are nice, decent books, i'd wish give all the wasted money(on other books) to these authors! they well deserve it!