15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outstanding accomplishment in DSP, January 5, 2001
This review is from: Digital Signal Processing: A Computer Science Perspective (Hardcover)
This book really lives up to its name. The author, Jonathan Stein, has taken a tremendous amount of DSP subject matter and hand-tailored it for a perfect fit for readers with a computer-science background. While the relevant math is still there, the book excels at providing easily accessible and readable explanations and descriptions of the various topics. As you read the various chapters, it becomes very apparent that the author has truly understood, assimilated, and has put into practice virtually all of the information from his listed references and his real-world experience. Stein is simultaneously a practicing expert in the field, an academic master of each subject, and a patient, thoughtful and humorous teacher who knows well the unique needs of his readers.
Computer scientists will appreciate the six chapters (12-17) devoted to Architectures and Algorithms. This emphasis is what sets this book apart from the many other DSP books out on the market. I especially enjoyed Chapter 17, Digital Signal Processors. After reading Sections 1-3, I finally understood the significance of the MAC (Multiply-and-Accumulate) operation, and exactly how a DSP processor allows it to be executed in one clock cycle. Section 7 guides the new DSP programmer with Stein's well-conceived CHILD's play system of DSP task development. And on the humorous side, in Section 8 describing DSP Development Teams, we are told, "Your boss has given you five days to come up to speed (in understanding the new system). In your cubicle you find a stack of heavy documents. The first thing you have to learn is what a TLA is." You will find yourself breaking out with stifled bursts of nervous laughter as this all-too-true scenario unfolds.
Definitely give this book a try and you'll come to understand and appreciate DSP in a new light from Stein's unique perspective. It will make a welcome and refreshing addition to your DSP library.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Both pragmatic and very readable., November 23, 2007
This review is from: Digital Signal Processing: A Computer Science Perspective (Hardcover)
Published by John Wiley & Sons, this book is destined to become a technical classic. It was written in a kind-of light style, with humorous anecdotes mixed in. And, unlike most DSP books--aimed at graduate level electrical engineering students--it doesn't assume a knowledge of advanced calculus. In fact, it doesn't assume a background in computer science math, either (the author's got that covered in Appendix A: Whirlwind Exposition of Mathematics). In the introduction, Dr. Stein bills his book as the only signal processing book you'll ever need, and it is amazingly comprehensive.
It needs to be updated, though.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great explanation of DSP for the computer scientist, June 24, 2006
This review is from: Digital Signal Processing: A Computer Science Perspective (Hardcover)
This book does what no other book I know does - lays out the theory of DSP in plain language for the computer scientist. This book will probably seem a little on the light side for electrical engineering students and professionals, but even they will benefit from the author's plain-language descriptions and instructive figures. The author has an easy test to see if you have sufficient mathematical background to understand this book - he says you should look at the appendix, which is entitled "Whirlwind Exposition of Mathematics", and if at least half of the subject matter is familiar, then you are mathematically qualified.
The material is presented in a very unconventional fashion. Although the title of part one, "Signals", indicates a traditionally organized DSP textbook, this section contains a chapter on Noise that doesn't seem to fit in with the other four chapters.
Part two is entitled "Systems", and covers ground you wouldn't generally expect in a general DSP text. It goes all the way from answering the simple question "Why Convolve?" to filter design techniques to correlation and biological signal processing. You won't be ready to design biomedical devices after you read this chapter, but it outlines some underlying principles of speech processing and neural networks in very accessible language and prepares the student for further study.
Part 3, "Architectures and Algorithms", is where this textbook really shines. In this section the author equates many DSP problems to graph theory and manipulation, deals with spectral analysis and correlates matrix algebra techniques to finding sinusoids in noise, and presents filter implementation in computer program format via pseudocode. The author also talks about how to produce mathematical functions that the DSP processing language you are using may not implement, and about the basic structure of a DSP embedded system.
The final section of the book, "Applications", takes a whirlwind tour of many of the aspects of communications signal processing and speech processing where DSP is essential. This is not meant to be a definitive text on these two broad complex topics. Rather, it is meant to bring to life the concepts and algorithms discussed up to this point.
If you are an electrical engineer, I would say a better choice would be "Discrete Time Signal Processing", since there is a more mathematical presentation of concepts that is more comfortable to individuals in that discipline. However, if you are a computer scientist, I would start with this book and then go on to more formal texts once you get the big picture presented here. The one negative thing I would say about this book is that I think it tends to oversimplify the mathematical complexity of DSP's sister discipline of random processes and noise. However, for the core subject of DSP from the computer scientist's perspective, I recommend it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
