Customer Reviews

Understanding Digital Signal Processing

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 He also includes occasional historical references or quotes that I found very entertaining, such as the origin of the word 'analog' as it relates to digital systems.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.

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!

I'm a grad student in EE, and have had half-a-dozen DSP classes over the years. Many questions have remained unanswered over this time and I'm happy to say that this book filled in the missing pieces. Judging from the topics Lyons chooses to elucidate, it is obvious that he has traveled this confusing road himself, emerging victorious on the other side of the tunnel. He graciously shares his hard-won information with the reader, shedding light on various ubiquitious DSP confusion causing topics (i.e. convolution, digital filter design methods, DFT/FFT, etc.) If you're a EE that needs to really acquire an intuitive feel for DSP, this book is the answer. He doesn't dumb down the subject, either. Although one can certainly delve deeper (many references are provided), Lyons does a good job of explaining and describing the math. He has a wonderful colloquial style that makes it seem like you're discussing this stuff with a buddy. I can't recommend this book high enough. It's worth several times the purchase price.

I had taken a dsp subject during undergraduate course in engineering school. Our lecturer had recommended us a text by Oppenheim et al.- "Signals & Systems", and claimed that the book to be quite informative as introductory text. I don't question that book to be informative, but I doubt it to serve well as an introductory text. For most of us in the class, it definitely doesn't seem to fit as a beginner material, especially we didn't have previous background in signals & systems. If one thinks that, "mathematics" should not meant for understanding an explaination, then most probably he/she would feel difficult to read that book. Same thing go for most of the other signal processing books.

I've passed the dsp exam by gobbling up all the mathematics, but without success in understanding the truths (reasons) behind. Since then, whenever I saw any 'unexplainable' maths to 'explain' a signal process, mostly I would just being frightened away, or even stopped from continue reading it. This certainly couldn't satisfy my desire towards learning new knowledge.

Then, I decided to take a try on this book. Luckily I did. It is indeed the kind of stuff which should be taught in the first place, especially to students (or engineers) who want to learn dsp for the first time, without too much struggling.

This book is understandable, readable, & easy to swallow. Richard Lyons tries avoiding mathematics whenever possible, however if the maths is unavoidable, he will explain it in plain english by giving a "numerical + graphical" example to better visualize it. For example, instead of telling convolution is y(n)=h(k)*x(k), he would further depict the convolution, terms by terms, in the way of y(n) = (1/3) . x(n-2) + (1/3) . x(n-1) + (1/3) . x(n), and putting graphical explaination to aid in better understanding.

If you are looking for a book to start taking off from the land of DSP without prior knowledge on it, no doubt this is one of the best books available. If you are to understand the "reasons" behind dsp in simple way, after learning the maths, like me, this is for sure the first recommendation of all.

After finishing this book, I can't wait to go for other classical books, like the "discrete-time signal processing" by Oppenheim.

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...

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.

The last mathematics course I took was Calulus 3 during my senior year in high school... I graduated in 1991. That was my last exposure to mathematics. My undergrad was in biochemistry (no math) and after that I went to medical school (no math). I started my residency in neurology and I became interested in analyzing EEG brain waves. Unfortunately, most work in this field is done in collaboration with engineers, since us docs have minimal knowledge of mathematics and data analysis. I stumbled upon Lyons's book at Borders and decided to give it a shot. Voila!! No more engineers needed!! I now understand sufficiently the concepts of periodic sampling, the Fourier stuff, filters, signal averaging, etc. all the way down to the simple sums of products that they are. Lyons motivated me so much that I picked up Dietel and Dietel's C++ book and now... a month later... I develop my own software to anaylize these EEG signals.

This may not seem as a big deal to the mathematician or engineer... but you have to remember that I'm a neurologist with no math exposure since high school!! If I can learn digital signal processing through Lyons's book... anyone can.

Congratulations, Richard G. Lyons... I wish you would write something on time-series predictions.

Rick's book sails the high sea of DSP books and stands out as a classic, in my opinion. Rick's excellent down-to-earth teaching style is mirrored in this book with his written explanation of DSP theory. A problem many authors have is that of skimming over detailed explanations using "clearly", "it can be shown", or "It is left to the reader as an exercise" instead thus leaving the student frustrated. Not Rick. Rick takes the time to guide the reader through numerical exercises in great detail leaving the reader with a sense of accomplishment. A particularly interesting topic that is covered in this book lacking in detail in others is that of band limiting (over sampling) DSP theory with good diagrams. I personally used Rick's book to come up to speed in DSP adaptive disk drive read channel VLSI IC testing techniques with great results. The typical DSP topics are covered (sampling, DFT, filters) without graduate level math. Rick covers single side-band modulation; a topic I found handy in HAM radio. But wait! There's more! The second edition of this book improves upon the first. Finally, note that the book does require that you understand calculus (integration, summation, and other typical higher level math skills) but at the level of a college senior. If you have the fortunate opportunity to attend one of Rick's classes, or meet Rick at a conference, tell him Dave sent you. Rick's book is an asset to any serious DSP student's library.

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

As an "over 40s" practising software/communications/dsp engineer coming from a dynamic control system environment I found the book very useful. It gives an easy-to-read description of dsp basics plus some handy tips and current practices. A must for system and specialist engineers in related fields (eg dynamic control systems, software, simulation, data analysis, rf and communications). Contains many detailed numerical solutions of equations. State space models and Z-transform transfer equations could maybe have been used to simplify notation, formulas and examples, but that would made it less readable for readers not so mathematically inclined. No mention of the effects of noise and clock accuracy. All in all, an excellent and user friendly book with a gradual but definite learning curve. Highly recommended to rusted practising engineers and students alike.