Real-world DSP solutions for working professionals!

Understanding Digital Signal Processing, Second Edition is quite simply the best way for engineers, and other technical professionals, to master and apply DSP techniques. Lyons has updated and expanded his best-selling first edition-building on the exceptionally readable coverage that made it the favorite of professionals worldwide.

This book achieves the perfect balance between theory and practice, making DSP accessible to beginners without ever oversimplifying it. Comprehensive in scope and gentle in approach, keeping the math at a tolerable level, this book helps readers thoroughly grasp the basics and quickly move on to more sophisticated techniques.

This edition adds extensive new coverage of quadrature signals for digital communications; recent improvements in digital filtering; and much more. It also contains more than twice as many "DSP Tips and Tricks"… including clever techniques even seasoned professionals may have overlooked.

Down-to-earth, intuitive, and example-rich, with detailed numerical exercises
Stresses practical, day-to-day DSP implementations and problem-solving
All-new quadrature processing coverage includes easy-to-understand 3D drawings
Extended coverage of IIR filters; plus frequency sampling, interpolated FIR filters
New coverage of multirate systems; including both polyphase and cascaded integrator-comb FIR filters
Coverage includes: periodic sampling, DFT, FFT, digital filters, discrete Hilbert transforms, sample rate conversion, quantization, signal averaging, and more

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.


Gentle introduction to DSP   October 10, 2005
calvinnme (Fredericksburg, Va)
29 out of 29 found this review helpful

If you are considering studying digital signal processing for the first time, I would strongly suggest studying this book in conjunction with the Schaum's outline on digital signal processing, and then going on to a more formal text, such as "Digital Signal Processing: Principles, Algorithms and Applications" by Proakis. This book uses and explains the required background mathematics, with instructive diagrams shown throughout. The author also bothers to explain to the reader the "whys" of digital signal processing. For example, the book even takes the time to explain to the reader the reason that you would want to filter digitally in the first place. All of the basics are covered, including the discrete Fourier Transform, Finite and Infinite Impulse Response filters, the Fast Fourier Transform, and a unique chapter on digital signal processing tricks including data windowing tricks, frequency translation without multiplication, and real-time DC removal. Particularly helpful is that filter design methods are broken down algorithmically into numbered steps with the associated equations. Complete design examples of these methods are also shown to hammer home the concept. Throughout the book, the author assumes the audience is an engineer that, in the end, wants to use this information to build something useful, not to sit through one derivation after another.


The Best DSP book for beginner   February 24, 2004
Julius Caesar (United States)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

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!


Very good book...enlightens without dumbing down!!!   April 1, 1998
timothy.d.rogstad@jpl.nasa.gov (USA)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful

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.


Excellent introduction to DSP   January 20, 2001
Steve Uhlig (Berlin, Germany)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful

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...