Signal ProcessingSignal processing is included as a separate headingbecause, in a world of pervasive computing and embeddedsystems, it is increasingly an integral part of a product. Atone extreme, signal processing may be central to producinginformation for presentation to the user. At a basiclevel, filtering, interpolation, and prediction are required insubsystems. Here again is an opportunity for an engineertrained in systems analysis and signal processing to contributeto technical developments such that the final systemhas the required performance. As in systemfunctionality and control, it is often possible for the signalanalyst to predict whether or not overall performance targetscan be met. Again, experience tells of ambitious projectsthat have been proposed on the basis that cheaphardware could be used because sophisticated signal processingcould compensate for the hardware’s shortcomings.This is rarely true, and there are many examples of theconsequences. On the other hand, a systems view of sucha project could establish whether signal-processing algorithmscould compensate for simplified hardware.
