Analog signal processing

Summary

Analog signal processing is a type of signal processing conducted on continuous analog signals by some analog means (as opposed to the discrete digital signal processing where the signal processing is carried out by a digital process). "Analog" indicates something that is mathematically represented as a set of continuous values. This differs from "digital" which uses a series of discrete quantities to represent signal. Analog values are typically represented as a voltage, electric current, or electric charge around components in the electronic devices. An error or noise affecting such physical quantities will result in a corresponding error in the signals represented by such physical quantities. Examples of analog signal processing include crossover filters in loudspeakers, "bass", "treble" and "volume" controls on stereos, and "tint" controls on TVs. Common analog processing elements include capacitors, resistors and inductors (as the passive elements) and transistors or opamps (as the active elements). A system's behavior can be mathematically modeled and is represented in the time domain as h(t) and in the frequency domain as H(s), where s is a complex number in the form of s=a+ib, or s=a+jb in electrical engineering terms (electrical engineers use "j" instead of "i" because current is represented by the variable i). Input signals are usually called x(t) or X(s) and output signals are usually called y(t) or Y(s). Convolution is the basic concept in signal processing that states an input signal can be combined with the system's function to find the output signal. It is the integral of the product of two waveforms after one has reversed and shifted; the symbol for convolution is *. That is the convolution integral and is used to find the convolution of a signal and a system; typically a = -∞ and b = +∞. Consider two waveforms f and g. By calculating the convolution, we determine how much a reversed function g must be shifted along the x-axis to become identical to function f.