Convergence in Broadcast and Communications Media

2Digital processing principles

 

 

In this chapter the basics of digital processing will be considered. Starting from elements such as logic gates, the chapter builds steadily to an explanation of how computers and digital signal processors work.

2.1 Introduction

However complex a digital process, it can be broken down into smaller stages until finally one finds that there are really only two basic types of element in use, and these can be combined in some way and supplied with a clock to implement virtually any process. Figure 2.1 shows that the first type is a logic element. This produces an output which is a logical function of the input with minimal delay. The second type is a storage element which samples the state of the input(s) when ...