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à Session 3532

Online DSP Education: DSP for Practicing Engineers

Joel R. Jackson, Thomas P. Barnwell, Ronald W. Schafer, Douglas B. Williams, Monson H. Hayes III, David V. Anderson Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

This paper discusses a new approach to DSP education for practicing engineers. At Georgia Tech we have embarked on a program to merge the comprehensive nature of traditional university courses with the accessibility of network-based training to make graduate and continuing education courses accessible to both traditional students and practicing engineers in remote locations. Many of the practical problems of Internet-based courses have been addressed by using a hybrid course organization and delivery mechanism that combines the flexibility and control of a course delivered from a central server with the high media quality of locally delivered high- bandwidth video and audio. In addition to adapting the delivery method, we have worked with both academic faculty and industry representatives to modify existing course materials and develop special-purpose materials to fit the revised requirements of remote delivery to an audience of nontraditional students. Multiple faculty members participated in creating lecture materials to provide a unique perspective on DSP education. The course is comprised of three interconnected tracks: DSP system theory, real-time implementation principles, and laboratory exercises. The theory and real-time principles are presented in short lecture modules like the one shown below, while the laboratory exercises are performed using a DSP development board attached to the student’s local computer. The use of a physical development board allows more realistic laboratory exercises to be performed than would a network-based simulation tool. Student interaction, instructor feedback, and course organization are provided through the web interface. The student interaction and hands-on aspects of the course more closely approximate a university experience rather than a typical asynchronous web-based training course.

1. Introduction

The rapid advancement of technology experienced over recent decades makes it difficult for engineers to keep themselves abreast of the current technology. This is especially true with digital signal processing (DSP). DSP is now pervasive as it is used in everything from disk drives and cell phones to automobiles and stereo equipment. The sale of special DSP microprocessors exceeds the sale of general-purpose microprocessors by almost 10:1. However, until recently DSP was only taught in the graduate curricula of most universities and many practicing engineers have never been exposed to DSP. Many of these engineers now find themselves working on products that use DSP microprocessors. Outside of the campus environment, the DSP semiconductor

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Barnwell, T., & Schafer, R., & Jackson, J., & Williams, D., & Anderson, D., & Hayes III, M. (2001, June), Online Dsp Education: Dsp For Practicing Engineers Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9624