Tom, Dick, and Mary discover the DFT

Discrete Fourier techniques are increasingly being taught as material detached from fundamental continuous-time Fourier analysis. The student is left with an unclear understanding, if any, of the very significant relationships between magnitude and phase spectra generated digitally, and the continuous-time signal which is being analyzed. The present article tells the story of three undergraduate students who discover the DFT, armed only with a knowledge of analog methods.<
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