A Laboratory-Based Course in Real-Time Digital Signal Processing Implementation

A four credit-hour laboratory course in real-time digital signal processing (DSP) implementation is described. This course has been developed and taught at Utah State University for over 12 years, incorporating feedback from students and extensive classroom experience. The educational goal of the course is to teach seniors/first year graduate students how to select, implement, and evaluate DSP systems for real-time signal processing. A major component of the class is a series of seven laboratories in which the student must perform realtime processing on hardware based on modern digital signal processors and FPGAs. Student feedback has indicated that the course has been very successful in helping them become effective in real-time DSP-related jobs.