1996 Research Summaries for the Ptolemy Project

Electronic Courseware for Signal Processing

Researcher:Dr. Brian L. Evans
Advisor:Prof. Edward A. Lee
Sponsors:State of California Micro Program and the Ptolemy Project
This project explores the components necessary to support interactive electronic courseware for undergraduate signals and systems and signal processing courses. These courses present signals as mathematical functions, analog waveforms, and sampled data, and treat systems as algebraic operators, circuits, and algorithms. The courses may also tackle the issues of combining algorithms into complex systems and implementing complex systems in software and hardware.

Since these courses take many different but complementary approaches to signal processing, one computer tool cannot provide the functionality for interactive tutorials, problem sets, and laboratory exercises on all aspects of signal processing. Therefore, we propose to integrate three different but complementary tools together:

  1. Mathematica for symbolic (algebraic) manipulation of digital and analog signals and systems,
  2. MATLAB for processing sampled numerical signals, and
  3. Ptolemy for the visual programming of complex digital signal processing systems for simulation and synthesis of hardware and software implementations.
We have already developed interactive problem sets and tutorials in Mathematica [1][2][3]. Our research group has already developed interactive problem sets for Ptolemy. For MATLAB, there are over 20 different books and laboratory manuals. The three tools can be used separately or cooperatively when appropriate [4]. When used together, Ptolemy, Tycho, or the World Wide Web could serve as the common framework that connects the tools together. Tycho is a visual programming and hypertext environment under development in our research group.
  1. B. L. Evans, L. J. Karam, K. A. West, and J. H. McClellan, ``Learning Signals and Systems with Mathematica,'' IEEE Trans. on Education, vol. 36, pp. 72--78, Feb. 1993.
  2. B. L. Evans, S. X. Gu, and R. H. Bamberger, ``Interactive Solution Sets as Components of Fully Electronic Signals and Systems Courseware,'' Proc. of IEEE Asilomar Conf. on Signals, Systems, and Computers, Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, Pacific Grove, CA, 1994.
  3. Brian L. Evans, Steve X. Gu, Edward A. Lee, and Philip Chen, "Mathematica Notebooks to Accompany Contemporary Linear Systems Using MATLAB", PWS Publishing Company, ISBN 0-534-93509-5 (PC) and 0-534-93507-9 (Mac), June, 1995, an interactive companion to the textbook Robert D. Strum and Donald E. Kirk, Contemporary Linear Systems Using MATLAB, PWS Publishing Company, ISBN 0-534-94710-7, 1995.
  4. R. H. Bamberger, B. L. Evans, and J. H. McClellan, ``Integrating Analysis, Simulation, and Implementation Tools in Electronic Courseware for Teaching Signal Processing,'' Invited Paper, IEEE Int. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, May, 1995, pp. 2873-2876.
Send comments to Brian Evans at ble@eecs.berkeley.edu.