iSSP: A Dynamic Interactive Textbook
In this xTalk, Ian (Ted) Young will speak on iSSP, his newly published interactive textbook.
The “classic” textbook is printed on paper and admits no possibility for displaying dynamic effects such as filtered music, cross-correlated images, or molecular motion. eBooks, particularly those in pdf format, do not significantly change this description. The modern digital tablet and digital smartphone offer the opportunity to not only display dynamic effects but to interact with the them to perform experiments. We have developed an app for both iOS and Android that exploits these possibilities. The theme of the textbook is an introduction to stochastic signal processing (iSSP).
Speech, music, seismic vibrations, oil prices, and climate measurements are all examples of stochastic (random) signals. In this introductory textbook—intended for individuals with prior training in introductory signal processing and introductory probability theory—we develop techniques to process such signals to extract useful information. We present case studies ranging from music to photographic images to oil prices to climate data to the motion of individual biomolecules. This textbook in an app format makes use of your device's ability to display dynamic information through films and animations and to hear the results of the techniques applied to music. At the end of every chapter there are homework problems ranging from easy to "olympic".
A new and exciting aspect is that we make use of the tablet's interactive capabilities to present laboratory experiments in signal processing. The experiments use the graphic interface, the microphone, the speakers, the camera, and the display to provide both input and output. These experiments are not simulations; they are examples of real digital processing of signals in the device.
The iOS version of the app is currently available on the Apple App Store and it is, for now, free. Search for “stochastic signal processing”.
Ian (Ted) Young is an MIT graduate and was Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering from 1969-1979.
At Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (1981 to present), Dr. Young has been Chairman of the departments of Applied Physics, Imaging Science & Technology, and (as interim) Bionanoscience, all in the Faculty of Applied Sciences.
Dr. Young also co-authored the textbook Signals and Systems and has authored over 200 scientific publications. In 2006 he was made Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, (Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion).