(1) (Digital Signal Processor) A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications (see definition #2 below). It provides ultra-fast instruction sequences, such as shift and add, and multiply and add, which are commonly used in math-intensive signal processing. DSP chips are widely used in a myriad of devices, including cellphones, sound cards, fax machines, modems, hard disks and digital TVs. The first DSP chip used in a commercial product was believed to be in the very popular Speak & Spell game, introduced by TI in the late 1970s. See DSC.
(2) (Digital Signal Processing) A category of techniques that analyze signals from sources such as sound, weather satellites and earthquake monitors. Signals are converted into digital data and analyzed using various algorithms such as Fast Fourier Transform.
It's Easier in Digital
Once a signal has been reduced to numbers, its components can be isolated, analyzed and rearranged more easily than in analog form. DSP is used in many fields, including biomedicine, sonar, radar, seismology, audio, speech and music processing, imaging and communications. It is also used to create the concert hall and surround sound effects in stereo and home theater equipment.
DSP chips (definition #1 above) are specialized integrated circuits for digital signal processing applications.
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