Let’s take a look at a recent perspectives-style paper published in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine called “On the Concept of Frequency in Signal Processing: A Discussion [Perspectives],” (The Literature [R195]). While I criticize the paper directly, I’m hoping to use this post to provide my own perspective, and perhaps a bit of a tutorial, on the interrelated concepts of frequency, infinity, sine waves, and signal representations.
I appreciate tutorial papers in the signal-processing literature (see, for example, my positive post on Candan’s article about the Dirac delta [impulse] function), because my jaundiced view of the field is such that I think the basics, both of mathematics and communication-related signal-processing, are neglected in favor of fawning over the research flavor of the month. Over time, everybody–students, researchers, professors–is diminished because of this lack of attention to foundations.
Continue reading “Infinity, Periodicity, and Frequency: Comments on a Recent Signal-Processing Perspectives Paper ([R195])”