Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
The DSP research team, headed by Professor Patrick Gaydecki, is presently comprised of 1 Senior Experimental Officer (shared across the three SISP themes), 5 Research Associates, 5 PhD students, 2 MPhil students and 2 Academic Visitors. Over the last ten years, the team's research projects have involved the development of instrumentation and software for nondestructive testing of materials using a variety of sensing modalities, the development of systems and software for the analysis of cardiovascular and autonomic function, and the design and development of real-time digital signal processing hardware for audio bandwidth applications. The research initiatives are listed in more detail below.
- Design and development of a real-time digital signal processing system (circuit board, firmware operating system and high-level software) for audio-bandwidth signal processing. Essentially, it is a very flexible linear systems emulator, that can be used to design standard or entirely arbitrary filters and execute them in real-time. This includes FIR, IIR and adaptive types. It is called the Signal Wizard. It has been used at the University of Cambridge in a joint research initiative to replicate with high fidelity the sound of acoustic violins through digital technology. Signal Wizard 2, sponsored by Fibrescan Ltd is now available as a commercial product.
Read more about Signal Wizard 2 - Research and development of ultrasonic systems for detection and imaging of fault conditions in pre-stressed and reinforced concrete, including visualization of steel embedments and voids. These systems have exploited the analysis of the frequency content of the returned echoes for fault identification, or the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) applied to signals received from multiple transducers to generate 3D images of the internal concrete matrix.
- Research and development of inductive scan imaging systems for the visualisation of steel reinforcing bars and cables embedded within pre-stressed and reinforced concrete. These systems generate images of the steel by exploiting eddy current generation and detection when a time-varying magnetic field is impressed on the material through the use of a resonant transmitter coil. Extensive image processing software development is required to improve the spatial and axial resolution of the raw images.
Download Inductive Scan Imaging Research in pdf format. - Development of inductive imaging systems for detection of faults in prestressing wire of large bore water pipes.
- Research and development of instrumentation for fault detection in pre-stressing cables exploiting the principle of electrical time domain reflectometry.
- Development of image processing software for the automatic recognition of biological tissue types based on texture histogram and Fourier spectrum correlation techniques.
- Development of Software based on the wavelet transform for the automatic classification and segmentation of ECG waveforms for clinical analysis and matching (Cardiology Department of the Manchester Royal Infirmary).
- Development of Software and instrumentation for the automated analysis of cardiovascular and autonomic function in the study of vasovagal syncope (Cardiology Department of the Manchester Royal Infirmary).
- Development of signal processing algorithms for the automatic recognition and classification of atrial fibrillation events in ECG data.
- Development of hardware and software systems for monitoring acceleration levels experienced by preterm neonates during emergency transportation.
- Development of intelligent, autonomous sensors for monitoring fatigue damage of welded steel components. This work is on-going and is funded by the DTI.
- Development of remote, autonomous ultrasonic sensors for monitoring flood conditions in the reinforcing cross-beams of oil rigs.