The DSP Pipeline: From Analog to Digital

The DSP Pipeline

Analog Signal → Sampling → Quantization → Digital Processing → D/A Conversion → Analog Output
     x(t)           x[n]           x[n]_q         y[n]                y(t)

Sampling discretizes the time axis: $x[n] = x_a(nT)$ where $T$ is the sampling period. Quantization discretizes the amplitude axis: maps continuous values to finite levels.

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