Embedded Digital Signal Processing

 

Have you ever wondered how it is possible to put a two-hour movie and five channels of sound on a single DVD? And what about your favourite 50Mb track of music taking up only 3-4Mb on the mp3-player?

All modern handling of digital audio and video is based on coding by compression. Raw data is processed in a way so that only the important pieces are left for storage and/or transmission. Clever algorithms taking the human sensory system (hearing and vision) into account are designed to accomplish the data reduction.

 

This course is about real-time compression and coding of music, and we take a starting point in the actual techniques used in DVD encoding. Understanding the fundamentals of the human hearing and setting up algorithms capable of removing all redundant information from a music signal. Step one is to build a software framework realising a fully functional music encoder, and step two is to implement the framework in digital signal processor hardware to enable real-time processing of a music wave file.

 

In the end we can make experiments using subjective listening tests showing the encoding compromise between perceived quality and signal bit rate. How far can we go in removing information from the signal before it becomes audible? And how much can be removed before we don’t like to listen to the music anymore?

 

Most of the courses are also intended for Danish students, but all curriculum activities are conducted in English and are dealt with in an international perspective.

 

The latest know-how and state-of-the-art HW/SW are available and a practical engineering approach to the complex systems is in strong focus.

 

The courses included in the international programme are: 

 

It is possible to take only the autumn semester.

                                                                                                                                    

Exams after the first semester must be passed with satis­factory results in order to be able to take the second semester.

 

The semesters are intended for international students in the final year of their Bachelor studies or at a similar educational level of a digital electronics/signal processing programme.

 

More specifically, basic electronics skills, basic signal processing skills and basic programming skills (e.g. C or C++) are considered a prerequisite for attending this study.

 

Proficiency in English is required (TOEFL-test, score 550, or equivalent).