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SPM Article

Analog-to-Digital Compression: A New Paradigm for Converting Signals to Bits

Processing, storing, and communicating information that originates as an analog signal involves converting this information to bits. This conversion can be described by the combined effect of sampling and quantization, as shown in Figure 1. The digital representation is achieved by first sampling the analog signal to represent it by a set of discretetime samples and then quantizing these samples to a finite number of bits. 

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Bringing Wearable Sensors into the Classroom: A Participatory Approach

By bringing research into the curriculum, this article explores new opportunities to refresh some classic signal processing courses. Since 2015, we in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) Department of Imperial College London, United Kingdom, have explored the extent to which the level of student engagement and learning can be enhanced by inviting the students to perform signal processing exercises on their own physiological data.

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Real-Time Ultrasound Thermography and Thermometry

This article describes the basic principles of ultrasound thermography (UST) and its real-time implementation using graphics processing unit (GPU)-enabled software architecture. In medicine, the term thermography is mostly associated with heat-sensing infrared cameras for recording surface temperature changes. In this article, we use this term to describe the qualitative noninvasive imaging of tissue temperature change using any imaging modality. Examples of these modalities include microwave radiometry, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), US imaging, and photoacoustic tomography.

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Wireless Digital Communication Technologies for Drilling: Communication in the Bits/s Regime

Drilling is the riskiest activity in the oil-field exploration and development stage. Real-time measurements are needed to monitor drilling conditions to keep it in the safe operating envelope, guide the drilling system into the most productive zones, and provide information for further stages in the completion of the well. In this article, we describe digital communication systems for drilling, including data transmission and data compression. We begin by describing data transmission techniques used for two systems: mud-pulse telemetry (MPT) and electromagnetic (EM) telemetry.

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