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Reviewer: L F. Pau

Digital signal processing evolved from analog signal processing with the advent of computing and microelectronics; it now plays a part in a wide variety of applications. This two-volume handbook is a monumental collection of 42 papers dealing with specific aspects of the design, analysis, and implementation of systems using digital signal processing. The volumes contain 479 and 1,399 pages, respectively, and represent at least 100 authors from around the world, mostly academics and industry professionals. This second edition is divided into three parts: Part 1 covers selected application areas; Part 2 focuses on architectures; and Part 3 explores compilers, processors, and simulation. Compared to the first edition, this version includes more application areas and methodological subjects. The field of digital signal processing is a large one, with some key notions and many approaches. Unfortunately, by its very design as a collection of specialized papers ordered by the first author's last name, the handbook does not enable progressive learning. Despite its size, the book does not include a subject index, and there is no consolidated bibliography or glossary. Therefore, the reader is required to check the list of chapter titles to find items of interest. On some subjects, such as data flow graphs and image coding, several chapters overlap. As is frequently the case with such collections, the writing styles of the chapters are quite different, with some being descriptive, such as those on high-energy physics and medical applications, while others are abstract, such as the chapter on network classification. The best chapters are progressive, detailed, and design oriented, such as the chapters on arithmetic and application-specific instruction sets. Many application fields are addressed, either in specific chapters in Part 1, or as examples in chapters in Parts 2 or 3. However, some areas are omitted, despite the level of activity in these areas in industry and research, including noise filtering, audio signal processing, global positioning systems (GPS), antenna signal processing, beam forming, energy control, tracking, signal processing systems testing, and power consumption optimization. This is understandable given the page limitation, but the editors could have directed readers to other resources on specific techniques, similar to the guidelines provided by digital signal processor vendors to help their customers select the right product. With no cross-links between Part 1 and the two other parts, the systems view promoted in the introduction gets a bit lost. This handbook can be used by researchers as a comprehensive reference, or by teachers offering specialized papers to their students. It is not likely to be useful to graduate students or systems designers wanting to learn about these fields and organize their thinking and research. Online Computing Reviews Service