Integration of data acquisition hardware into an undergraduate digital signal processing course via the capstone senior design project

This paper discusses a capstone senior design project involving development of a data acquisition system for use in an undergraduate digital signal processing (DSP) course. The project allows undergraduate senior engineering students to merge knowledge of hardware architecture with concepts of Nyquist sampling theorem to explore the relationship between analog and digital signals and develop invaluable insight into the hardware aspects of DSP. The Pentium Il PC-based design involves a complete data acquisition system, including a microphone with corresponding conditioning circuitry, an analog-to-digital converter, an 8255 peripheral interface adapter, a user-friendly math intensive software interface, a digital-to-analog converter, and speakers.