Steven W. Smith

Convolution is a mathematical way of combining two signals to form a third signal. It is the single most important technique in Digital Signal Processing. Using the strategy of impulse decomposition, systems are described by a signal called the impulse response. Convolution is important because it relates the three signals of interest: the input signal, the output signal, and the impulse response. This chapter presents convolution from two different viewpoints, called the input side algorithm and the output side algorithm. Convolution provides the mathematical framework for DSP; there is nothing more important in this book.