A/D or ADC: Analog-to-digital converter. Converts an analog (continuous) value, usually a voltage or a current, into a numeric value. Converse of D/A.
D/A or DAC: Digital-to-analog converter. Converts a numeric value into an analog (continuous) value, usually a voltage or current.
DFT: Discrete Fourier Transform.
DSP: Digital Signal Processing.
FIR: Finite Impulse Response.See dspGuru's FIR FAQ.
FFT: Fast Fourier Transform. See dspGuru's FFT FAQ.
IIR: Infinite Impulse Response. See dspGuru's IIR FAQ.
White Noise: The term white (or any other color) refers to the power spectral density (PSD) of the noise. The PSD is basically |FFT(noise)|^2. White noise has a flat PSD. Equivalently, the PSD can be view as the autocorrelation function for the noise. White noise is uncorrelated, giving rise to the flat PSD. The term Gaussian refers to the probablilty distribution function (PDF) of the noise. Gaussian noise has a bell shaped PDF given by: 1 / sqrt(2pi * sigma^2) * e^(-(x-mu)^2 / (2 * sigma^2)) or 1 / sqrt(2pi) * e^(-x^2 / 2) for unit normal randoms.
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There's more to come.Grant Griffin, Matt Donadio