Using Microcontrollers in Digital Signal Processing Applications

Digital signal processing algorithms are powerful tools that provide algorithmic solutions to common problems. For example, digital filters provide several benefits over their analog counterparts. These algorithms are traditionally implemented using dedicated digital signal processing (DSP) chips, FPGAs, or RISC processors. While these solutions are very efficient at their purpose, they only perform one function in the system and can be both expensive and large. This application note discusses an alternative solution using a Silicon Labs microcontroller to implement DSP algorithms in less space and still have plenty of CPU bandwidth available for other tasks.