Signals convey information. Systems transform signals. This book introduces the mathematical models used to design and understand both. It is intended for students interested in developing a deep understanding of how to digitally create and manipulate signals to measure and control the physical world and to enhance human experience and communication. This book is based on several years of successful classroom use at the University of California, Berkeley. The material starts with an early introduction to applications, well before students have built up enough theory to fully analyze the applications. This motivates students to learn the theory and allows students to master signals and systems at the sophomore level. The material motivates signals and systems through sound and images. Calculus is the only prerequisite.

Edward A. Lee is the Robert S. Pepper Distinguished Professor and former chair of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department at UC Berkeley. His research interests center on design, modeling, and simulation of embedded, real-time computational systems. He is a director of Chess, the Berkeley Center for Hybrid and Embedded Software Systems, and is the director of the Berkeley Ptolemy project. He received a B.S. from Yale University (1979), an S.M. from MIT (1981), and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (1986). From 1979 to 1982 he was a member of technical staff at Bell Labs. He is a co-founder of BDTI, Inc., where he is currently a Senior Technical Advisor. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, was an NSF Presidential Young Investigator, and won the 1997 Frederick Emmons Terman Award for Engineering Education.