An all-digital on-board signal spectrum analyzer

The parallel filter and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) are two modern techniques widely used for spectrum analysis. However, after an investigation of various techniques, it was concluded that the FFT approach is not as well suited for onboard vibration spectrum analysis as the parallel filter. There are also disadvantages of a parallel filter approach which must be overcome. It is shown that a digital implementation solves or overcomes the most serious of these disadvantages. A description is presented of some key features of the digital filter design for a Vibration Data Processor (VDP) design. The VDP is an onboard spectrum analyzer which is designed for use in telemetry data acquisition systems.