Signal processing techniques

Signal Processing Techniques John A. Putman M.A., M.S. The Fourier Transform Baron Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician who in his Theorie analytique de la chaleur (Analytical Theory of Heat), developed the technique known as Fourier Analysis. This technique has proven to have application in many other unrelated disciplines including (in our case) the analysis of electromagnetic signals. Fourier's Theorem essentially states that the frequency content of any signal can be described as the sum of a specific set of sine waves. The sine wave is the only pure frequency and any distortion of this shape represents harmonics of some fundamental frequency. Thus any wave, no matter how oddly shaped, can be broken down into its component sine waves.