Most real-world spectrum analysis problems involve the computation of
the real-data discrete Fourier transform (DFT), a unitary transform that
maps elements N of the linear space of real-valued N-tuples, R, to
elements of its complex-valued N counterpart, C, and when carried out in
hardware it is conventionally achieved via a real-from-complex strategy
using a complex-data version of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), the
generic name given to the class of fast algorithms used for the ef?cient
computation of the DFT. Such algorithms are typically derived by explo-
ing the property of symmetry, whether it exists just in the transform
kernel or, in certain circumstances, in the input data and/or output
data as well. In order to make effective use of a complex-data FFT,
however, via the chosen real-from-complex N strategy, the input data to
the DFT must ?rst be converted from elements of R to N elements of C .
The reason for choosing the computational domain of real-data problems
such N N as this to be C, rather than R, is due in part to the fact that
computing equ- ment manufacturers have invested so heavily in producing
digital signal processing (DSP) devices built around the design of the
complex-data fast multiplier and accumulator (MAC), an arithmetic unit
ideally suited to the implementation of the complex-data radix-2
butter?y, the computational unit used by the familiar class of recursive
radix-2 FFT algorithms.