A Parallel Implementation of the Fast Fourier Transform Algorithm

For many real-time signal processing problems, correlations, convolutions, and Fourier analysis must be performed in special-purpose digital hardware. At relatively high levels of performance, it becomes necessary for this hardware to perform some of its computations in parallel. A parallel FFT algorithm is described that segments the fast Fourier transform algorithm into groups of identical parallel operations that can be performed concurrently and independently. A hardware implementation of the algorithm is described in the context of the parallel element processing ensemble (PEPE) previously described by Githens [7], [8].