Lecture 3: Review of Signals and Systems,

Time Domain

John M Pauly

September 26, 2021

Signals and Systems, Time Domain
Today:
I Types of signals
I Types of systems
I Measuring and characterizing signals
I Some important special signals
I A simple communication system signal: Pulse Dopper Radar
I Fourier series

Next Time:
I Frequency domain description of signals and systems
Signals and Systems, Part 1
I A signal is a real (or complex) valued function of one or more real
variables.
I voltage across a resistor or current through inductor
I pressure at a point in the ocean
I amount of rain at 37.4225 N, 122.1653 W
I amount of rain at 16:00 UTC as function of latitude,longitude
I price of Google stock at end of each trading day
In this course the independent variable is almost always time.
I Physical signals have units, e.g., volts or psi (Si pascal = N/m2 )
I Signals can (usually or in principle) be measured:
I g(t) 7→ g(0) (value at specific time, 0)
I g(t) 7→ ∞ g(u) du (total area)
R
−∞
R∞
I g(t) 7→
−∞
|g(u)|2 du (total energy)
Signals and Systems (cont.)
I A system is an object that takes signals as inputs and produces signals
as outputs.
g(t) −→ system −→ f (t)

I In general, the output signal depends on entirety of input signal; e.g.,

I f (t) = d
dt g(t)
Rt
I f (t) = g(u) du
t−1
R∞
I G(f ) =
−∞
g(t)e−i2πf t dt
I Examples of physical systems:
I Electrical circuit: voltage in, voltage or current out
I Building: earth shaking in, building shaking out
I Audio amplifier
Signal Energy and Power
I The energy of a signal g(t) is
Z ∞
|g(t)|2 dt
−∞

We are interested in energy only when it is finite. Common cases:

I Bounded signal of finite duration; e.g., a pulse
I Exponentially decaying signals (output of some linear systems with pulse
input)
I Necessary conditions for finite energy.
I The energy in the “tails” of the signal must approach 0:
!
Z T Z ∞
lim |g(t)|2 ]dt + |g(t)|2 ]dt =0
T →∞ −∞ T
Signal Energy and Power
I The power of a signal is defined as a limit:
T /2
1
Z
Pg = lim |g(t)|2 dt
T →∞ T −T /2

This is the average energy per unit time.

I This limit may be 0 even when the signal is not. For example
(
e−at t > 0 1
g1 (t) = or g2 (t) =
0 t<0 1 + |t|

I These both have a finite energy, so the power goes to zero as T goes to
infinity.
I If g(t) is complex valued, then |g(t)|2 is the square of
magnitude/modulus, g(t)g ∗ (t).
Signal Energy and Power
I A signal is periodic if it repeats: g(t + T ) = g(t) for every t.
E.g., sin t has period 2π and tan t has period π.
I The power of a periodic signal g(t) is
a+T
1
Z
Pg = |g(t)|2 dt
T a

where T is the period of g(t).

I Since all periods are the same, we can integrate our any period and get
the same result.
Units of Power
I If a signal g(t) measured in volts is applied to a load resistor R, then the
power in watts is
g(t)2
P =
R
Normally we do not care about the load, so we normalize to R = 1.
I In many applications, the effect of the signal varies as the log of the
signal; e.g., human hearing and sight.
I Power can be expressed in decibels (dB), which are logarithmic and
relative to some standard power. If P is measured in watts, then
I power in dBW is 10 log10 P (power relative to 1 W)
I power in dBm (or dBmW) is log10 (1000 P ) = 30 + 10 log10 P

I There are lots of other examples (dBA for accoustics, dBi for antennas)
I One bel (B) is too large to be useful.

The bel is named for Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922). The dB was adopted by NBS in 1931.
It is not an SI unit.
dB in Communications
I Expressing power in dB is very useful for communication systems
I Communication systems often have a wide range of amplitudes (1 kW
transmitted, 1 µW received).
I Many of the components in the system have multiplicative effects (path
loss, antenna gain)
I Example
I Transmit 10 W (+40 dBm)
I Transmit antenna gain of 10 (+10 dB)
I Path loss of 109 (-90 dB)
I Receive antenna gain 10 (+10 dB)
I Received signal is 40 dBm + 10dB - 90dB + 10dB = -30 dBm

I This is 10−30/10 = 10−3 mW, or 1 µW

Classification of Signals
I Signals can have a variety of characteristics, including
I values can be continuous or discrete
I continuous or discrete time variable
I deterministic or random
I For deterministic signals, we have four cases:
I continuous time, continuous valued (mathematics)
I continuous time, discrete valued
I discrete time, continuous valued (digital signal processing)
I discrete time, discrete valued (digital switching)

I Time can be restricted to a finite interval (e.g., periodic)

Classification of Signals (cont.)
g(t) g(t)

t
t

g(t)
g(t)

t
Operations on Signals: Time Shift
For a continuous-time signal x(t), and a time t1 > 0,
I Replacing t with t − t1 gives a delayed signal x(t − t1 )
I Replacing t with t + t1 gives an advanced signal x(t + t1 )

2 2
x(t + 1) x(t)
1 1

-2 -1 0 1 2 -2 -1 0 1 2
t t
2
x(t − 1)
1

-2 -1 0 1 2
t

I May seem counterintuitive. Think about where t − t1 is zero.

Operations on Signals: Time Scaling
A signal x(t) is scaled in time by multiplying the time variable by a positive
constant b, to produce x(bt). A positive factor of b either expands
(0 < b < 1) or compresses (b > 1) the signal in time.

2 2
b=1 b=2
1
x(t) 1 x(2t)

-2 -1 0 1 2 -2 -1 0 1 2
t t

b = 1/2 2

1 x(t/2)

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 t
Operations on Signals (cont.)
Replace t with −t, time reversed signal is x(−t)

x(t)

x(−t)

t
Unit rectangle rect(t)
Unit rectangle signal:

1 if |t| ≤ 1/2
rect(t) =
0 otherwise.

1
rect(t)

t
-1/2 0 1/2

Also written as Π(t).

Unit Triangle ∆(t)
Unit triangle signal:

|t| if |t| ≤ 1/2
rect(t) =
0 otherwise.

1
Δ(t)

-1/2 1/2 t
0

Also sometimes written as Λ(t) or tri(t).

This is an unusual definition due to the book. Usually ∆(t) is 2 units wide,
so that it is the convolution of two rect(t) functions.
Unit Step Function u(t)
I The Heaviside unit step function is defined by
(
1 t>0
u(t) =
0 t<0

1
u(t)

−2 −1 0 1 2 t
The unit step function corresponds to turning on at time 0.
I Unit step is integral of unit impulse:
Z t
u(t) = δ(u) du ⇒ δ 0 (t) = u(t)
−∞
Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925) was a self-taught English electrical engineer, mathematician, and physicist who adapted complex
numbers to the study of electrical circuits, invented mathematical techniques to the solution of differential equations (later found
to be equivalent to Laplace transforms), reformulated Maxwell’s field equations in terms of electric and magnetic forces and
energy flux, and independently co-formulated vector analysis.
The sinc(.) function
I We will define the sinc(.) function differently than in EE102A, where we
used the definition
sin(πt)
sincπ (t) =
πt
This is a function that is 1 a t = 0, and zero at the integers. We’ll call
this sincπ (t) because it includes the π factor in its argument.
I In this course, we will define sinc(.) as
sin(t)
sinc(t) =
t
This still has an amplitude of 1 at t = 0, but has zeros at multiples of π.
The two are related by
sinc(πt) = sincπ (t)
The sinc(.) function
This looks like this

1
sin(t)
sinc(t) =
t

2⇡ ⇡ 0 ⇡ 2⇡ t
Unit Impulse Signal
(Dirac’s) delta function or unit impulse δ is an idealization of a signal
that
I is very large near t = 0
I is very small away from t = 0
I has integral 1
for example:

1/ε 1/ε
ε

t
t 2ε

I the exact shape of the function doesn’t matter

I  is small (which depends on context)
Unit Impulse Signal
I Example: gn (t) = n rect(nt) where n is an integer. As n gets larger

gn(t)

1 ε
ε g2(t)
g1(t) t
−1 0 1
The area is one, but it gets narrower and narrower.
I Paul A. M. Dirac “defined” δ(t) by
Z ∞
δ(t) 6= 0 if t 6= 0 and δ(t) dt = 1
−∞

I The area of the impulse is important; the energy of δ(t) is not defined.
Properties of Unit Impulse Signal
I Sampling property:
Z ∞ Z ∞
ϕ(t)δ(t − T ) dt = ϕ(t + T )δ(t) dt
−∞ −∞
Z ∞ Z ∞
= ϕ(T )δ(t) dt = ϕ(T ) δ(t) dt = ϕ(T )
−∞ −∞

In more rigorous mathematics, the sampling property defines the unit

impulse as a generalized function.
I Convolution:
Z ∞
(ϕ ∗ δ)(T ) = ϕ(t)δ(t − T ) dt = ϕ(T )
−∞
Properties of Unit Impulse Signal
I Multiplication by a function:

ϕ(t)δ(t) = ϕ(0)δ(t)

I This is illustrated for some continuous function f (t) as

gn(t)
f (t)

f (0)
t
−1 0 1
I If f (t) is continuous, then the only value that matters is f (0).
More Complex Signals
Many more interesting signals can be made up by combining simple signal
elements.
Example: Pulsed Doppler RF Waveform (we’ll talk about this later!)
τ cos(ωt)
A
0
−A
-2T -T 0 T 2T

RF cosine gated on for τ µs, repeated every T µs, for a total of N pulses.
More Complex Signals
Start with a simple rect(t) pulse
1 rect(t)

−1 −1/2 0 1/2 1

Scale to the correct duration and amplitude for one subpulse

A A rect(t/τ)

-2T -T 0 T 2T

Combine shifted replicas

2
∑ A rect((t − nT )/τ)
A n=−2

-2T -T 0 T 2T

This is the envelope of the signal.

More Complex Signals
Then multiply by the RF carrier, shown below
cos(ωt)
1
0
−1
-2T -T 0 T 2T

to produce the pulsed Doppler waveform

2
∑ A rect((t − nT )/τ) cos(ωt)
n=−2
A
0
−A
-2T -T 0 T 2T
Periodic Signals
I A signal g is called periodic if it repeats in time; i.e., for some T > 0,
g(t + T ) = g(t)
for all t.
I If g is periodic, its period is the smallest such T .
I Examples: trignometric functions are periodic. Period of cos t is 2π;
period of tan t is π.
I The period of g(mt) is T /m.
I If g and f are periodic, their common period is LCM(Tg , Tf ). E.g.,
period of sin πt + sin 2πt/5 is LCM(2, 5) = 10.
Fourier Series
I Periodic signals can be written as the sum of sinusoids whose frequencies
are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency f0 = 1/T0 .
I The most general representation uses complex exponential functions.
∞
X
g(t) = Cn ej2πf0 nt
n=−∞

In general, the Fourier series coeffcients Cn are complex numbers, even

when the signal is real valued. Note the factor of 2π since we are using
the frequency in cycles/second, or Hz.
I The Fourier series coefficents can be computed by
Z a+T0
1
Cn = g(t)e−j2πf0 nt dt
T0 a
The integral is over any period of the signal.
Fourier Series Alternative Forms
I Euler’s formula ej θ = cos θ + j sin θ allows us to represent periodic
signals as sums of sines and cosines:
X∞  2π  X ∞  2π 
1
g(t) = 2 a0 + an cos nt + bn sin nt
T0 T0
n=1 n=1
The coefficients are
ZT0
2
an = g(t) cos(2πf0 nt) dt
T0 0
Z T0
2
bn = g(t) sin(2πf0 nt) dt
T0 0
I A third compact form combines the sin(.) and cos(.) terms into phase
shifted cos(.) terms
∞
X
g(t) = C0 + An cos(n2πf0 t + Θn )
n=1
Each frequency component is described by amplitude and phase.
Fourier Series Examples
I Sinsuoids have a finite number of terms. By Euler’s formula,

eit = cos t + i sin t

Therefore
eit + e−it eit − e−it
cos t = and sin t =
2 2i
The Fourier series coefficients for cos t are, . . . C−2 , C−1 , C0 , C1 , C2 , . . .

. . . , 0, 0, 21 , 0, 12 , 0, 0, . . .

and for sin t are

1
. . . , 0, 0, − 2i = 2i , 0, 2i
1
= − 2i , 0, 0, . . .
Fourier Series of Square Wave
I Square wave with period 2π defined over interval [−π, π] by
(
1 |t| < π/2
w(t) =
0 −π < |t| < π/2

Fourier series coefficients: if n > 0,

π/2
1 e−jnt π/2

1
Z
−jnt
Cn = 1·e dt =
2π −π/2 2π −jn −π/2
1 eπjn/2 − e−πjn/2
=
2π jn
1 sin πn/2 1 1
= = sinc(πn/2) = (n odd)
2 πn/2 2 πn
Fourier Series of Square Wave
This looks like

0.5 1
sinc(⇡n/2)
2

4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 n
Square Wave (cont.)
N=1 N=3
1.2 1.5

1
1
0.8

0.6
0.5
0.4

0.2
0
0

−0.2 −0.5
−4 −2 0 2 4 −2 0 2

N=5 N=7
1.5 1.5

1 1

0.5 0.5

0 0

−0.5 −0.5
−2 0 2 −2 0 2

The overshoot is an example of the Gibbs’ phenomenon.

The overshoot is ≈ 9% and occurs no matter how many terms are used.
Next Time
I Fourier Transforms in 2πf
I Some important theorems for communications
I Communications applications