EE-410

Solved Problems
HW-1
1. Determine whether or not each of the following continuous-time signals is periodic. If the
signal is periodic, determine its fundamental period.
(a) x(t) = 3 cos(4t + 3 )
Continuous sinusoids are always periodic. The period of x(t) is

2
4

= /2

ej(t1)

(b) x(t) =
We can rewrite x(t) as x(t) = cos(t 1) + jsin(t 1). The period of the real and
imaginary parts are identical and it is 2
= 2. Thus, the period of the signal is 2.
(c) x(t) = [cos(2t 3 )]2
Using double angle identity, we can write x(t) = [1 + cos(4t 2
3 )]/2, which shows x(t)
is a periodic signal and its period is 2/4 = /2
(d) x(t) = cos(t2 )
In this case we should use the definition of periodicity, i.e., x(t) = x(t + T ), which gives
us cos(t2 ) = cos((t + T )2 ) = cos(t2 + 2T t + T 2 ). Obviously, at no circumstance we can
eliminate the term 2T t, thus the equations doesnt hold and the signal is not periodic.
(e) x(t) = 4 sin(5t + 5 ) 7 cos(19t)
The signal is a the sum of two sinusoidal signals. The period of the first sinusoid is
2
T1 = 2
5 and the period of the second sinusoid is T2 = 19 . Obviously the ratio of the
periods TT12 = 19
5 is a rational number, therefore, the signals x(t) is periodic. The period
of the signal can be obtained as
5 T1
= 2.
T =
gcd(5, 19)

(f) x(t) = cos(t 9 ) + 6 sin(2t + 12

)
The signal is a the sum of two sinusoidal signals. The period of the first sinusoid is
T1 = 2 and the period of the second sinusoid is T2 = 1. Since the ratio TT21 = 2 is
irrational, the signal is not periodic.
2. Determine whether or not each of the following discrete-time signals is periodic. If the signal
is periodic, determine its fundamental period.
(a) x[n] = sin( 6
7 n + 1)
The frequency of the signal is = 6
7 and thus the ratio
Therefore, the signal is periodic and its period is 7.

(b) x[n] = cos( n8 )

The frequency of the signal is = 18 and thus the ratio
number. Therefore, the signal is not periodic.

7
3

is a rational number.

= 16 is not a rational

(c) x[n] = cos( 8 n2 )

we should use the definition of the periodicity: x[n] = x[n + N ], which will give us
cos( 8 n2 ) = cos( 8 (n + N )2 ) = cos( 8 n2 + 4 nN + 8 N 2 ). Obviously, N 8 in order to
make the second term inside the cosine argument vanish. Lets take N = 8, then the
equation becomes cos( 8 n2 + 2n + 8) = cos( 8 n2 ), which shows the signal is periodic
and its period is 8.
1

(d) x[n] = cos( 2 n) cos( 4 n)

n
Using trigonometric identities, x[n] = 12 [cos( 3n
4 ) + cos( 4 )]. The signal is a sum of two
periodic signals and therefore, it is periodic. The periods of each sinusoid is 8 and thus
the period of the sum is also 8.

(e) x[n] = 2 cos( 4 n) + sin( 3

7 n) 3 cos( 2 n + 2 )
Obviously, each sinusoid is periodic and the periods are 8, 14 and 4, respectively. The
period of the sum will be lcm(8, 14, 4) = 56