Partial Fraction Expansion Examples

Consider the causal system function

2 + 3z−1
H (z) =
(1− 12 z−1 )(1 + 14 z−1 )
● Find the impulse response h[n]

● This system has two real poles p1 = 1 2 and p2 = −1 4

● Since H (z) is proper rational we can expand as
2 + 3z −1 A1 A2
H (z) = = +
(1 − 1
2
z −1
)(1 + 1
4
z −1
) 1− z
1
2
−1
1 + 14 z −1

● Solving for the coefficients:

2 + 3z −1 2 + 3z −1 2+6
)( ) 8 16
A1 = 1 − 12 z −1 = = 3 = =
(1 − 1
2 )(
z −1 1 + 14 z −1
z =1 2
1 + 14 z −1 z −1 = 2
1+ 4 6 4 3

2 + 3z −1 2 − 12 −10
A2 = = =
1 − 12 z −1 z −1 = −4
1+ 2 3

so we have
16 3 −10 3
H (z) = 1 −1 +
1− 2 z 1 + 14 z −1

and
n n
16 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 10 ⎛ 1 ⎞
h[n] = ⎜ ⎟ u[n] − ⎜ − ⎟ u[n]
3 ⎝ 2⎠ 3 ⎝ 4⎠
● Check in MATLAB
>> [A,p,K] = residuez([2 3],conv([1 -1/2],[1 1/4]))

A = 5.3333 % = 16/3 as expected

-3.3333 % = -10/3 as expected
p = 0.5000
-0.2500
K = []

ECE 2610 Example! 1-1

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Partial Fraction Expansion Examples

Consider the causal system function
2 + 3z−1
H (z) =
(1− 12 z−1 )(1 + 14 z−1 )
● For x[n] = ( 1 3 )n u[n] find the output y[n]
● To find y[n] we work in the z-domain using Y (z) = X(z)H (z) and then inverse z-
transform
● The z-transform of x[n] is
1
X(z) =
1 − 13 z −1

● Since Y (z) is proper rational we can expand as

2 + 3z −1 A1 A2 A3
Y (z) = = 1 −1 + 1 −1 +
(1 − 1
3
z −1
)(1 − 1
2
z −1
)(1 + 1
4
z −1
) 1− 3 z 1− 2 z 1 + 14 z −1

● Solving for the coefficients:

2 + 3z −1 2+9 11 −88
A1 = = = 7 =
(1 − 1
2
z −1
)(1 + 1
4
z −1
) z −1 = 3
(1 − )(1 + )
3
2
3
4
−1
2
⋅4 7

2 + 3z −1 2+6 8
A2 = = = = 16
(1 − 1
3
z −1
)(1 + 1
4
z −1
) z −1 = 2
(1 − )(1 + )
2
3
1
2
−1
3
⋅ 23

2 + 3z −1 2 − 12 −10 −10
A3 = = = =
(1 − 1
3
z −1
)(1 − 1
2
z −1
) z −1 = −4
(1 + )(1 + )
4
3
4
2
7
3
⋅3 7

so we have
7 16 −10 7
Y (z) = −1
+ 1 −1 +
1− z 1
3
1− 2 z 1 + 14 z −1

and
−88 ⎛ 1 ⎞
n n n
⎛ 1⎞ 10 ⎛ 1 ⎞
y[n] = ⎜⎝ ⎟⎠ u[n] + 16 ⎜⎝ ⎟⎠ u[n] − ⎜⎝ − ⎟⎠ u[n]
7 3 2 7 4
● We can check this using the MATLAB [A,p,K] = residuez(b,a) function
[A,p,K] = residuez([2 3],conv([1 -1/3],conv([1 -1/2],[1 1/4])))

ECE 2610 Signals and Systems! 1-2