MEEN 364 Parasuram

Lecture 4 April 2, 2003

EXAMPLES ON SAMPLING AND ALIASING PHENOMENA

Example 1:

Consider the following two analog signals

x1 (t ) = cos 2π (10)t ,
x 2 (t ) = cos 2π (50)t ,

which are sampled at a rate of Fs = 40 Hz. The corresponding discrete time signals are

10 π
x1 (n) = cos 2π ( )n = cos n,
40 2
50 5π
x 2 (n) = cos 2π ( )n = cos n.
40 2

However,

5π π n π
cos n = cos(2π n + ) = cos n.
2 2 2

Hence x1 (n) = x 2 (n) . Thus the signals are identical and consequently indistinguishable.
π
If we are given the sampled values generated by cos n , there is some ambiguity as to
2
whether these sampled values correspond to x1(t) or x2(t). Since x2(t) yields exactly the
same values as x1(t) when the two are sampled at Fs = 40 samples per second, we say that
the frequency F2 = 50 Hz is an alias of the frequency F1 = 10 Hz at the sampling rate of
40 samples per second.

Example 2:

Consider the analog signal

x a (t ) = 3 cos100π t.

a) Determine the minimum sampling rate required to avoid aliasing.

b) Suppose that the signal is sampled at the rate of Fs = 200 Hz, what is the discrete-
time signal obtained after sampling?
c) Suppose that the signal is sampled at the rate of Fs = 75 Hz, what is the discrete-
time signal obtained after sampling?
d) What is the frequency of a sinusoid that yields samples identical to those obtained
in part (c)?

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MEEN 364 Parasuram
Lecture 4 April 2, 2003
a) The frequency of the analog signal can be calculated as

2π F1 = 100π ,
⇒ F1 = 50.

Hence the minimum sampling rate required to avoid aliasing is Fs = 100 Hz.

b) If the signal is sampled at Fs = 200 Hz, then the discrete-time signal is

100π π
x(n) = 3 cos( )n = 3 cos( )n.
200 2

c) If the signal is sampled at Fs = 75 Hz, then the discrete-time signal is

100π 4π
x(n) = 3 cos( )n = 3 cos( )n
75 3
2π
= 3 cos(2π − )n
3
2π
= 3 cos( )n.
3

d) For the sampling rate of Fs = 75 Hz, we have

F2 = fFs = 75 f

1
The frequency of the sinusoid in part (c) is f = . Hence
3
75
F2 = 75 f = = 25.
3
Clearly, the sinusoidal signal

y (t ) = 3 cos 2π F2 t
= 3 cos 50π t

sampled at Fs = 75 samples per second yields identical samples. Hence F1 = 50 Hz is an

alias of F2 = 25 Hz for the sampling rate Fs = 75 Hz.

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MEEN 364 Parasuram
Lecture 4 April 2, 2003
Example 3:

Consider the analog signal

x a (t ) = 3 cos 50π t + 10 sin 300π t − cos100π t.

What is the Nyquist rate for this signal?

The frequencies present in the signal above are

F1 = 25,
F2 = 150,
F3 = 50.

Thus Fmax = 150 Hz and according to the sampling theorem

Fs > 2 Fmax = 300 Hz .

The Nyquist rate is FN = 2Fmax. Hence

FN = 300 Hz.

Discussion

It should be observed that the signal component 10 sin 300π t , sampled at the Nyquist
rate FN = 300 Hz, results in samples 10 sin π n , which are identically zero. In other
words, we are sampling the analog signal at its zero-crossing points, and hence we miss
the signal component completely. This situation would not occur if the sinusoid is offset
in phase by some amount θ. In such a case we have 10 sin(300π t + θ ) sampled at the
Nyquist rate FN = 300 samples per second, which yields the samples

10 sin(π n + θ ) = 10(sin π n cosθ + cos π n sin θ )

= 10 sin θ cos π n
= (−1) n 10 sin θ .

Thus if θ ≠ 0 or π, the samples of the sinusoid taken at Nyquist rate are not all zero.
However, we still cannot obtain the correct amplitude from the samples when the phase θ
is unknown. A simple remedy that avoids this potentially troublesome situation is to
sample the analog signal at a rate higher than the Nyquist rate.

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MEEN 364 Parasuram
Lecture 4 April 2, 2003
Example 4:

Consider the analog signal

x a (t ) = 3 cos 2000π t + 5 sin 6000π t + 10 cos12000π t.

a) What is the Nyquist rate for this signal?

b) Suppose that the signal is sampled at the rate of Fs = 5000 samples per second,
what is the discrete-time signal obtained after sampling?
c) What is the analog signal we can reconstruct from the samples?

a) The frequencies existing in the above signal are

F1 = 1000 Hz,
F2 = 3000 Hz,
F3 = 6000 Hz.

Thus Fmax = 6000 Hz and according to the sampling theorem,

Fs > 2 Fmax = 12000 Hz .

The Nyquist rate is

FN = 2Fmax = 12000 Hz.

b) The discrete-time signal of the signal sampled at 5000 samples per second is

2000π 6000π 12000π

x(n) = 3 cos( )n + 5 sin( )n + 10 cos( )n
5000 5000 5000
1 3 6
= 3 cos 2π ( )n + 5 sin 2π ( )n + 10 cos 2π ( )n
5 5 5
1 2 1
= 3 cos 2π ( )n + 5 sin 2π (1 − )n + 10 cos 2π (1 + )n
5 5 5
1 2 1
= 3 cos 2π ( )n + 5 sin 2π (− )n + 10 cos 2π ( )n
5 5 5

Finally, we obtain

1 2
x(n) = 13 cos 2π ( )n − 5 sin 2π ( )n .
5 5

Since Fs = 5000 Hz, the folding frequency is Fs/2 = 2500 Hz. This is the maximum
frequency that can be represented uniquely by the sampled signal.

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MEEN 364 Parasuram
Lecture 4 April 2, 2003
c) Since only the frequency components at 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz are present in the
sampled signal, the analog signal that can be recovered is

y (t ) = 13 cos 2π (1000)t − 5 sin 2π (2000)t

which is obviously different from the original signal x(t). This distortion of the original
analog signal was caused by the aliasing effect, due to the low sampling rate used.

Assignment

1) Consider the analog signal

x(t ) = 3 cos 600π t + 2 cos1800π t .

a) Determine the minimum sampling rate required to avoid aliasing.

b) What is the Nyquist rate for the signal x(t)?
c) Suppose that the signal is sampled at Fs = 2000 Hz, what is the discrete-time
signal obtained after the sampling? What are the frequencies in the resulting
discrete-time signal?
d) If the sampling rate is Fs = 600 Hz, then what is the maximum frequency that can
be recovered from the discrete-time signal?

2) An analog signal contains frequencies up to 10 kHz.

a) What range of sampling frequencies allows exact reconstruction of the signal

from its samples?
b) What is the Nyquist rate for the signal?
c) If the sampling rate Fs is chosen as 10 kHz, then what is the maximum frequency
that can be represented uniquely by the sampled signal?