The z-Transform

 Just as analog filters are designed using the Laplace transform, recursive digital filters are
developed with a parallel technique called the z-transform.
 The overall strategy of these two transforms is the same: probe the impulse response with
sinusoids and exponentials to find the system's poles and zeros.
 The Laplace transform deals with differential equations, the s-domain, and the s-plane.
Correspondingly, the z-transform deals with difference equations, the z-domain, and the z-
plane.
 However, the two techniques are not a mirror image of each other; the s-plane is arranged in a
rectangular coordinate system, while the z-plane uses a polar format.
 Recursive digital filters are often designed by starting with one of the classic analog filters, such
as the Butterworth, Chebyshev, or elliptic.
 A series of mathematical conversions are then used to obtain the desired digital filter. The z-
transform provides the framework for this mathematics. 

If you’ve studied the Laplace transform, you’re familiar with the concept of

transforming a function of time into a function of frequency. The variable used
in the Laplace transform is s, which represents complex frequency, i.e., it is
frequency with a real and imaginary part:
 
s = σ+ j ω
You can think of the z-transform as a discrete-time version of the Laplace
transform. We use the variable z, which is complex, instead of s, and by
applying the z-transform to a sequence of data points, we create an
expression that allows us to perform frequency-domain analysis of discrete-
time signals.
With the z-transform, we can create transfer functions for digital filters, and we
can plot poles and zeros on a complex plane for stability analysis. The inverse
z-transform allows us to convert a z-domain transfer function into a difference
equation that can be implemented in code written for a microcontroller or
digital signal processor.   
 
How to Calculate the z-Transform
The relationship between a discrete-time signal x[n] and its one-sided z-
transform X(z) is expressed as follows:

 
This summation begins as a sequence of individual values, and since we are
summing from n = 0 to n = infinity, the sequence is of infinite length. What
can we do with an infinite sequence of summed elements?
This is where convergence comes in.
 
Convergence with the z-Transform

Consider the unit step, which we define as follows:

This results in the following summation:

 
An infinite sequence of summed numbers can converge to one number. For
example:

 
If we continue the sequence according to the same pattern and sum all the
elements, as the number of elements approaches infinity, the sum approaches
the number 2. With the z-transform, the elements include a variable, but
convergence can still occur—the sequence converges to a variable expression
instead of a number.
The sequence shown above for the unit step converges as follows:

 
Not all z-transforms will converge. Here are examples of discrete-time signals
that have “well-behaved” z-transforms; note that all of these x[n] functions are
multiplied by the unit step, such that the z-transform operation is applied to a
sequence that is zero for n < 0.