E105 A.

Emami
Winter 2021 HO # 7

Impulse and Step Signals

The Impulse Function
The impulse function has proved to be a very useful concept in systems
theory. Imagine an infinitely brief and infinitely strong unit area pulse, δ(t),
such that:
Z ∞ Z 
δ(t)dt = δ(t)dt = 1 (1)
−∞ −
δ(t) = 0 t 6= 0
where  is a very small number. The unit impulse δ(t), also called the Dirac
delta function or simply the δ-function is defined as a signal that has the
following ‘sifting’ property,
Z ∞
f (t)δ(t)dt = f (0) (2)
−∞

where f (t) is a continuous function and has a unique value at the origin as
shown in Figure 1(a). Notice how the δ(t) ‘sifts out’ the value of the function
f (t) at the origin. δ(t) has unit area concentrated at the origin and no net
area elsewhere as illustrated in Figure 2(a). We can also define a delayed
impulse function δ(t − t0 ),
Z ∞ Z t0 +
δ(t − t0 )dt = δ(t − t0 )dt = 1 (3)
−∞ t0 −

so that its sifts out the value of the function at t0 as shown in Figure 1(b),
Z ∞
f (t)δ(t − t0 )dt = f (t0 ) (4)
−∞

δ(t − t0 ) has unit area concentrated at t0 and no net area elsewhere as seen in
Figure 2(b). As an approximation to the δ-function we can define the short
pulse in Figure 3(a),

 0 t<0
1
δ(t) = 0 ≤ t≤ (5)
 
0 t>

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Figure 1: The sifting property of the impulse function: (a) impulse function,
(b) delayed impulse function.

where  is a very small number. Similarly, we can also define the delayed
short pulse,

 0 t < t0 − 
1
δ(t − t0 ) = t0 −  ≤ t ≤ t0 +  (6)
 2
0 t > t0 + 

There are many possible representations of the impulse function as shown

in Figure 3 (many other representations are possible). Thus δ(t) has ‘infinite
power,’ and is ‘infinitely strong,’ as  → 0. There has been some controversy
as to whether the impulse function should even be called a function as used in
analysis (Eqs. (2), (4) are not integrals in the Riemann or Lebesgue sense).
The δ-function is a special case of generalized functions or distributions [2-4].

Physical Interpretation of the Impulse Function

The impulse is the most intense signal of the shortest possible duration.
Examples are:

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 Figure 2: Impulse and delayed impulse functions.

Figure 3: Representations of functions that become impulse functions as

→0

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Figure 4: Representations of functions that become impulse functions as
→0

• A hammer hitting an object.

• Baseball hit by a bat. The collision time between the bat and the ball
is very short, less than a millisecond, but the force can be quite large
as shown in Figure 4.

• Cue hitting a billiard ball; two billiard balls hitting each other.

• Tennis racket hitting a tennis ball.

• An intense burst of plasma hitting on top of a semiconductor wafer.

• Very rapid charging of a capacitor by a current source.

How can we generate an approximate δ(t)? We use the signal generator

in the lab to construct a signal that looks like one of the ones shown in Figure
3. How can we determine the impulse response experimentally? We excite
the system with the lab generated short pulse such that making the pulse
any briefer and more intense does not matter as far as the system output is
concerned (see Figure 5).
The derivative of δ(t) is called a doublet (try to construct doublets for
δ(t) representations in Figure 3). From systems theory it is known that a
train of impulses can be used to establish any desired initial condition on a
linear system.

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 Figure 5: Measurement of the impulse response in the laboratory.

Figure 6: Unit step function.

The Unit Step Function

A step function is a function whose value remains constant for a very
long time as shown in Figure 6. The unit step function is defined to be the
integral (over time) of the unit δ(t) function,
Z t 
0 t<0
1(t) = δ(τ )dτ = (7)
−∞ 1 t≥0

The step function is a discontinuous function as shown in Figure 5. A

delayed step function 1(t − t0 ) would look like Figure 6.

Physical Interpretation of the Step Signal

Figure 7: Delayed unit step function.

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 Figure 8: Measurement of the step response in the laboratory.

The step function is a suddenly switched on signal. Examples are:

• A voltage signal that is suddenly switched on, and remains constant

from then on.

• A force that begins to act on a system at a particular time and remains

constant thereafter.
A pulse function that turns on at time t = 0 and turns off at time t = T
is then
p(t) = 1(t) − 1(t − T )
The step response can be measured experimentally as shown in Figure
8.
A ramp function is the integral of the step function and the impulse
function is the derivative of the step function.

The best reference for description of impulse function and its properties
as well as convolution is Professor Ron Bracewell’s book [1]. For a rigorous
treatment of distribution functions refer to references [2-5]. Refer to [6] for
the latest results in determining the impulse function of a system.

References
[1] R. N. Bracewell, The Fourier Transform and its Applications, Third
Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2000.
[2] L. A. Zadeh and C. A. Desoer, Linear System Theory, McGraw-Hill,
1963. See Appendix A.
[3] A. H. Zemanian, Distribution Theory and Transform Analysis: An
Introduction to Generalized Functions, with Applications, McGraw-Hill, 1965.
[4] M. J. Lighthill, An Introduction to Fourier Analysis and Generalized
Functions, Cambridge University Press, 1958.

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 [5] L. Schwartz, Théorie des distributions, Paris: Hermann & Cie, 1951,
1957.
[6] J. Schoukens, K. Godfrey and M. Schoukens, , “Nonparametric Data-
Driven Modeling of Linear Systems: Estimating The Frequency Response
and Impulse Response Function,” IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Vol.
38, No. , pp. 49-88, August 2018.