Signal and Systems

Dr. Avinash Chandra

Assistant Professor (Senior)
SENSE, VIT Vellore
 Objectives of the Course
 Study of characteristics of fundamental signals like unit impulse, unit step,
Ramp and exponentials.
 To study various operations on the signals.
 Study of systems as linear, time invariant, causal and stable ones.
 Introduction of concept of linear convolution and correlation for LTI
systems.
 Study of different forms and properties of Fourier transform.
 Study of utility of Fourier transform for analysis of signals passed through
systems.
 Laplace Transform as a tool for analysis of continuous systems.
 Z-transform as a tool for analysis of discrete systems.
 Outcomes

Student will be able to

 Differentiate between various types of signals like unit impulse, unit step,
ramp and exponentials.
 Understand the concepts of damped sinusoids and periodicity.
 Understand the concept of even and odd signals.
 Understand the concept of stability of a system.
 Apply the Fourier series and Fourier transform for analysis of continuous
signals.
 Calculate the power spectral density of signals
 Course Contents
Module I
Introduction to Signals
Module II
Systems Concepts
Module III
Fourier Analysis of Continuous-time Signals
Module IV
Fourier Analysis of Discrete-time Signals
Module V
Convolution and Correlation
Module VI
System Analysis using Laplace transform
Module VII
System Analysis using z-Transform
Module VII
Contemporary Topics
 Text Books
1. Signals and Systems, second edition-P. Rama Krishna Rao and
Shankar Prakriya- Mc-Graw Hill, 2013.

References
1. Signals and systems, second edition-Alan. V. Oppenheim, Alan. S.
Willsk,S. Hamid Nawab, PHI learning Pvt. ltd,2001

2. Signal and systems- H. P. Hsu, Schaum’s Outline

 Why Study Signals and Systems?

 Engineers build systems that process/manipulate signals.

 We need a formal mathematical framework for the study of such systems.

 Such a framework is necessary in order to ensure that a system will meet
the required specifications (e.g., performance and safety).

 If a system fails to meet the required specifications or fails to work

altogether, negative consequences usually ensue.

 When a system fails to operate as expected, the consequences can

sometimes be catastrophic.

6
 System Failure Example: Tacoma Narrows Bridge
 The (original) Tacoma Narrows Bridge
was a suspension bridge linking Tacoma
and Gig Harbor (WA, USA).

 On Nov. 7, 1940 at approximately 11:00,

the bridge collapsed during a moderate
(42 miles/hour) wind storm.

 The bridge was supposed to withstand

winds of up to 120 miles/hour.

 The collapse was due to wind-induced

vibrations and an unstable mechanical
system. Repair of the bridge was not
possible. Fortunately, a dog trapped in
7
an abandoned car was the only fatality.
 Introduction to Signals
Signal and System
Signal: A signal is defined as a time varying physical phenomenon which is
intended to convey information. (or) Signal is a function of time. (or)
Signal is a function of one or more independent variables, which
contain some information.
Example: voice signal, video signal, signals on telephone wires , EEG, ECG etc.
 Signals may be of continuous time or discrete time signals.

System: System is a device or combination of devices, which can operate on

signals and produces corresponding response. Input to a system is
called as excitation and output from it is called as response.
 For one or more inputs, the system can have one or more outputs.
Example: Communication System
9
 Classification

 Number of independent variables (i.e., dimensionality):

 A signal with one independent variable is said to be one
dimensional (e.g., audio).
 A signal with more than one independent variable is said to be
multi-dimensional (e.g., image).
 Continuous or discrete independent variables:
 A signal with continuous independent variables is said to be
continuous time (CT) (e.g., voltage waveform).
 A signal with discrete independent variables is said to be discrete
time (DT) (e.g., stock market index).
 Continuous or discrete dependent variable:
 A signal with a continuous dependent variable is said to be
continuous valued (e.g., voltage waveform).
 A signal with a discrete dependent variable is said to be discrete
valued (e.g., digital image).
A continuous-valued CT signal is said to be analog (e.g., voltage waveform).
A discrete-valued DT signal is said to be digital (e.g., digital audio). 10
 Signal Classification

 Continuous-time and Discrete-time

 Deterministic and Random
 Causal and anti causal signals
 Energy and Power
 Right-handed and left-handed signals
 Periodic and Non-periodic
 Finite and infinite length
 Even and Odd

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Continuous & Discrete-Time Signals

Continuous-Time
Signals x(t)
• Most signals in the real world are
continuous time, as the scale is
infinitesimally fine.
• Eg voltage, velocity, t
• Denote by x(t), where the time
interval may be bounded (finite) or
infinite
Discrete-Time Signals
• Some real world and many digital x[n]
signals are discrete time, as they are
sampled
• E.g. pixels, daily stock price (anything
that a digital computer processes) n
• Denote by x[n], where n is an integer
value that varies discretely
Deterministic signals, random signals

 Deterministic signal

• There is no uncertainty with respect to its value at any time.

Exp. sin(3t)

 Random signal

• There is uncertainty before its actual occurrence

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Causal and anti causal Signals

 Causal signals : zero for all negative time

 Anti-causal signals : zero for all positive time

 Non-causal : non-zero values in both positive and negative time

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Even Signals

 A function x is said to be even if it satisfies

x(t) = x(−t) for all t.

 A sequence x is said to be even if it satisfies

x(n) = x(−n) for all n.

 Geometrically, the graph of an even signal is symmetric about the origin.

 Some examples of even signals are shown below.

1
5
Odd Signals

 A function x is said to be odd if it satisfies

x(t) = −x(−t) for all t.
 A sequence x is said to be odd if it satisfies
x(n) = −x(−n) for all n.
 Geometrically, the graph of an odd signal is antisymmetric about the
origin.
 An odd signal x must be such that x(0) = 0.
 Some examples of odd signals are shown below.

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Decomposition of a Signal into Even and Odd Parts

 Every function x has a unique representation of the form

x(t) = xe(t)+xo(t),

where the functions xe and xo are even and odd, respectively.

 In particular, the functions xe and xo are given by

xe(t) = 1/2 [x(t)+x(−t)] and xo(t) = 1/2 [x(t)−x(−t)] .

 The functions xe and xo are called the even part and odd part of x,
respectively.

 For convenience, the even and odd parts of x are often denoted as Even{x}
and Odd{x}, respectively.

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Periodic Signals

 A function x is said to be periodic with period T (or T-periodic) if, for some
strictly-positive real constant T, the following condition holds:

x(t) = x(t +T) for all t.

 A T-periodic function x is said to have frequency 1/T and angular
frequency 2𝜋/T .

 A sequence x is said to be periodic with period N (or N-periodic) if, for

some strictly-positive integer constant N, the following condition holds:

x(n) = x(n+N) for all n.

 An N-periodic sequence x is said to have frequency 1/N and angular
frequency 2𝜋/ N .

 A function/sequence that is not periodic is said to be aperiodic.

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Periodic Signals

 Some examples of periodic signals are shown below.

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Periodic Signals

 The period of a periodic signal is not unique. That is, a signal that is
periodic with period T is also periodic with period kT, for every (strictly)
positive integer k.

 The smallest period with which a signal is periodic is called the

fundamental period and its corresponding frequency is called the
fundamental frequency. 20
 Basic Operations on Signals

 Shifting

 Time reversal

 Time scaling

 Scalar multiplication

 Signal multiplier

 Signal addition

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Amplitude Scaling

 C x is a amplitude scaled version of x whose amplitude is scaled by a factor C.

Addition

 Addition of two signals is nothing but

addition of their corresponding
amplitudes. This can be best explained by
using the following example:

 As seen from the diagram,

-10 < t < -3 amplitude of z = x1 + x2 = 0 + 2 = 2
-3 < t < 3 amplitude of z = x1 + x2 = 1 + 2 = 3
3 < t < 10 amplitude of z = x1 + x2 = 0 + 2 = 2
Subtraction

 subtraction of two signals is nothing but

subtraction of their corresponding
amplitudes. This can be best explained by
the following example:

 As seen from the diagram,

-10 < t < -3 amplitude of z = x1 - x2 = 0 - 2 = -2
-3 < t < 3 amplitude of z = x1 - x2 = 1 - 2 = -1
3 < t < 10 amplitude of z = x1 + x2 = 0 - 2 = -2
Multiplication

 Multiplication of two signals is nothing but

multiplication of their corresponding
amplitudes. This can be best explained by
the following example:

 As seen from the diagram,

-10 < t < -3 amplitude of z = x1 ×x2 = 0 ×2 = 0
-3 < t < 3 amplitude of z = x1 ×x2 = 1 ×2 = 2
3 < t < 10 amplitude of z = x1 × x2 = 0 × 2 = 0
 Elementary Signals or Basic Signals
Unit step functions
 Unit step function is denoted by u(t). It is defined as :

1, t  0
u(t)   1
0, t  0
 It is used as best test signal.
 Area under unit step function is unity. t

Shift a
1
1, t  a
u(t  a)   t
0, t  a a

28
Unit Impulse functions

 The unit-impulse function (also known as the Dirac delta function or delta
function), denoted δ, is defined by the following two properties:

f (t)
1
a Area=1

(t)  lim 1 [u(t)  u(t  a)]

a0 a a t
 (t)  d f (t)
dt

k(t  a)  (t)
(1)
(k) Amplitude 

t t
a
0
29
width
Sign function

 The signum function, denoted sgn, is defined as

 From its definition, one can see that the signum function simply computes
the sign of a number.
 A plot of this function is shown below.

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Rectangular Function

 The rectangular function (also called the unit-rectangular pulse function),

denoted as rect, is given by

 Due to the manner in which the rect function is used in practice, the actual
value of rect(t) at t = ±1/2 is unimportant. Sometimes different values are used
from those specified above.
 A plot of this function is shown below.

31
Unit ramp signal

 Another signal that is often used in the analysis of systems is the unit-ramp signal
, shown in Figure. It is defined as:

r(t)
 t, t  0
r(t)  
0, t  0

t
dr(t)

t
u(t)  or r(t)  u( )d
dt 