Fourier Transform

Fourier transform gives the continuous frequency spectrum of a non-periodic signal.

The Fourier transform Pair:

 
1
 
j t
G( )  f (t ) e  j t
dt f (t )  G ( ) e d

2 

𝑓(𝑡)
Example: Rectangular pulse
𝐴
𝑡 𝑡
𝑓 𝑡 = 𝐴 rect or 𝐴π
𝜏 𝜏

𝜏 𝜏 𝑡
−
 2 2

A  j t 2 A   j 2 
   

G()   f (t) e dt   A e dt   e    e
2
 j t  j t
j A j j
e 2    e 2
 e 2

  j 2 j   j  

2

 2 A  sin( )
2A 2   
G()  sin( )   A sinc 
 2  2   2 
2 1
 𝑡 𝜔𝜏
𝐴 rect ↔ 𝐴𝜏 sinc
𝜏 2
For 𝐴 = 5, 𝜏 = 1

2
 Fourier transform of different functions

1. Unit (Dirac) impulse δ 𝑡 :

𝑓 𝑡 = δ(𝑡)
0, if 𝑡 ≠ 0
𝛿 𝑡 =ቊ
∞, if 𝑡 = 0
∞
න 𝛿 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 1 𝑡
−∞
∞ ∞ ∞

𝐺 𝜔 = න δ(𝑡)𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = න δ(𝑡)𝑒 −𝑗𝜔0 𝑑𝑡 = න δ 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 1

−∞ −∞ −∞

𝛿 𝑡 ↔1 𝐺(𝜔) = 1

ℱ 𝛿 𝑡 =1
𝜔
𝑢(𝑡)
The integral of δ(𝑡) is called
the unit step function 𝑢(𝑡) 1
𝑡
3
2. Exponential function:
∞ ∞ ∞
−𝑎𝑡 −𝑎𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 −𝑎𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 −(𝑎+𝑗𝜔)𝑡
𝑒 −(𝑎+𝑗𝜔)𝑡 ∞
𝑒 𝑢 𝑡 ↔න 𝑒 𝑒 𝑢 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑒 𝑒 𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑒 𝑑𝑡 =
−∞ 0 0 −(𝑎 + 𝑗𝜔) 0
1 1
= 0−1 =
− 𝑎 + 𝑗𝜔 𝑎 + 𝑗𝜔

3. Time shift:
∞
𝑓(𝑡 − 𝑡0 ) ↔ න 𝑓(𝑡 − 𝑡0 )𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡
−∞
Define 𝜆 = 𝑡 − 𝑡0
∞ ∞
න 𝑓 𝜆 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔 𝜆+𝑡0 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡0
න 𝑓 𝜆 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝜆 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡0 𝐺 𝜔
−∞ −∞

4. Frequency shift:
Define 𝜆 = 𝜔 − 𝜔0

1 ∞ 𝑗𝜔𝑡
1 ∞ 𝑗(𝜆+𝜔0 )𝑡
1 𝑗𝜔 𝑡 ∞
න 𝐺 𝜔 − 𝜔0 𝑒 𝑑𝜔 = න 𝐺 𝜆 𝑒 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑒 0 න 𝐺 𝜆 𝑒 𝑗𝜆𝑡 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑓(𝑡)𝑒 𝑗𝜔0 𝑡
2𝜋 −∞ 2𝜋 −∞ 2𝜋 −∞

4
 5. Linearity:
𝑓1 (𝑡) ↔ 𝐺1 (𝜔) 𝑓2 (𝑡) ↔ 𝐺2 (𝜔)

∞ ∞ ∞
‫׬‬−∞ 𝑎𝑓1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑓2 (𝑡) 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑎 ‫׬‬−∞ 𝑓1 (𝑡)𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑏 ‫׬‬−∞ 𝑓2 (𝑡)𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑎𝐺1 (𝜔)+b𝐺2 (𝜔)

6. Duality:
𝑓(𝑡) ↔ 𝐺(𝜔) 𝐺 𝑡 ↔?

∞
−𝑗𝜔𝑡
2𝜋 ∞ 1 ∞
න 𝐺 𝑡 𝑒 𝑑𝑡 = න 𝐺 𝑡 𝑒𝑗 −𝜔 𝑡
𝑑𝑡 = 2𝜋 න 𝐺 Ω 𝑒𝑗 −𝜔 Ω
𝑑Ω = 2𝜋𝑓(−𝜔)
−∞ 2𝜋 −∞ 2𝜋 −∞

7. Trigonometric functions:
𝛿(𝑡) ↔ 1
Using duality: 1 ↔ 2𝜋𝛿(𝜔)
Using frequency shift: 𝑒 𝑗𝜔0 𝑡 ↔ 2𝜋𝛿(𝜔 − 𝜔0 ) 𝜋 𝜋

𝑒 𝑗𝜔0 𝑡 +𝑒 −𝑗𝜔0 𝑡 𝜔
cos 𝜔0 𝑡 = ↔ 𝜋 𝛿 𝜔 − 𝜔0 + 𝛿 𝜔 + 𝜔0 −𝜔0 𝜔0
2
𝑗𝜋 −𝑗𝜋
𝑒 𝑗𝜔0 𝑡 −𝑒 −𝑗𝜔0 𝑡 𝜋
sin 𝜔0 𝑡 = ↔ 𝛿 𝜔 − 𝜔0 − 𝛿 𝜔 + 𝜔0
2𝑗 𝑗 𝜔
−𝜔0 𝜔0
5
8. Odd symmetric exponential function:
𝑓(𝑡)

1
𝑎𝑡
−𝑒 , 𝑡<0
𝑓 𝑡 =ቊ
𝑒 −𝑎𝑡 , 𝑡>0

-1

0 ∞
𝑎𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 −𝑎𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡
−𝑒 (𝑎−𝑗𝜔)𝑡 0 𝑒 (−𝑎−𝑗𝜔)𝑡 ∞
𝐺 𝜔 = න[−𝑒 𝑒 ]𝑑𝑡 + න 𝑒 𝑒 𝑑𝑡 = +
𝑎 − 𝑗𝜔 −∞ −𝑎 − 𝑗𝜔 0
−∞ 0

−1 1 −𝑗2𝜔
𝐺 𝜔 = − = 2
𝑎 − 𝑗𝜔 −𝑎 − 𝑗𝜔 𝑎 + 𝜔 2

6
 9. Sign function:
sign 𝑡
1, 𝑡>0
sign 𝑡 = ቊ
−1, 𝑡<0
1
This function can be derived from the previous
function if 𝑎 = 0.
𝑡

−1

−𝑗2𝜔 −𝑗2𝜔 −𝑗2 2

𝐺 𝜔 = = = =
𝑎2 + 𝜔 2 𝜔2 𝜔 𝑗𝜔

10. Unit step function: 𝑢(𝑡)

1
𝑡
sign 𝑡 +1 1 2 1
𝑢 𝑡 = ↔2 + 2𝜋𝛿(𝜔) = 𝑗𝜔 + 𝜋𝛿(𝜔)
2 𝑗𝜔

7
 11. Time scaling: 𝜆 = 𝑎𝑡, 𝑑𝜆 = 𝑎𝑑𝑡
∞ ∞
𝜆 1 1 𝜔
𝑓 𝑎𝑡 ⟷ න 𝑓 𝑎𝑡 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑓 𝜆 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑎 ( )𝑑𝜆 = 𝐺
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎
−∞ −∞

1 𝜔
For both cases of 𝑎 < 0 and 𝑎 > 0: 𝑓 𝑎𝑡 ⟷ 𝐺
|𝑎| 𝑎

12. Differentiation in time:

∞ ∞ ∞
𝑑 𝑑 1 1 1
𝑓 𝑡 = න 𝐺 𝜔 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝜔 = න 𝐺 𝜔 𝑗𝜔 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝜔 = න [𝑗𝜔𝐺 𝜔 ] 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝜔
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2𝜋 2𝜋 2𝜋
−∞ −∞ −∞

𝑑
𝑓 𝑡 ⟷ 𝑗𝜔𝐺 𝜔
𝑑𝑡

13. Differentiation in frequency:

∞ ∞ ∞
𝑑 𝑑
𝐺 𝜔 = න 𝑓 𝑡 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑓 𝑡 (−𝑗𝑡) 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = න [ −𝑗𝑡 𝑓 𝑡 ] 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝜔 𝑑𝜔
−∞ −∞ −∞

𝑑
−𝑗𝑡 𝑓 𝑡 ⟷ 𝐺 𝜔
𝑑𝜔
8
 14. Triangular function: 𝑓(𝑡)

1 1
𝑡 + 1, 𝑡≤0
𝑓 𝑡 = 𝜏
1
− 𝑡 + 1, 𝑡>0
𝜏
−𝜏 𝜏 𝑡
0 𝜏
1 1
𝐺 𝜔 = න 𝑡 + 1 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 + න − 𝑡 + 1 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝜏 𝜏
−𝜏 0
0 0 𝜏 𝜏
1 1
𝐺 𝜔 = න 𝑡𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 + න 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 − න 𝑡𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡 + න 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝜏 𝜏
−𝜏 −𝜏 0 0 𝑡 𝑎𝑡 1 𝑎𝑡
න 𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑒 − 2𝑒
𝑎 𝑎

1 𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 1 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 0
1 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 0 1 𝑡 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 1 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝜏
1 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝜏
= 𝑒 − 𝑒 + 𝑒 − 𝑒 − 𝑒 + 𝑒
𝜏 −𝑗𝜔 (−𝑗𝜔)2 −𝜏 −𝑗𝜔 −𝜏 𝜏 −𝑗𝜔 (−𝑗𝜔)2 0 −𝑗𝜔 0

1 1 𝜏 𝑗𝜔𝜏 1 𝑗𝜔𝜏 1 1 𝑗𝜔𝜏 1 𝜏 −𝑗𝜔𝜏 1 −𝑗𝜔𝜏 1 1 −𝑗𝜔𝜏 1

= − 𝑒 − 𝑒 + + 𝑒 − 𝑒 + 𝑒 − + 𝑒 +
𝜏 𝜔 2 𝑗𝜔 𝜔2 −𝑗𝜔 𝑗𝜔 𝜏 −𝑗𝜔 𝜔2 𝜔2 −𝑗𝜔 𝑗𝜔

2 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝜏 + 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝜏 2 4 𝜔𝜏 𝜔𝜏
𝐺 𝜔 = 2 1− = 2 1 − cos(𝜔𝜏) = 2 sin2 = 𝜏 sinc 2
𝜔 𝜏 2 𝜔 𝜏 𝜔 𝜏 2 2

9
 Remarks about Fourier transforms

• In communications engineering Fourier transform is the best way to show the

frequency components or spectrum of a signal.
• Some waveforms such as the unit step function have complicated Fourier
transform.
• For control systems engineering, stability of electrical networks, etc., Laplace
transformation defines a more natural transfer function, and is easier to deal
with, and the poles and zeros would immediately tell you about the stability of
the network under consideration.
• Laplace transform is an extension of the Fourier transform by multiplying the
term 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 by 𝑒 −𝜎𝑡 and usually considering the integration from 𝑡 = 0.
 

 f (t)e 
 t  j t (  j )t
G(s)  e dt  f (t ) e dt
0 0


By defining s    j

s t
G(s)  f (t ) e dt
0
10