Chapter 3: Frequency-Spectrum

Representation of Signals

• There are equivalent signal representations in dif-

ferent domains.
(time domain, frequency domain, z domain, . . .)
spectrum, color spectrum, frequency spectrum
introduce the concept of frequency spectrum
• The frequency spectrum is the compact repre-
sentation of the frequency content of a signal. It
is the collection of amplitude, phase, and frequency
information related to the signal.
• In Chapter 2, we had a single sinusoid:
 j2πf t
x(t) = A cos(2πfot+φ) = Re {z(t)} = Re Xe o

where X = Aejφ is the phasor representing z(t).

• We will show how more complicated waveforms
can be obtained based on sums of sinusoidal signals
of different amplitudes, phases, and frequencies.
• Sinusoids are very important because they are ba-
sic building blocks for generating more complicated
signals. Quite complicated waveforms can be gener-
ated based on sinusoids.

1
The Electromagnetic Spectrum

2
MOTIVATION

 Synthesize Complicated Signals

 Musical Notes
 Piano uses 3 strings for many notes
 Chords: play several notes simultaneously
 Human Speech
 Vowels have dominant frequencies
 Application: computer generated speech
 Can all signals be generated this way?
 Sum of sinusoids?

Another FREQ. Diagram

A-440
Frequency is the vertical axis

Time is the horizontal axis

3
 SPECTRUM of SINE
 Sine = sum of 2 complex exponentials:
A sin(7t ) = 2Aj e j 7t − 2Aj e − j 7 t
= 12 Ae − j 0.5π e j 7t + 12 Ae j 0.5π e − j 7t
−1 =
j
j = e j 0.5π
 Positive freq. has phase = -0.5π
 Negative freq. has phase = +0.5π

GRAPHICAL SPECTRUM
EXAMPLE of SINE
A sin(7t ) = 1
2
Ae − j 0.5π e j 7t + 12 Ae j 0.5π e − j 7t

( 12 A)e j 0.5π ( 12 A)e − j 0.5π

-7 0 7 ω

AMPLITUDE, PHASE & FREQUENCY are shown

Cosine signal has a very similar frequency spectrum.

4
 Let us extend our single sinusoid from Ch.2 into an
additive linear combination of sinusoids:
(a constant plus N sinusoids)
N
X
x(t) = Ao + Ak cos(2πfk t + φk )
k=1
XN
= Ao + Re{zk (t)}
k=1
XN
j2πfk t

= Xo + Re Xk e
k=1
( N )
X
= Xo + Re Xk ej2πfk t
k=1

where Xo = Ao is a real constant and Xk = Ak ejφk

is the phasor for the complex exponential signal zk (t)
of the frequency fk .
Each sinusoid in the sum, in general, has different
amplitude, different phase, and different frequency.
Using the inverse Euler formula for the cosine:
N  ∗

X Xk j2πfk t Xk −j2πfk t
x(t) = Xo + e + e
2 2
k=1

5
 • the real part of a complex term is equal to one
half the sum of that term and its complex conjugate
• each sinusoid in the sum decomposes into two
terms, one with positive frequency fk and the other
with negative frequency −fk
• When we want to describe the frequency content
of this signal, we need to specify all the complex am-
plitudes and frequencies.
• How many different complex amplitudes/frequencies
do we have in the above signal?

two-sided frequency spectrum:

2N + 1 complex amplitudes
2N + 1 frequencies
pairwise representation of frequencies and complex
amplitudes:
X1∗ X2∗
n
X1 X2
(0, Xo), (f1, 2 ), (−f1, 2 ), (f2, 2 ), (−f2, 2 ), . . .
X ∗ X ∗
o
. . . , (fk , X2k ), (−fk , 2k ), . . . , (fN , X2N ), (−fN , 2N )
each pair (fk , X2k ) indicates the size and the relative
phase of the sinusoidal component contributing at fre-
quency fk .

6
 ex:
π   π
x(t) = 10 + 14 cos 200πt − + 8 cos 500πt +
3 2
Using the first one of inverse Euler formulas (for the
cosine), we can expand each cosine term into complex
exponential terms.
14 h j(200πt− π ) −j(200πt− π)
i 8h
j(500πt+ π) −j(500πt+ π)
i
x(t) = 10 + e 3 +e 3 + e 2 +e 2
2h i 2
h i
j200πt −j π3 −j200πt j π3 j500πt j π2 −j500πt −j π2
= 10 + 7 e e +e e +4 e e +e e
π π π π
= 10 + 7ej200πte−j 3 + 7e−j200πtej 3 + 4ej500πtej 2 + 4e−j500πte−j 2
−j 3 j200πt π π π π
= |{z}
10 + |7e{z }e 7ej 3 e−j200πt + |{z}
+ |{z} 4ej 2 ej500πt + 4e −j
| {z }2 e
−j500πt

Xo X1 X1∗ X2 X2∗
2 2 2 2
pairwise description of the two-sided frequency spectrum:
−j π3 j π3 j π2 −j π2

(0, 10), (100, 7e ), (−100, 7e ), (250, 4e ), (−250, 4e )
We would prefer to have a graphical representation:

FREQUENCY DIAGRAM

 Plot Complex Amplitude vs. Freq

10
7e jπ / 3
7e − jπ / 3
4e − jπ / 2 4e jπ / 2

–250 –100 0 100 250

f (in Hz)

7
 Vertical lines are called spectral lines and they in-
dicate magnitude. Because of this, they should never
go below the horizontal axis.
Graphical frequency-spectrum representation makes
it easy to see:
• relative location of the frequencies
• relative amplitudes of the sinusoidal components

• If x(t) is a real signal, its frequency spectrum will

exhibit complex conjugate symmetry.
• If the signal has a constant (d.c.) component,
there will be a spectral line in the middle at f = 0.
• If the signal has no constant (d.c.) component,
there will not be a spectral line in the middle.
• If the constant component is negative,
say Xo = −10, the minus sign should be absorbed
into the phase part as Xo = 10ejπ and the spectral
line should still be drawn above the horizontal fre-
quency axis.
• Higher frequencies are related to rapid fluctuations,
sudden changes, and fine detail in the waveform. The
waveform becomes more rapidly varying as higher fre-
quency components are included in the summation.

8
Example: Synthetic Vowel

 Sum of 5 Frequency Components

Vowel Waveform
(sum of all 5 components)

9
 SPECTRUM of VOWEL
 Note: Spectrum has 0.5Xk (except XDC)
 Conjugates in negative frequency

Reviewing Periodic Waveforms:

Periodic signals are characterized by a repeating pattern that
repeats itself infinitely many times.
expressing this mathematically:

x(t + nTo) = x(t) ∀t ∈ R ∀n ∈ Z and some To

To: period of the signal

The duration of one cycle of the periodic signal.
The shortest time interval over which the pattern repeats
itself is called the fundamental period. Its reciprocal is the
fundamental frequency fo.
The frequency of the sinusoid determines its period.

To = 1/fo or fo = 1/To
10
 Periodic signals can be synthesized by adding two
or more sinusoids having harmonically related fre-
quencies. In other words, all frequencies are integer
multiples of the fundamental frequency.
earlier model (can cover periodic/aperiodic signals):
XN
x(t) = Ao + Ak cos(2πfk t + φk )
k=1
for periodicity, fk = kfo where k is an integer:
N
X
x(t) = Ao + Ak cos(2πkfot + φk )
k=1

fo: fundamental frequency To: fundamental period

f2 = 2fo (2nd harmonic) T2 = 2f1o = T2o
f3 = 3fo (3rd harmonic) T3 = 3f1o = T3o
f4 = 4fo (4th harmonic) T4 = 4f1o = T4o
.. ..
fk = kfo (kth harmonic) Tk = kf1 o = Tko
What is the period common to all the harmonics
and the fundamental? To
fo = g.c.d.{fk } To = l.c.m.{Tk }
g.c.d.: greatest common divisor
l.c.m.: least common multiple
11
 Existence of a d.c. term does not affect the calcula-
tion of fo or To.
ex: A given signal x(t) with d.c. value −5 is the sum
of sinusoids with frequencies with 1.2, 2.0, and 6.0 Hz.
Calculate the fundamental frequency and identify the
order of the harmonics.
solution:
It is easier to multiply the given frequencies by 10
and later on divide by 10. When we do this, we have
the frequencies 12, 20, and 60 Hz.
10fo = g.c.d.{12, 20, 60}
To find the g.c.d., we need to find the prime factors
of each frequency and than look for the largest overlap
among them:
12 = 3.4 = 22.3
20 = 4.5 = 22.5
60 = 3.4.5 = 22.3.5
The largest overlap is 22 = 4, therefore 10fo = 4 Hz.
It follows that fo = 0.4 Hz.
1.2
Since 0.4 = 3, 1.2 Hz is the 3rd harmonic f3.
2.0
Since 0.4 = 5, 2.0 Hz is the 5th harmonic f5.
6.0
Since 0.4 = 15, 6.0 Hz is the 15th harmonic f15.

12
 Periodicity is tied to harmonic frequencies.
What happens if the frequencies have no relation to
one another?
If the frequencies fk are not integer multiples of a
common fundamental frequency, the signal will be
aperiodic (non-periodic).

Consider the following signals:

2 2
xh(t) = 2 cos(20πt) − cos (20π(3)t) + cos (20π(5)t)
3 5
2  √  2  √ 
xnh(t) = 2 cos(20πt) − cos 20π 8t + cos 20π 27t
3 5

IRRATIONAL SPECTRUM

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
to get a PERIODIC SIGNAL

13
Harmonic Signal (3 Freqs)
T=0.1

NON-Harmonic Signal

NOT
PERIODIC

14
 Fourier Series Representation of Periodic Signals

Any periodic signal can be synthesized with a sum

of harmonically related sinusoids.
ak : Fourier series (FS) coefficients
(complex numbers)

Fourier analysis: x(t) −→ {ak }

Fourier synthesis: {ak } −→ x(t)

synthesis formula:
∞
X j ( T2π )kt 2π
x(t) = ak e o ωo =
To
k=−∞

15
 How do we derive the Fourier series coefficients ak
for the harmonic sum? In other words, how do we
go from x(t) to ak ? Analyzing only one period is
sufficient for this purpose:
1 To
Z
−j ( T2π )kt
ak = x(t)e o dt
To 0
A special and simpler case occurs when k = 0:
Z To
1
ao = x(t) dt
To 0
• the integral gives the area under the function over
one period.
• ao is simply the average value (d.c. value) of the
signal over one period.
• The ao coefficient is an additive constant. There-
fore, a change in its value will move the plot of the
signal up or down vertically (in amplitude). There
will be no change to the shape and the nature of the
repeating pattern; therefore, all the other ak ’s (for
k 6= 0) remain the same.
• The above integrals would be useful if we have
a formula that defines x(t) over one period. If not,
numerical methods would be needed.

16
 Some background material before deriving the FS:
∆ j ( 2π )kt
Let v (t) = e To
k
(complex exponential for the kth harmonic).
The FS derivation relies on the simple property of
the complex exponential signal that the integral of a
complex exp. signal over an integral number of peri-
ods is zero. We will show this in two different ways:
first way: (for k 6= 0)
To
j ( T2π )kt 
Z To Z To 
j ( T2π )kt e o 
vk (t) dt = e o dt =   
0 0 j 2π To k 

0
j T2π kTo j T2π k0
e( ) o −e ( ) o ej2πk − 1
=   =  
j 2π
To k j 2πTo k
1k − 1 1−1 0
=   =   =   =0
j 2π
To k j 2π
To k j 2π
To k

second way: (for k 6= 0)

Z To Z To
j ( T2π )kt
vk (t) dt = e o dt
0
Z0 To    Z To   
2π 2π
= cos kt dt + j sin kt dt
0 T o 0 To
= 0
(integration over k complete periods of sine/cosine)
17
 As we have argued earlier, all the harmonics (of dif-
ferent orders k) and the fundamental have the com-
mon period To. Therefore, all complex exponentials
vk (t) must repeat every To. Let us show this mathe-
matically as well.
Recall that for periodicity, the signal must satisfy:

x(t + nTo) = x(t) ∀t ∈ R ∀n ∈ Z and some To

j ( T2π )k(t+nTo )
vk (t + nTo) = e o

j ( T2π )kt j ( T2π )knTo

= e o e o
j ( T2π )kt j2πkn
= e o e| {z } (k and n are integers)
1
j ( T2π )kt
= e o

= vk (t) ∀t ∈ R ∀n ∈ Z and some To

Therefore, all vk (t)’s are periodic with To.

• The kth harmonic vk (t) with period Tko completes

an integer number of cycles (k cycles) over the fun-
damental period To.

18
 orthogonality principle:
Z To (
0 if k =6 `
vk (t)v`∗(t) dt =
0 To if k = `
• inner product of vk (t) and v`(t)

proof:
j ( T2π )`t ∗ −j ( T2π )`t
If v`(t) = e o , then v` (t) = e o .
Z To Z To
∗ j ( T2π )kt −j ( T2π )`t
vk (t)v` (t) dt = e o e o dt
0
Z0 To
2π
= ej ( To )(k−`)t dt
Z0 To Z To
2π
if k = ` : = ej ( To )0t dt = j0
|{z} dt
e
0 0 1
Z To To
= 1 dt = t  = To

0 0
Z To
2π
if k 6= ` : = ej ( To )(k−`)t dt
Z0 To
j ( T2π )mt ∆
= e o dt where m = k − ` 6= 0
0

= 0
(We have shown in two different ways on p.17 that
this integral is zero.)
19
 Now, we are going to start with the synthesis equa-
tion and derive the analysis equation. Assuming the
synthesis equation is valid:
∞
j ( T2π )kt
X
x(t) = ak e o
k=−∞
2π
Multiply both sides of the equality by v`∗(t) = e−j ( To )`t
and integrate both sides from 0 to To:
∞
Z To Z To X !
∗ j ( T2π )kt
x(t)v` (t) dt = ak e o v`∗(t) dt
0 0 k=−∞
∞
!
Z To Z To
−j ( T2π )`t j ( T2π )kt −j ( T2π )`t
X
x(t)e o dt = ak e o e o dt
0 0 k=−∞
∞ Z To 
2π
ej ( To )(k−`)t dt
X
= ak
k=−∞ | 0 {z }
 0 if k 6= `


T
o if k = `


= a`To
Leaving a` on the left-hand side, it follows that:
Z To
1 −j ( T2π )`t
a` = x(t)e o dt
To 0
This is the analysis equation. You can always re-
name the dummy index ` to call it k as before.
20
 • It is also possible to do the derivation in the re-
verse direction, that is, starting with the analysis
equation to get the synthesis equation. The steps
of the derivation are not obvious in both cases.
• Thus, we have two key equations for the Fourier
series representation of periodic signals:
∞
j ( T2π )kt
X
x(t) = ak e o
k=−∞

(synthesis equation)
1 To
Z
−j ( T2π )kt
ak = x(t)e o dt
To 0
(analysis equation)

21
 • It is not always necessary to evaluate the analy-
sis integral to obtain the {ak } coefficients. In some
cases, it may be possible to directly expand the peri-
odic signal into a sum of complex exponentials. This
is the case if the periodic signal is already expressed
as a sum of (one or more of) constants, complex ex-
ponentials, and sinusoids.
 π
ex: x(t) = −4 + 6 cos 20πt + − 2e−j(30πt−2)
 j(20πt+ π ) 6 −j(20πt+ π ) 
e 6 +e 6
= −4 + 6 − 2e−j(30πt−2)
2
π −j(20πt+ π6 )
= −4 + 3e j(20πt+ 6 )
+ 3e − 2e−j(30πt−2)
j π6 j20πt −j π6 −j20πt 2j −j30πt
−4 + |{z}
= |{z} 3e e | {z } e
+ 3e −2e
| {z } e
ao a2 a−2 a−3

(f = 0 Hz) (f = 10 Hz) (f = −10 Hz) (f = −15 Hz)

10 = 2×5 and 15 = 3×5 −→ fo = g.c.d.{10, 15} = 5 Hz

Therefore, the FS coefficients can be summarized as:




 a−3 = −2e2j = 2ej(2+π) for k = −3
−j π6

∗
a = a = 3e for k = −2

 −2

 2
ak = ao = −4 = 4ejπ = 4e−jπ for k = 0
j π6

∗
a2 = a−2 = 3e for k = 2





 ak = 0

otherwise
22
• Despite that the fundamental frequency is not present
in the spectrum, since it is still calculable, it is indeed
the fundamental frequency.

ex: Another example where we do not need to use

the analysis integral to determine the FS coefficients:

x(t) = sin3(3πt)
−j3πt 3
 j3πt 
e −e
=
2j
1 j9πt j6πt −j3πt j3πt −j6πt −j9πt


= e − 3e e + 3e e −e
−8j
j −3j j3πt 3j −j3πt −j −j9πt
= ej9πt + e + e + e
8 8 8 8
We see that the signal contains the four different fre-
quencies: ω = ±3π and ω = ±9π rad/s.
23
Since g.c.d.{3π, 9π} = 3π, the fundamental frequency
is ωo = 3π rad/s. The FS coefficients are indexed in
terms of the fundamental frequency, therefore:



 0 for k = 0

3
 ∓j 8 for k = ±1



ak = 0 for k = ±2

1
±j 8 for k = ±3





0 for k = ±4, ±5, ±6, . . .


Now, we are ready to sketch the frequency spectrum

because we know that we have four nonzero FS coef-
ficients for the four frequencies:
ω = {−9π, −3π, 3π, 9π} rad/s
We prefer to plot the spectrum versus frequency in
Hertz so the spectral lines are at
f = {−4.5, −1.5, 1.5, 4.5} Hz
Fundamental frequency is present. The 2nd harmon-
ics are missing and the 3rd harmonics are at ±4.5 Hz.

24
 Fourier Series Representation of the Square Waveform:
(
1 for 0 < t ≤ T2o
x(t) =
0 for T2o < t ≤ To

analysis:
1 To
Z
−j ( T2π )kt
ak = x(t)e o dt
To (0
Z To Z To )
1 2 2π 2π
= 1.e−j ( To )kt dt + 0.e−j ( To )kt dt
To 0 To
2
Z To
1 2
−j ( T2π )kt
= 1.e o dt
To 0
 To  
2
−j ( T2π )kt  −j ( T2π )k T2o −j ( T2π )k0

1 e o 1 e o −e o
=    =   (k 6= 0)
   
To −j 2π To −j To k 2π
To k 

0

25
  
−jπk −jk0 −jπk
 
1 e −e e −1
= = (k 6= 0)
  
To −j2πk

2π
−j To k
k k
   
(−1) − 1 1 − (−1)
= = (k 6= 0)
−j2πk j2πk
( 1−(−1)
2 1 −j
j2πk = j2πk = jπk = πk for k odd
= 1−1
j2πk = 0 for k even
The result is not valid for k = 0 because k is in the
denominator.
Evaluate ao separately (the average value of x(t)):
1 To
Z
ao = x(t) dt
To "0
Z To Z To #
1 2
= 1 dt + 0 dt
To 0 To
2
Z To  To
1 2 1  2 1 To 1
= 1 dt = t = =
To 0 To 0 To 2 2

In summary, FS coefficients are:


j
 πk for k = ±1, ±3, ±5, . . . (odd harmonics)
−


ak = 0 for k = ±2, ±4, ±6, . . . (even harmonics)

 1 for k = 0

(average value)
2

26
 • the square waveform has only odd harmonics
in its frequency spectrum.
• even harmonics are non-existent
• the formula for ak does not depend on To
• the average value ao can be easily changed
• |ak | ↓ as |k| ↑

Frequency Spectrum of the Square Waveform:

For fo = 25 Hz and the ak ’s we have derived:

27
 Fourier Synthesis:
recall the synthesis formula:
∞
j ( T2π )kt
X
x(t) = ak e o
k=−∞

Can truncate the infinite limits of the summation.

For most practical purposes, this would be necessary.
N
j ( T2π )kt
X
x(t) ≈ xN (t) = ak e o
k=−N
eN (t) = x(t) − xN (t) (the error signal)
expansion of xN (t) for the square waveform:
2π 2π 2π 2π
xN (t) = a−N e−jN ( To )t + . . . + a−5e−j5( To )t + a−3e−j3( To )t + a−1e−j ( To )t
2π 2π 2π 2π
+a + a ej ( To )t + a ej3( To )t + a ej5( To )t + . . . + a ejN ( To )t
o 1 3 5 N

= a−N e−jN ωot + . . . + a−5e−j5ωot + a−3e−j3ωot + a−1e−jωot

+ao + a1ejωot + a3ej3ωot + a5ej5ωot + . . . + aN ejN ωot

synthesis:
Suppose we choose N = 0:
Then, the truncated summation contains only a sin-
gle term (the central one) which is x0(t) = ao (the
average value).
We try to approximate the periodic waveform using
its average value which is an extremely crude approx-
imation.
28
 Now, let N = 1:
−j ( T2π )t j ( T2π )t
x1(t) = a−1e o +ao+a1e o

= a−1e−jωot+ao+a1ejωot
= ao+a−1e−jωot + a1ejωot
= ao+a1ejωot + a−1e−jωot

1 −j jωot j −jωot
= + e + e
2 π π
1 1 −j π jωot 1 j π −jωot
= + e 2e + e 2e
2 π π
1 1 j(ωot− π ) 1 −j(ωot− π )
= + e 2 + e 2
2 π π
1 2  π
= + cos ωot −
2 π 2
1 2
= + sin(ωot)
2 π

Since even harmonics are non-existent in the spec-

trum, setting N = 2 makes no difference to the ap-
proximation.

29
 Next, let N = 3:
−j3( T2π )t −j ( T2π )t j ( T2π )t j3( T2π )t
x3(t) = a−3e o +a−1 e o + ao + a1e o +a3e o
= a−3e−j3ωot+ |a−1e−jωot +{zao + a1ejωo}t +a3ej3ωot
x1 (t)

= a−3e−j3ωot+x1(t)+a3ej3ωot
= x1(t)+a−3e−j3ωot + a3ej3ωot
= x1(t)+a3ej3ωot + a−3e−j3ωot

−j j3ωot j −j3ωot
= x1(t)+ e + e
3π 3π
1 −j π j3ωot 1 π
= x1(t)+ e 2e + ej 2 e−j3ωot
3π 3π
1 j(3ωot− π ) 1 −j(3ωot− π )
= x1(t)+ e 2 + e 2
3π 3π
2  π
= x1(t)+ cos 3ωot −
3π 2
1 2 2
= + sin(ωot) + sin(3ωot)
2 π 3π

Since even harmonics are non-existent in the spec-

trum, incrementing N to 4 makes no difference to the
approximation.
30
 Therefore, let us use N = 5:
−j5( T2π )t −j3( T2π )t −j ( T2π )t
x5(t) = a−5e +a−3e
o + a−1e
o o

j ( T2π )t j3( T2π )t j5( T2π )t

+ao + a1e o + a3 e o +a5e o
= a−5e−j5ωot+a−3e−j3ωot + a−1e−jωot
+ao + a1ejωot + a3ej3ωot+a5ej5ωot
= a−5e−j5ωot+x3(t)+a5ej5ωot
= x3(t)+a−5e−j5ωot + a5ej5ωot
= x3(t)+a5ej5ωot + a−5e−j5ωot
−j j
= x3(t)+ ej5ωot + e−j5ωot
5π 5π
1 π 1 π
= x3(t)+ e−j 2 ej5ωot + ej 2 e−j5ωot
5π 5π
1 j(5ωot− π ) 1 −j(5ωot− π )
= x3(t)+ e 2 + e 2
5π 5π
2  π
= x3(t)+ cos 5ωot −
5π 2
2
= x3(t)+ sin(5ωot)
5π
1 2 2 2
= + sin(ωot) + sin(3ωot)+ sin(5ωot)
2 π 3π 5π

Since even harmonics are non-existent in the spec-

trum, incrementing N to 6 makes no difference to the
approximation.

31
 At this point, we can clearly see the pattern:
1 2 2 2
xN (t) = + sin(ωot) + sin(3ωot) + . . . + sin(N ωot)
2 π 3π Nπ
N  
1 X 2
= + sin(kωot) (k odd integer)
2 kπ
k=1

• Recall that if the signal is real, its frequency spec-

trum exhibits complex conjugate symmetry. That is
ak = a∗−k ∀k. In that case, the synthesis formula can
be also written completely in terms of sinusoids:
∞
X
x(t) = Ao + Ak cos(kωot + φk )
k=1

where ao = Ao, ak = a∗−k = A2k ejφk for k 6= 0.

Derivation follows on the next page.
The derivation mainly relies on the fact that the fre-
quency spectrum exhibits complex-conjugate symme-
try and we make use of the first one of inverse Euler
formulas to combine the complex-conjugate symmet-
ric terms on each side of the summation and write
them as a cosine function. We also rename the coef-
ficients.

32
 derivation:
Assuming that x(t) is a real and periodic signal, its
Fourier series representation in terms of harmonically
related complex exponentials is given by:

2π 2π 2π
x(t) = . . . + a−3e−j3( To )t + a−2e−j2( To )t + a−1e−j ( To )t
2π 2π 2π
+ao + a1ej ( To )t + a2ej2( To )t + a3ej3( To )t + . . .
= . . . + a−3e−j3ωot + a−2e−j2ωot + a−1e−jωot
+ao + a1ejωot + a2ej2ωot + a3ej3ωot + . . .
= ao + a1ejωot + a−1e−jωot + a2ej2ωot + a−2e−j2ωot

j3ωo t −j3ωo t


+ a3 e + a−3e + ...
= ao + a1ejωot + a∗1 e−jωot + a2ej2ωot + a∗2 e−j2ωot

+ a3ej3ωot + a∗3 e−j3ωot + . . .

   
A1 jφ1 jωot A1 −jφ1 −jωot A2 jφ2 j2ωot A2 −jφ2 −j2ωot
= Ao + e e + e e + e e + e e
2 2 2 2
 
A3 jφ3 j3ωot A3 −jφ3 −j3ωot
+ e e + e e + ...
2 2
   
A1 j(ωot+φ1) A1 −j(ωot+φ1) A2 j(2ωot+φ2) A2 −j(2ωot+φ2)
= Ao + e + e + e + e
2 2 2 2
 
A3 j(3ωot+φ3) A3 −j(3ωot+φ3)
+ e + e + ...
2 2
= Ao + A1 cos(ωot + φ1) + A2 cos(2ωot + φ2) + A3 cos(3ωot + φ3) + . . .
X∞
= Ao + Ak cos(kωot + φk )
k=1

33
Synthesis: 1st & 3rd Harmonics
1 2 π 2 π
y (t )= + cos(2π (25 )t− 2 )+ cos (2π (75 )t− 2 )
2 π 3π

Synthesis: up to 7th Harmonic

1 2 π 2 2 2
y (t )= + cos(50 πt− 2 )+ sin (150 πt )+ sin(250 πt )+ sin(350 πt )
2 π 3π 5π 7π

34
Fourier Synthesis
1 2 2
x N (t )= + sin(ω 0 t )+ sin (3ω0 t )+…
2 π 3π

Gibbs’ Phenomenon
 Convergence at DISCONTINUITY of x(t)
 There is always an overshoot
 9% for the Square Wave case

35
Error Magnitude When Approximating a Square Wave:

fseriesdemo GUI

36
 Fourier Series Representation of the Triangular Waveform:

Triangular waveform is a continuous waveform.

Its first derivative is discontinuous.
See Section 3-6.4 of the textbook for the analysis of
this waveform.
After performing the analysis, we obtain the FS co-
efficients:

2
 − π2k2 for k = ±1, ±3, ±5, . . . (odd harmonics)


ak = 0 for k = ±2, ±4, ±6, . . . (even harmonics)

 1 for k = 0

(average value)
2

• the triangular waveform has only odd harmonics

in its frequency spectrum.
• even harmonics are non-existent
• the formula for ak does not depend on To
• the average value ao can be easily changed
• |ak | ↓ as k 2 ↑
37
 Another Example:

FS: Rectified Sine Wave {ak}

T0
1 − j (2π / T 0 )kt
a k= ∫ x ( t ) e dt ( k≠±1)
T0 0
Half-Wave Rectified Sine
T 0 /2

∫ sin ( 2π
1 − j(2π /T )kt
a k= T t) e 0
dt
0
0 T 0
T /2 j (2π /T 0 )t − j(2π / T 0 )t
0
1 e −e − j(2π / T 0 )kt
=T
0
∫ 2j
e dt
0
T /2 T /2
0 0
1 − j(2π /T 0 )(k −1)t 1 − j(2π / T 0 )( k+1 )t
= j2T
0
∫ e dt−
j2T 0
∫ e dt
0 0
− j(2π /T 0 )( k−1) t − j (2π /T 0 )(k +1)t
e T /2 e T /2
= ∣0 0 − ∣0 0
j2T 0 (− j(2π /T 0 )(k −1)) j2T 0 (− j(2π /T 0 )(k +1))

If you work it out completely ∀k, you should get:


1


 π for k = 0
 ∓j for k = ±1

4
ak =

 0 for k = ±3, ±5, ±7, . . .

 1

for k = ±2, ±4, ±6, . . .π(1−k 2 )
We have seen that we can cover many types of signals with the
signal model: N
X
x(t) = Ao + Ak cos(2πfk t + φk )
k=1
(constants, complex exponentials, sinusoids, periodic/aperiodic signals)

38