Exercises Lecture Five: SYSTEM MODELING, TIME

DOMAIN
Important NOTE
Ziemer page 50: all integrals must be removed through repeated differentiation, then we get equations like (2-3).
Then the order of the system is defined as the order of the highest derivative of the dependent variable, or system
output, present. Note that Ziemer states that: “integrals on the input may still be present in some cases”. We, your
humble lecturers, disagree at this point with Ziemer, however. In our opinion, also the integrals on the input should
be removed through differentiation. This means that in some cases the answers to Ziemer’s exercises are different
than those stated in the book. We will indicate that below.

Exercise 2-1
 
  x1 (t)  
y1 (t) 2 −1 0
y(t) = ; x(t) =  x2 (t) ; H = .
y2 (t) 0 5 3
x3 (t)

Exercise 2-2
(a) First order.

dy(t) dx(t)
(b) Take derivative: 3 + y(t) = : first order
dt dt
(c) Zero order.

(d) Second order. (Ziemer states first order, but we disagree, see the explanation above)

(e) Second order.

Exercise 2-3
A system is fixed, or time-invariant if the input/output relationship does not change in time: H(x(t−τ )) = y(t−τ )
for any x(t) and any τ (Equation (2-21) of Ziemer, page 53).

In Exercise 2-2, all systems are fixed, except 2-2(d) as here the coefficient multiplied with y(t) depends on time (it
is t2 ). In all other systems, the coefficients are fixed.1

Exercise 2-4
A system is linear only if (Ziemer (2-26), page 55):

H [α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t)] = α1 H(x1 (t)) + α2 H(x2 (t)) = α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)

(a) Simply use the rule above and see what happens (see also Example 2-3):

1 Regarding dy(t)
(e), some may think that, due to the fact that the ‘coefficient’ multiplying dt in the second term equals y(t), which depends
on time, that the system is time-varying. This is not the case, however, as y(t) is, for a given input signal x(t) and when assuming that the
system is at rest before the input is active, always the same. That is, although y(t) obviously changes in time when an input signal is put on the
system, apart from the input signal it does not depend on anything else.

1
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   2 
dy1 (t) d x1 (t)
α1 2 dt + 3y1 (t) = α1 2 + x1 (t) (1)
   2dt 
dy2 (t) d x2 (t)
α2 2 + 3y2 (t) = α2 + x2 (t) (2)
dt dt2
Add (1) and (2), and re-arrange:
2
2 d (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) + 3 (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) = d 2 (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t)) + (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t))
dt dt
This system is linear. The output to an input signal that is composed of an arbitrary sum of two input signals x1 (t)
and x2 (t) can be written as the sum of the outputs of the system to both individual input signals (superposition). Or,
we can write the differential equation of the sum of two inputs in the same way as we can write it for just one input.

(b) Take the derivative, then use the same procedures as above and you will see that this system is linear.

(c) We get:
 
dx1 (t)
α1 (4y1 (t) + 10) = α1 + 5x1 (t) (1)
dt
 
dx2 (t)
α2 (4y2 (t) + 10) = α2 dt + 5x2 (t) (2)

Add (1) and (2) and re-arrange:

4 (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) + 10 (α1 + α2 ) = d (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t)) + 5 (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t))
dt
We cannot put this equation into the same form as the original differential equation for arbitrary values of α1 and
α2 , it can only be done when (α1 + α2 ) = 1. The system is non-linear, caused by the term +10 on the left-hand
side of the original differential equation.

(d) This system is linear, proof:

!

dy1 (t) 2
 Rt
α1 dt + t y1 (t) = α1 x1 (λ)dλ (1)
−∞
!

dy2 (t)
 Rt
α2 dt + t2 y2 (t) = α2 x2 (λ)dλ (2)
−∞

Add (1) and (2) and re-arrange:

d
Rt
dt (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) + t2 (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) = (α1 x1 (λ) + α2 x2 (λ)) dλ.
−∞
Clearly we can write this as the original differential equation. Or: the output of the system to an input signal that
consists of an arbitrary sum of two input signals, equals the sum of the outputs of the system to each individual
input signal.

dy(t)
(e) This system is non-linear, caused by the term y(t) , proof:
dt
 2 
α1 d dty1 (t)
2 + y1 (t) dydt
1 (t)
+ y1 (t) = α1 (5x1 (t)) (1)
 2 
d y2 (t) dy2 (t)
α2 dt2 + y2 (t) dt + y2 (t) = α2 (5x2 (t)) (2)

Add (1) and (2) and re-arrange:

d2
dt2 (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t))+α1 y1 (t) dydt
1 (t)
+α2 y2 (t) dydt
2 (t)
+(α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) = (α1 5x1 (t) + α2 5x2 (t)),
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which we can clearly not write anymore as the original equation for an arbitrary choice of α1 and α2 (in fact the
original equation only appears when either α1 or α2 is zero). This system is non-linear.

Exercise 2-5
√
The system is given by: y(t) = x(t1/2 ) = x( t). The fact that it is noncausal
q simply follows by looking at the
1
system equation for 0 < t < 1. Take for instance t = 4 : y( 4 ) = x( 4 ) = x( 12 ), and we see that the system
1 1

output on t = 14 seconds depends on the system input on t = 1

2 seconds. In other words: the system output on this
time instant depends on a future value of the input signal.

Exercise 2-6
The system is given by: y(t) = 10x(t + 2) + 5.

(a) This system is non-linear, caused by the +5 term on the right-hand side (see Exercise 2-2(c) or Example
2-4).

(b) This system is noncausal, as the system output y(t) on a particular time depends on a future value of the
input signal. Take for instance t = 0: y(0) = 10x(0 + 2) + 5, and we see that it depends on x(2), a value that lies
in the future.

Exercise 2-7
The system is given by: y(t) = x(t2 ).

(a) The system is linear:

α1 y1 (t) = α1 x1 (t2 ) (1)

α2 y2 (t) = α2 x2 (t2 ) (2)

Sum them together: α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t) = α1 x1 (t2 ) + α2 x2 (t2 ). So when the input equals (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x2 (t))
the output equals α1 x1 (t2 ) + α2 x2 (t2 ) = α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t).

(b) The system is noncausal. For instance: y(−1) = x(1), y(2) = x(4), in other words, for t < 0 and for
t > 1 the system output depends on future values of the input.

(c) When the system is fixed (or time-invariant), the response does not depend on the exact time. The output
of the system to an input at t = t should then be equal to the output of the system to that same input but at another
time t − τ . Note that in the discussion whether a system is fixed or not, the system is assumed to be at rest before
the input signal is becoming active.

Assume that the system is at rest and the input signal x1 (t) is put on the system, the response is then y1 (t) = x1 (t2 ).
When considering a delayed (time-shifted) output to an undelayed input we get: y1 (t − t0 ) = x1 ((t − t0 )2 ). Now,
again assume that the system is at rest and we look at the response to a delayed input signal x2 (t) = x1 (t − t0 ), we
get: y2 (t) = x1 (t2 − t0 ). Clearly, y1 (t − t0 ) 6= y2 (t), they are not the same: the system is therefore time-varying.

Exercise 2-11
(a) This system is linear, causal, fixed, and dynamic. Its order equals two.
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(b) This system is non-linear, because of the y 2 (t) term on the left-hand side. It is causal, fixed, and dy-
namic. Its order is three.

(c) This system is linear, time-varying because of the second coefficient 3t, it is causal, dynamic, and its
order is two.

d2 y(t)
(d) This system is non-linear because of the first term y(t) , it is time-varying because of the second
dt2
coefficient 3t, it is causal, dynamic, and its order equals two.

(e) This system is linear (see Exercise 2-7(a)), it is noncausal because of the x(t2 ) (see Exercise 2-7(b)), it is
time-varying (see Exercise 2-7(c)), its order is zero. On first sight, one would say that the system is instantaneous,
as the system’s ‘differential equation’ does not have any derivative or integration in it. On Ziemer page 54 the
definition of an instantaneous system is: a system for which the output is a function of the input at the present time
only. Clearly, because of the t2 argument in this function, this is not the case, and the system is therefore dynamic!

d2 y(t)
(f) This system is non-linear because of the first term on the left-hand side (y(t) , see Exercise 2-2(e)),
dt2
it is noncausal because of the fact that its output on t depends on the value of the input at t + 5, it is time-varying
since the second coefficient depends on time (3t), it is dynamic and its order equals two.

Putting it all in a table yields:

System
Property a b c d e f
Linear X X X
Causal X X X X
Fixed X X
Dynamic X X X X X X
Order 2 3 2 2 0 2

Exercise 2-12
(a) This system is linear, causal, time-invariant, its order equals one.

(b) This system is linear, causal, time-varying (second coefficient equals t2 ), its order equals one.

dy(t)
(c) This system is non-linear (because of the term y(t) , see Exercise 2-2(e)), time-invariant (see foot-
dt
note Exercise 2-3), its order equals two.

(d) This system is non-linear (because of the +1 on the right-hand side, see also Exercise 2-2(c)), it is time-
invariant, causal, and its order equals zero. It is instantaneous.

Exercise 2-13
(a) Then:

α1 y1 (t) = α1 x1 (t) cos(100πt) (1)

α2 y2 (t) = α2 x2 (t) cos(100πt) (2)

Add (1) and (2) and we get that (α1 y1 (t) + α2 y2 (t)) = (α1 x1 (t) + α2 x(2(t)) cos(100πt), so the system is indeed
linear.
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(b) Suppose the input equals 1 at all times, then y(t) = cos(100πt), which depends on time. Hence the
system is time-varying.

Better: the response to input signal x1 (t) equals y1 (t) = x1 (t) cos(100πt). The response to a delayed input signal
x2 (t) = x1 (t − t0 ) equals y2 (t) = x2 (t) cos(100πt) = x1 (t − t0 ) cos(100πt). Delaying the output y1 (t) with t0
yields: y1 (t − t0 ) = x1 (t − t0 ) cos(100π(t − t0 )), which is clearly not the same as the response of the system to
the delayed input.

(c) The system is indeed causal, as it does not depend on future values of the input.

(d) The system is instantaneous, as the system output at a particular time only depends on the value of the
input signal at that same particular time, and not on past or future values of the input signal. So, although the
system is time-varying, it is still instantaneous.