EEE 303

Signals and Linear Systems

Instructor: Dr. Tishna Sabrina

Spring 2020

Lecture 2
Introduction to Signals
Continuous-time vs Discrete-time Signal
◼ A signal is continuous if the independent
variable (e.g., time) is continuous.
➢ For example, a telephone or radio signal as a
function of time and an atmospheric pressure as
a function of altitude.

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CT vs DT Signal
◼ A signal is discontinuous if the independent
variable (e.g., time) is discontinuous.
◼ It is simply sampling CT signal.

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CT vs DT Signal
◼ The symbol t is used in () to denote the CT
variable.
◼ The symbol n is used [ ] to denote the DT
variable.
◼ t is a real-valued variable denoting time.
◼ n is an integer-valued variable denoting
discrete samples of time.

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Analog vs Digital Signals
◼ In analog signals the values in y axis can take
on all the possible values within a fixed range.
◼ In digital signals the values y axis must have
a value from a finite set of possible values.

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Analog vs Digital Signals

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Periodic and Aperiodic Signal
◼ When a signal repeats itself after a fixed time, it is
known as periodic.
◼ When a signal does not repeat itself after a fixed
time, it is known as aperiodic.
◼ The time required for the smallest section of signal
which repeats itself is called period.

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Periodic and Aperiodic Signal
◼ The condition for a signal to be periodic is -
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙 𝒕 + 𝒏𝑻

where n is an integer and

T>0 is the fundamental time period.
◼ Example: A real-valued sinusoidal signal which can
be represented as

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Periodic Signal
◼ The condition for a signal to be periodic is -
𝒙 𝒕 =𝒙 𝒕+𝑻 = 𝒙 𝒕 + 𝟐𝑻 = 𝒙(𝒕 + 𝟑𝑻) = 𝒙 𝒕 + 𝒏𝑻

where n is an integer and

T>0 is the fundamental time period.
◼ Example: A real-valued sinusoidal signal which can
be represented as

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Sum of Periodic Signals

𝒛 𝒕+𝑻 =𝒛 𝒕

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Sum of Periodic Signals

◼ The sum of two periodic signals may or may not be

periodic.
It is periodic if the ratio of their individual period is a
rational number.

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Example
◼ Find whether the sum of the two sinusoids is
periodic or not. If periodic, find the fundamental
period. 𝒙 𝒕 = 𝟐𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟑𝒕 + 𝟑𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟕𝒕

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Home Work
◼ Section 1.1
◼ Section 1.2

◼ Section 1.3

◼ Example 1.3.2

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