SIGNALS & SYSTEMS

ET 382 Lecture 8
Digital Filters & Z-Transforms
 PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction – Digital Filters

• Z- Transforms-Digital filters

• Z-Transforms Operations

• Z-Transforms Examples
 INTRODUCTION

• In signal processing, the function of a filter is

to remove unwanted parts of the signal
• such as random noise, or to extract useful
parts of the signal,
• such as the components lying within a certain
frequency range
FILTER BLOCK DIAGRAM
FILTER BLOCK DIAGRAM
 DIGITAL FILTERS

• Digital filters are used for two general purposes:

(1) separation of signals that have been combined,

and (2) restoration of signals that have been
distorted in some way
• Analog (electronic) filters can be used for these same
tasks; however, digital filters can achieve far

superior results
 DIGITAL FILTERS - ADVANTAGES

 A digital filter is programmable, i.e. its operation is

determined by a program stored in the processor's
memory
 This means the digital filter can easily be changed
without affecting the circuitry (hardware)
 An analog filter can only be changed by redesigning the
filter circuit.
 Digital filters are easily designed, tested and
implemented on a general-purpose computer or
workstation
 DIGITAL FILTER - ADVANTAGES

 The characteristics of analog filter circuits are

subject to drift and are dependent on temperature.
 Digital filters do not suffer from these problems,
and so are extremely stable with respect both to
time and temperature.
 DIGITAL FILTER - OPERATION

 Suppose the "raw" signal which is to be digitally

filtered is in the form of a voltage waveform
described by the function
V  x(t )
where t is time. This signal is sampled at time
intervals h (the sampling interval). The sampled
value at time t = ih is

xi transferred
 Thus the digital values xih from the ADC to
the processor can be represented by the sequence;

x0, x1 , x 2 , x3 ........
 DIGITAL FILTER - OPERATION

 corresponding to the values of the signal waveform

at times t = 0, h, 2h, 3h, ... (where t = 0 is the instant
at which sampling begins)
 At time t = nh (where n is some positive integer),
the values available to the processor, stored in
memory, are
x0, x1 , x 2 , x3 ........x n
 Note that the sampled values x n 1, x n  2 ,
etc. are
not available as they haven't happened yet!
 DIGITAL FILTER - OPERATION

 The digital output from the processor to the

DAC consists of the sequence of values
y 0, y1 , y 2 , y 3 ........ y n
 In general, the values of y n are calculated
from the values
x0, x1 , x 2 , x3 ........x n
 The way in which the y's are calculated from
the x's determines the filtering action of the
digital filter
 DIGITAL FILTER - OPERATION

 The transfer function of a digital filter is

obtained from the symmetrical form of the
filter expression
 it allows us to describe a filter by means of a
convenient, compact expression
 This leads to the Z-Transform
 The Z-Transform of a Digital filter can be
used to determine many of the characteristics
of the filter
 Z-TRANSFORM APPLIED TO DIGITAL
FILTERS

 The unit delay operator

1
z
 When applied to a sequence of digital values, this operator
gives the previous value in the sequence.
 It therefore in effect introduces a delay of one sampling
interval. Thus;

1
z x n  x n 1
 Z-TRANSFORM OPERATION

This operation is summarized using the expression

below;


X [ z]   X [ n] z
n  
n
 Z-TRANSFORM - EXAMPLES

Example 1
For the sequence below, find z 1 x1 , z 1 x 2 , z 1 x3

x0  5, x1  3, x2  2, x3  6
 Z-TRANSFORM - EXAMPLES

Solution 1
For the sequence given earlier, the solution is given below;
1
Note that z x0 is unknown and assumed to be 0.

z 1 x1  5, z 1 x2  3, z 1 x3  2
 Z-TRANSFORM - EXAMPLES

Example 2 yn
For the sequence below and using the Z operator find
xn

bo yn  b1 yn 1  b2 yn  2  a0 xn  a1 xn 1  a2 xn  2
 Z-TRANSFORM - EXAMPLES

Solution 2
For the sequence above, the Transfer
yn function is;
xn
1 2
yn (ao  a1 z  a2 z )
 1
xn (b0  b1 z  b2 z  2 )