Unit Impulse Overview

• Unit step
• Switches
• Unit impulse
• Relationships

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 1
 Continuous-Time Unit Step

u(t)
1

(
0 t<0
u(t) ,
1 t>0
• Sometimes known as the Heaviside function
• Discontinuous at t = 0
• u(0) is not defined
• Not of consequence because it is undefined for an infinitesimal
period of time

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 2
 Unit Step for Switches
t=0

Linear Linear
vs vsu(t)
Circuit Circuit

t=0

Linear
Linear isu(t)
is Circuit
Circuit

• u(t) useful for representing the opening or closing of switches

• We will often solve for or be given initial conditions at t = 0
• We can then represent independent sources as though they were
immediately applied at t = 0. More later.

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 3
 Continuous-Time Unit Impulse

ue(t) δe (t)

-e e t t
-e e
u(t) δ(t)
1 1

t t

due (t)
• δe (t) , dt
• As e→0,
– ue (t) → u(t)
– δe (t) for t = 0 becomes very large
– δe (t) for t 6= 0 becomes zero
• δ(t) , lime→0 δe (t)

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 4
 Continuous-Time Unit Impulse Continued
δ(t)
1

(
0 t 6= 0
δ(t) ,
∞ t=0
Z e
δ(t) dt = 1 for any e > 0
−e
• Also known as the Dirac delta function
• Is zero everywhere except zero
• The impulse integral serves as a measure of the impulse amplitude
• Drawn as an arrow with unit height
• 5δ(t) would be drawn as an arrow with height of 5

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 5
 Continuous-Time Unit Impulse Comments
(
0 t 6= 0
δ(t) =
∞ t=0

• The impulse should be viewed as an idealization

• Real systems with finite inertia do not respond instantaneously
• The most important property of an impulse is its area
• Most systems will respond nearly the same to sharp pulses
regardless of their shape - if
– They have the same amplitude (area)
– Their duration is much briefer than the system’s response
• The idealized unit impulse is short enough for any system

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 6
 Unit Impulse Properties

δ(t)x(t) = δ(t)x(0)
1
δ(at) = δ(t)
|a|
δ(−t) = δ(t)
du(t)
δ(t) =
dt
Z t
u(t) = δ(τ ) dτ
−∞

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 7
 Unit Impulse Sampling Property
Z +∞ Z +∞
x(t)δ(t) dt = x(0)δ(t) dt
−∞ −∞
Z +∞
= x(0) δ(t) dt
−∞
= x(0)
Similarly,
Z +∞ Z +∞
x(t)δ(t − t0 ) dt = x(t0 )δ(t − t0 ) dt
−∞ −∞
Z +∞
= x(t0 ) δ(t − t0 ) dt
−∞
= x(t0 )

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 8
 Unit Impulse Sampling Property
Z +∞
x(t) = x(τ )δ(τ − t) dτ
−∞

• This integral does not appear to be useful

• It will turn out to be very useful
• It states that x(t) can be written as a linear combination of scaled
and shifted unit impulses
• This will be a key concept when we discuss convolution

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 9
 Example 1: Continuous-Time Unit-Ramp

r(t)
1

(
0 t≤0
r(t) ,
t t≥0
What is the first derivative?

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 10
 Example 2: Continuous-Time Unit-Ramp Integral

r(t)
1

What is the integral of the unit ramp?

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 11
 Basis Function Relationships

Z t Z t
u(t) = δ(τ ) dτ r(t) = u(τ ) dτ
−∞ −∞
du(t) dr(t)
= δ(t) = u(t)
dt dt
Z t Z t
1 2
u(τ ) dτ = r(t) r(τ ) dτ = 2 r(t)
−∞ −∞

• If we can write a signal x(t) in terms of u(t) and r(t), it is easy to

find the derivative
• Similarly, it is easy to integrate

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 12
 Basis Functions Translated

u(t-t0) δ(t-t0 ) r(t-t0)

1 1 1

t t t
t0 t0 t0

• Can write simple expressions for the functions translated in time

• Can scale the amplitude
• Any piecewise linear signal can be written in terms of basis
functions
• This makes it easy to calculate derivatives and integrals
• Will not discuss how this term
• Sufficient to know it can be done

J. McNames Portland State University ECE 222 Unit Impulse Ver. 1.01 13