BSc Hon Electronics &

Telecommunications
Technology
HETT208: Signal Processing

Module 1: Signal Processing Fundamentals

Prof E Mashonjowa
Introduction
l Part 1: Review of Basic Concepts
l Part 2: Z Transform
l Part 3: Discrete Time Fourier Transform
(DTFT)
l Part 4: Sampling Theory
l Part 5: DFT Processing
l Part 6: Filter Design

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Introduction
l The study of
(digital) signal
processing
requires good
Mathematics
skills (esp.
Calculus &
ODE's)
l So brace
yourselves!!!

DSP is a Mathematics class?! 3

• A SIGNAL is a measurement of a physical quantity
of certain medium.
• Examples of signals:
– Visual patterns (written documents, picture, video,
gesture, facial expression)
– Audio patterns (voice, speech, music)
– Change patterns of other physical quantities:
temperature, EM wave, etc.
• Signal contains INFORMATION!
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Signals can be defined as:
• Continuous
– A continuum of space or time
– Continuous variable functions
• Discrete
– Discrete points in time or space
– Represented as sequences of numbers

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Analog Signals Digital Signals
• Continuous • Discrete
• Infinite range of values • Finite range of values (2)
• More exact values, but more • Not as exact as analog, but
difficult to work with easier to work with
Example:
A digital thermostat in a room displays a temperature of 72.
An analog thermometer measures the room temperature at
72.482. The analog value is continuous and more accurate,
but the digital value is more than adequate for the
application and significantly easier to process electronically.
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 • An analog signal can be any time-varying signal.
• Minimum and maximum values can be either positive or negative.
• They can be periodic (repeating) or non-periodic.
• Sine waves and square waves are two common analog signals.
• Note that this square wave is not a digital signal because its minimum
value is negative.

0 volts

Sine Wave Square Wave Random-Periodic

(not digital) 7
 Period
(T)

Frequency:
Amplitude
(peak)
f = 1/T (Hz)
Amplitude
(peak-to-peak)

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Before examining digital signals, we must define logic levels. A
logic level is a voltage level that represents a defined digital state.
Logic HIGH: The higher of two voltages, typically 5 volts
Logic LOW: The lower of two voltages, typically 0 volts

5.0 v

Logic High
Logic Level Voltage True/False On/Off 0/1

2.0 v HIGH 5 volts True On 1

Invalid LOW 0 volts False Off 0
Logic
0.8 v Level

0.0 v Logic Low

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 • Digital signal are commonly referred to as square waves or clock signals.
• Their minimum value must be 0 volts, and their maximum value must be 5
volts.
• They can be periodic (repeating) or non-periodic.
• The time the signal is high (tH) can vary anywhere from 1% of the period to
99% of the period.

5 volts

0 volts

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Amplitude:
For digital signals, this will ALWAYS be 5 Falling Edge
volts.
Period:
The time it takes for a periodic signal to

Amplitude
repeat. (seconds) Time Time
High Low
Frequency: (tH) (tL)
A measure of the number of occurrences of
the signal per second. (Hertz, Hz)
Time High (tH):
Rising Edge
The time the signal is at 5 v.
Period (T)
Time Low (tL):
The time the signal is at 0 v.
Duty Cycle: Frequency:
The ratio of tH to the total period (T). 1 tH
Rising Edge: F Hz DutyCycle   100%
T T
A 0-to-1 transition of the signal.
Falling Edge:
A 1-to-0 transition of the signal. 11
• Convert commonly occurring analog data /
information such as voice and video to digital data
for transmission over a either analog/digital network
• We can transmit digital data
– Faster
– Cheaper
– With fewer errors

12
• More & more signals are being transmitted/stored in digital
form so it makes sense to process them in digital form also.
• DSP systems can be designed and tested in “simulation ”
using universally available computing equipment ( e.g. PCs
with sound and vision cards ).
• Digital circuits have only two states so:
– Changes in value have little effect on digital signals
– Noise and other forms of interference have little effect on digital
signals
– Little chance of error because voltage in a digital circuit must be in
one state or the other
– Information storage is easy
– Can fabricate more digital circuitry onto integrated circuits
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• The major disadvantage is that the real-world is analog in
nature
– When dealing with analog inputs and outputs you will
always have to:
1) convert analog to digital (ADC),
2) process the digital data,
3) convert the digital data back to analog output (DAC)
• The power requirements for digital signal processing
devices can be high, thus making them unsuitable for
battery powered portable devices such as mobile telephones.
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• Signal transmission using electronic signal processing.
• Transducers convert signals from other physical waveforms
to electric current or voltage waveforms, which then are
processed, transmitted as electromagnetic waves, received
and converted by another transducer to final form.

15
• Transmission of information (signal) over a channel
• The channel may be free space, coaxial cable, fiber
optic cable

• A key component of transmission: Modulation

(Analog and Digital Communication) 16
• Signal processing deals with the analysis, study,
interpretation and manipulation of signals.
• Signals may have to be processed/transformed in
order to:
– amplify or filter out embedded information
– detect patterns
– prepare the signal to survive a transmission channel
– undo distortions contributed by a transmission channel
– compensate for sensor deficiencies
– find information encoded in a different domain.
• Ways to manipulate a • Types of processing:
– Transformation
signal:
– Filtering
– in its original medium – Detection
– or an abstract – Estimation
representation. – Recognition and
classification
• Signal can be – Coding (compression)
abstracted: – Synthesis and reproduction
– as functions of time – Recording, archiving
– Analyzing, modeling
– or spatial coordinates.
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• Signal processing is concerned with improving
the quality of the reading or signal at the
output of a measurement or communication
system, and one particular aim is to attenuate
any noise in the measurement signal that has
not been eliminated by careful design of the
measurement or communication system
– Analog signal processing
– Digital signal processing

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 Analog Signal Processing
• Filters • Voltage follower (pre-
–Passive amplifier)
–Active • Voltage comparator
• Signal amplification • Voltage-to-current converter
• Signal attenuation
• Differential amplification • Current to-voltage converter
• Signal linearization • Phase-sensitive detector
• Bias (zero drift) removal • Lock-in amplifier
• Signal Integration • Signal addition
• Signal Differentiation • Signal multiplication
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Digital Signal Processing
• Sample and hold circuit
• Analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion
• Digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion
• Digital filtering
• Autocorrelation
• Other digital signal processing operations

21
• Filter : a circuit that is designed to pass signals with
desired frequencies and reject or attenuate others
• 4 types of filters:
1. Low-pass filter: passes low frequencies and stops high
frequencies
2. High-pass filter: passes high frequencies and rejects
low frequencies
3. Band-pass filter: passes frequencies within a
frequency band and blocks or attenuates frequencies
outside the band
4. Band-reject filter: passes frequencies outside a
frequency band and blocks or attenuates frequencies
within the band
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 R
fc 
2 L
23
 R
fc 
2 L 24
25
26
27
Calculate the bandwidth of the above circuit.

28
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30
31
32
 Design a filter that passes frequency components
between fL=45 kHz and fH=55 kHz. Chose L=1
mH
1 1 1
f 0  50kHz  C  2
  10.13nF
2 LC (2 ) f 02 L 2 3 2 3
(2 ) (50 x10 ) (1x10 )
33
• Passive filters use resistors, capacitors, and
inductors (RLC networks).
• To minimize distortion in the filter
characteristic, it is desirable to use inductors
with high quality factors (remember the model
of a practical inductor includes a series
resistance), however these are difficult to
implement at frequencies below 1 kHz.
– They are particularly non-ideal (lossy)
– They are bulky and expensive

34
• Active filters overcome these drawbacks and are
realized using resistors, capacitors, and active
devices (usually op-amps) which can all be
integrated:
– Active filters replace inductors using op-amp based
equivalent circuits.

35
• Advantages of active RC filters include:
– Active filters incorporate amplifiers with the filter
elements so that the filter has gain.
– reduced size and weight
– increased reliability and improved performance
– simpler design than for passive filters and can
realize a wider range of functions as well as
providing voltage gain
– in large quantities, the cost of an IC is less than its
passive counterpart
36
• Active RC filters also have some disadvantages:
– limited bandwidth of active devices limits the
highest attainable pole frequency and therefore
applications above 100 kHz (passive RLCfilters can
be used up to 500 MHz)
– the achievable quality factor is also limited
– require power supplies (unlike passive filters)
– increased sensitivity to variations in circuit
parameters caused by environmental changes
compared to passive filters
• For many applications, particularly in voice
and data communications, the economic and
performance advantages of active RC filters
far outweigh their disadvantages.
37
• The maximum magnitude of the voltage transfer
function of a passive filter is at best equal to 1.
– Parasitic resistances and capacitances in RL can make
this value considerably lower.
• Active filters incorporate amplifiers with the filter
elements so that the filter has gain.
– Maximum of the voltage transfer function can be greater
than 1.
– fo limited by frequency of the operational amplifier

38
 Basic Active Filters
Low pass filter

1
fc 
2R f C

Rf
Gain  
Ri

A low-pass filter with a dc gain of -Rf/Ri 39

 Basic Active Filters
High pass

1
fc 
2 Ri C

Rf
Gain  
Ri

A high-pass filter with a high frequency gain of -Rf/Ri

40
 Basic Active Filters
Band pass filter

High-pass filter Low-pass filter Inverting amplifier

1 1 Rf
fL  fH  Gain  
2R1C1 2R2C2 Ri
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 Basic Active Filters
Band stop filter
Low-pass filter 1
C1 fL 
2R1C1
R1
R1 1
fH 
2R2C2
Rfb

R2 Ri Rf
Gain  
+ C2 + Ri
Vin VO
_
_

High-pass filter Inverting amplifier 42

• The most common types of active filters are
classified into four according to their frequency
response:
– Butterworth filter
– Chebyshev filter
– Elliptic (Cauer) filter
– Bessel filter

43
1. Butterworth
– Flat Pass-band.
– 20n dB per decade roll-off.
2. Chebyshev
– Pass-band ripple.
– Sharper cut-off than Butterworth.
3. Elliptic
– Pass-band and stop-band ripple.
– Even sharper cut-off.
4. Bessel
– Linear phase response – i.e. no signal distortion in
pass-band.
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45
• Used in communication systems for suppressing noise, to
isolate a communication of signal from various channels to
improve the unique message signal from a modulated signal.
• Used in instrumentation systems by designers to choose a
required frequency apparatus and detach unwanted ones.
• Used to limit the analog signal’s bandwidth before altering
them to digital signals.
• Used in audio systems by engineers to send various
frequencies to various speakers. For example, in the music
industry, record & playback applications are needed to control
the frequency components.
• Used in biomedical instruments to interface psychological
Sensors with diagnostic equipments & data logging. 46
• Signals may have to be transformed in order to:
– filter out embedded information or noise
– amplify
– prepare the signal to survive a transmission channel
– undo distortions contributed by a transmission
channel
– compensate for sensor deficiencies
– find information encoded in a different domain.
– detect patterns

47
• The op amp is a basic building block used in analog circuits.
• When combined with resistors, capacitors, and inductors, it can
perform various useful functions:
analog filtering
amplification/scaling of an input signal
sign changing (inversion) of an input signal
addition of multiple input signals
subtraction of one input signal from another
integration (over time) of an input signal
differentiation (with respect to time) of an input signal
nonlinear functions like exponential, log, sqrt, etc.

48
• A voltage follower (also called a unity-gain amplifier, a
buffer amplifier, and an isolation amplifier) is a op-amp
circuit which has a voltage gain of 1.
• So called because the output voltage directly follows the
input voltage
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• In the voltage follower Vin = Vout

• This turns out to be a very useful service, because the input

impedance of the op amp is very high, giving effective
isolation of the output from the signal source.
• You draw very little power from the signal source, avoiding
"loading" effects. This circuit is a useful first stage.
• The voltage follower is often used for the construction
of buffers for logic circuits. 50
Inverting Amplifier Non-inverting Amplifier

 RF 
RF vout  1  vS
vout  vS
RS  RS 
vout R vout RF
Gain   F Gain   1
vS RS vS RS 51
52
i1  i2  0
v1  v  vout  v 

R1 R2
v  v
 R2
v  v2  v 
R1  R2
R2
vout  (v2  v1 )
R1

53
• Very useful if you have two inputs corrupted
with the same noise
Subtract one from the other to remove
noise, remainder is the signal
• Other Applications:
e.g. an electrocardiagram measures the
potential difference between two points
on the body
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For a capacitor, Q = CV,
so that IC = dQ/dt = C·dV/dt

55
 IR

IC

iC  iR  0
dvin vout
iC  C 
dt R

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• Since the light ouput from an LED has a region where it
is linearly proportional to the forward current through the
diode, it is useful for producing a light level which is
proportional to some signal.
• The basic need for modulation is then
a device which produces a current
proportional to the input voltage of the
applied signal.
• This can be done with an op-
amp arranged as a voltage-to-
current converter.
• Modulation of an LED is one common way of
getting a signal into a fibre optic transmission line. 59
60
An anti-logarithmic amplifier is constructed by placing the diode in
series with the signal source

 qVi 
 
It can be shown that Vout   I 0 R2 e  kT 

61