Signals and System

Basics
Dr.Suja P.

1
 Signals
• Information or data that varies with time.
– Time is the independent variable that we’ll deal with in
electrical engineering.
• Examples:
– TV signal, radio signal, mp3
– Electrical signals (voltages and currents)
– Acoustic signals (both analog and digital)
– Video signals
• Variation in the intensity of a color
– Biological signals
• DNA sequence
– Economic signals – stock prices
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 SIGNALS
Signals are functions of independent variables that carry
information. For example:
• Electrical signals --- voltages and currents in a circuit
• Acoustic signals --- audio or speech signals (analog or
digital)

Spectrogram

Time-domain
Speech signal

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 SIGNALS
• Video signals --- intensity variations in an image (e.g. a
CAT scan)

• Biological signals --- sequence of bases in a gene

DNA

Its signal
representation

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 Signal
• What is a signal
• A description of how one parameter is related
to another parameter
• Examples
– The voltage varies with time
v

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 Signal
– The Speech Signal

– The ECG Signal

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• For many cases, x[n] is obtained by
sampling x(t) as:
• x[n] = x(nT) , n =0,+1,+2,…

• Are there any requirements for the

sampling?

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Classification of signals (cont.)
 Signal
– The image

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 Signal
– The image

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 Signal
• It is the variation pattern that conveys the information, in a
signal

• Signal may exist in many forms like acoustic, image, video,

electrical, heat & light signal
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 Mathematical Representation
• A signal can be represented as a function of one or more
independent variables
• Examples

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 THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
• For electrical signal the value of voltage or current changes with time,
hence time is called independent variable and voltage or current is
called dependent variable

• Independent variable can be continuous

— Trajectory of a space shuttle
— Mass density in a cross-section of a brain

• Independent variable can be discrete

— DNA base sequence
— Digital image pixels

• Independent variable can be 1-D, 2-D, ••• N-D

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 THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
What are the independent variables in these signals?
(i) Speech (ii) CAT scan image (iii) DNA sequence
(i) Time (ii) Spatial Location (iii) Location on DNA molecule

However, we will focus on a single independent variable called time.

Continuous (CT) signals: x(t), t
Discrete (DT) signals: x[n], n

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 Mathematical Representation
– The image is a function of two spatial variables

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 Continuous-time signals
• A value of signal exists at every instant of time
Voltage, current, pressure, temperature,
velocity…

Independent variable

Independent variable

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 Discrete-time signals
• The value of signal exists only at equally
spaced discrete points in time
• DNA base sequence.
• Population of the nth generation of a certain
species

Independent variable

Independent variable

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 Discrete-time signals
• Why to discretize
• How to discretize
– How closely spaced are the samples
• Distinction between discrete & digital signals
• How to denote discrete signals
• Is the image a discrete or continuous signal
– The image is generally considered to be a continuous
variable
– Sampling can however be used to obtain a discrete, two
dimensional signal (sampled image)

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 Human-made DT signals
• Why do we like digital signals?

Why DT?
Can be processed by modern digital computers and digital
signal processors (DSPs).

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 Limitations of Analog Signal Processing
• Accuracy limitations due to
– Component tolerances
– Undesired nonlinearities
• Limited repeatability due to
– Tolerances
– Changes in environmental conditions
• Temperature
• Vibration
• Sensitivity to electrical noise
• Limited dynamic range for voltage and currents
• Inflexibility to changes
• Difficulty of implementing certain operations
– Nonlinear operations
– Time-varying operations
• Difficulty of storing information

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 Notation
• A continuous-time signal is represented by
enclosing the independent variable (time) in
parentheses ()

• A discrete-time signal is represented by enclosing

the independent variable (index) in square
brackets []

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• Most of the signals in the physical world are CT signals—E.g.
voltage & current, pressure, temperature, velocity, etc.
• Most real-world signals are analog
– They are continuous in time and amplitude
– Convert to voltage or currents using sensors and transducers
• Analog circuits process these signals using
– Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Amplifiers,…
• Analog signal processing examples
– Audio processing in FM radios
– Video processing in traditional TV sets

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Continuous & Discrete-Time Mathematical Models of
Systems

• Continuous-Time
Systems
• Most continuous time systems
represent how continuous signals
are transformed via differential
equations. First order differential equations
• E.g. circuit, car velocity

• Discrete-Time Systems
• Most discrete time systems
represent how discrete signals are
transformed via difference
equations
• E.g. bank account, discrete car
velocity system
First order difference equations
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 System
• An entity that responds to a signal
Shows inter-relations of many signals involved in the implementation of a complex
system

input system output

• Examples
– Circuit

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 How is a System Represented?
• A system takes a signal as an input and transforms it
into another signal

Input signal Output signal

System
x(t) y(t)

• In a very broad sense, a system can be represented

as the ratio of the output signal over the input signal

– That way, when we “multiply” the system by the input

signal, we get the output signal

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 Examples of Systems
– The camera

Image

– The Speech Recognition System

Identified

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 EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS
•An RLC circuit

•What is the input signal?

• x(t) (the D.C. source)
•What is the output signal?
• y(t) (the signal across capacitor)
•What is the system?
• The whole RLC network

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 EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS
•Dynamics of an aircraft or space vehicle
•An algorithm for analyzing financial and economic factors to predict bond
prices
•An algorithm for post-flight analysis of a space launch
•An edge detection algorithm for medical images

What are the inputs and what are the outputs in above examples?

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 Examples of Systems
• An RLC circuit

• An edge detection algorithm for medical

images.
• A DSP system in a cell phone
– How many systems are in a cell phone?

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 System Interconnections
• Doing stuff to inputs to produce outputs.
– Transformations, shifting, scaling, inverting

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 Signal Properties
• On this course, we shall be particularly interested in signals with certain
properties:
• Periodic signals: a signal is periodic if it repeats itself after a fixed period
T, i.e. x(t) = x(t+T) for all t.  A sin(t) signal is periodic.
• Even and odd signals: a signal is even if x(t) = x(-t) (i.e. it can be reflected
in the axis at zero).  A signal is odd if -x(t) = x(-t).  Examples are cos(t) and
sin(t) signals, respectively.
• Exponential and sinusoidal signals: a signal is (real) exponential if it can
be represented as x(t) = Ceat.  A signal is (complex) exponential if it can be
represented in the same form  but C and a are complex numbers.
• Step and pulse signals: A pulse signal is one which is nearly completely
zero, apart from a short spike, d(t). A step signal is zero up to a certain
time, and then a constant value after that time, u(t).

• These properties define a large class of tractable, useful signals and will
be further considered in the coming lectures

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 Properties of a System
• Causal: a system is causal if the output at a time,
only depends on input values up to that time.
• Linear: a system is linear if the output of the scaled
sum of two input signals is the equivalent scaled
sum of outputs
• Time-invariance: a system is time invariant if the
system’s output is the same, given the same input
signal, regardless of time.
• These properties define a large class of tractable,
useful systems and will be further considered in
the coming lectures
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 How Are Signal & Systems Related (i)?
• How to design a system to process a signal in particular ways?
• Design a system to restore or enhance a particular signal
– Remove high frequency background communication noise
– Enhance noisy images from spacecraft

• Assume a signal is represented as

– x(t) = d(t) + n(t)
• Design a system to remove the unknown “noise” component
n(t), so that y(t)  d(t)

x(t) = d(t) + n(t) System y(t)  d(t)

?
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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.

35
 Digital Signal Processing
• Represent signals by a sequence of numbers
– Sampling or analog-to-digital conversions
• Perform processing on these numbers with a digital processor
– Digital signal processing
• Reconstruct analog signal from processed numbers
– Reconstruction or digital-to-analog conversion

digital digital
analog signal signal analog
signal
A/D DSP D/A signal

• Analog input – analog output

– Digital recording of music
• Analog input – digital output
– Touch tone phone dialing
• Digital input – analog output
– Text to speech
• Digital input – digital output
– Compression of a file on computer
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37
 Digital
DigitalSignal
SignalProcessing
Processing
--key
keyissues
issues

1. Build a mathematical model of the system.

2. Design algorithms and formulations for the model

3. Apply the algorithms to the input data and calculate

the output data

4. convert the data to the time domain

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 It sounds simple,
but something does not fit in

What is it?

The sequence of data

x(n) = [x(0), x(1), x(2), ........x(N-1)]

seems to be unrelated to time and frequency. 39

In fact, the data may have nothing to do with time.

e.g., the intensity of a row of pixels in an image

x(0) = 255
x(1) = 255
x(2) = 128
x(3) = 128
x(4) = 255
x(5) = 255

x(n)= [ 255,255,128,128,255,255]

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 DSP is Everywhere
• Sound applications
– Compression, enhancement, special effects, synthesis, recognition, echo cancellation,…
– Cell Phones, MP3 Players, Movies, Dictation, Text-to-speech,…
• Communication
– Modulation, coding, detection, equalization, echo cancellation,…
– Cell Phones, dial-up modem, DSL modem, Satellite Receiver,…
• Automotive
– ABS, GPS, Active Noise Cancellation, Cruise Control, Parking,…
• Medical
– Magnetic Resonance, Tomography, Electrocardiogram,…
• Military
– Radar, Sonar, Space photographs, remote sensing,…
• Image and Video Applications
– DVD, JPEG, Movie special effects, video conferencing,…
• Mechanical
– Motor control, process control, oil and mineral prospecting,…

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 Pros and Cons of Digital Signal Processing
• Pros
– Accuracy can be controlled by choosing word length
– Repeatable
– Sensitivity to electrical noise is minimal
– Dynamic range can be controlled using floating point numbers
– Flexibility can be achieved with software implementations
– Non-linear and time-varying operations are easier to implement
– Digital storage is cheap
– Digital information can be encrypted for security
– Price/performance and reduced time-to-market
• Cons
– Sampling causes loss of information
– A/D and D/A requires mixed-signal hardware
– Limited speed of processors
– Quantization and round-off errors

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 What Is the Signal Processing Toolbox?

The Signal Processing Toolbox is a collection of tools or functions expressed

mostly in M-files, that implement a variety of signal processing tasks.

Command line functions for: Interactive tools (GUIs) for:

• Analog and digital filter analysis • Filter design and analysis

• Digital filter implementation • Window design and analysis
• FIR and IIR digital filter design • Signal plotting and analysis
• Analog filter design • Spectral analysis
• Statistical signal processing and • Filtering signals
spectral analysis
• Waveform generation

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Differences between Frequency Domain and
Time Domain
• The time-domain representation gives the amplitudes of the signal at
the instants of time during which it was sampled. However, in many
cases you need to know the frequency content of a signal rather than
the amplitudes of the individual samples.
• Fourier's theorem states that any waveform in the time domain can be
represented by the weighted sum of sines and cosines. The same
waveform then can be represented in the frequency domain as a pair of
amplitude and phase values at each component frequency.
• You can generate any waveform by adding sine waves, each with a
particular amplitude and phase. The following figure shows the original
waveform, labeled sum, and its component frequencies. The
fundamental frequency is shown at the frequency f0, the second
harmonic at frequency 2f0, and the third harmonic at frequency 3f0.

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In the frequency domain, you
can separate conceptually the
sine waves that add to form the
complex time-domain signal. The
amplitude of each frequency line
is the amplitude of the time
waveform for that frequency
component. The representation
of a signal in terms of its
individual frequency
components is the frequency-
domain representation of the
signal. The frequency-domain
representation might provide
more insight about the signal
and the system from which it
was generated

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View the difference

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Signal synthesis

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 Classification of signals
• 1. CT and DT signals:

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 Classification of signals
• Analog Signal and Digital Signal

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2. Even and odd signals:
Even:
                          x(t) = x(-t)
                         x[n] = x[-n]
Odd:
                          x(t) = −x(-t)
                         x[n] = −x[-n]

Classification of signals (cont.)

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3. Periodic and non-periodic signals:
 CT signal: if x(t) = x(t + T),
then x(t) is periodic.
 Smallest T=Fundamental period: To
 Fundamental frequency fo = 1/To (Hz or cycles/second)
 Angular frequency: o = 2 /To (rad/seconds)

 DT signal: if x[n] = x[n + N], then x[n] is periodic.

 min(No): fundamental period
 Fo = 1/No (cycles/sample)
 =2 /N (rads/sample).

 Note: A sampled CT periodic signal may not be DT periodic.

Any Condition addition of two periodic CT signals, resultant
must be periodic signal ?

Classification of signals (cont.)

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• 4. Deterministic and random signals.
• Deterministic signal: No uncertainty with
respect to its value at any time
• Completely specified at any time

• Random signal: Uncertain before it

occurs. E.g., thermal noise.

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• Energy and power signals:

• CT signal x(t):

 Energy: E =

 Power: P =

a signal is a power signal if its power is finite and its energy is infinite. And

the signal is an energy signal if its energy is finite and power is zero.

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• DT signal x[n]:

• Energy: E =

• Power:

• Energy signal: if 0 < E <

• Power signal: if 0 < P <

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 Basic Sequences and Operations

• Delaying (Shifting) a sequence

1.5

• Unit sample (impulse) sequence 0.5

0
-10 -5 0 5 10
1.5

• Unit step sequence 0.5

0
-10 -5 0 5 10
1

0.5

• Exponential sequences 0
-10 -5 0 5 10

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 Lecture 1: Summary
• Signals and systems are pervasive in modern engineering
courses:
– Electrical circuits
– Physical models and control systems
– Digital media (music, voice, photos, video)

• In studying the general properties of signals and systems,

you can:
– Design systems to remove noise/enhance measurement from
audio and picture/video data
– Investigate stability of physical structures
– Control the performance mechanical and electrical devices
• This will be the foundation for studying systems and
signals as a generic subject on this course.
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 Links
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBMGMF-
DAVUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHm2pQmiSM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rsR_TStaA

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up55tuwestg

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3DLpradBNE

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Sampling

Basics

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• A digital signal is superior to an analog signal
because it is more robust to noise and can
easily be recovered, corrected and amplified.
For this reason, the tendency is to change an
analog signal to digital data.

60
 Why is Sampling Important?
• For many systems (e.g. Matlab, …) designing and
processing discrete-time systems is more efficient and
more general compared to performing continuous-time
system design.
– How does Simulink perform continuous-time system simulation?
– The signals are sampled and the systems are approximately
integrated in discrete time

• Mainly due to the dramatic development of digital

technology resulting in inexpensive, lightweight,
programmable and reproducible discrete-time systems.
Widely used for communication

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 What is Discrete Time Sampling?
• Sampling a continuous function

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 What is Discrete Time Sampling?
• Sampling is the transformation of a continuous signal into
a discrete signal
x(t), T is the sampling
x[n] period

t=nT
• Widely applied in digital analysis systems
x(t) Discrete x[n] Discrete y[n] Signal y(t)
Time sampler time system reconstruction

1. Sample the continuous time signal

2. Design and process discrete time signal
3. Convert back to continuous time
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64
Sampling a Continuous-Time Signal
• Clearly for a finite sample period T, it is not possible to represent every
uncountable, infinite-dimensional continuous-time signal with a
countable, infinite-dimensional discrete-time signal.

x1(t),
x2(t),
x3(t),
x[n]

t=nT

• In general, an infinite number of CT signals can generate a DT signal.

• However, if the signal is band (frequency) limited, and the samples are
sufficiently close, it is possible to uniquely reconstruct the original CT
signal from the sampled signal
65
Frequency

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 Sampling
• Sampling can be done for functions varying in space, time, or
any other dimension, and similar results are obtained in two or
more dimensions.
• The sampling frequency or sampling rate, fs, is the average
number of samples obtained in one second (samples per
second), thus fs= 1/T
• A sample is a value or set of values at a point in time and/or
space
• A sampler is a subsystem or operation that extracts samples
from a continuous signal.
• A theoretical ideal sampler produces samples equivalent to the
instantaneous value of the continuous signal at the desired
points.

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 Sampling
• Analog signal is sampled every TS secs.
• Ts is referred to as the sampling interval.
• fs = 1/Ts is called the sampling rate or sampling
frequency.
• It is the average number of samples obtained in
one second (samples per second)
According to the Nyquist theorem, the
sampling rate must be
at least 2 times the highest frequency
contained in the signal.

4.68
 Sampling Theorem
• The sample time for converting a continuous
time signal into a sampled, discrete time signal
is determined by the Nyquist rate, amongst
other things.
• The signal must satisfy the relationship:

• If the signal is to be preserved exactly.

• Information in frequencies higher than this will
be lost when the signal is sampled.
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 Sampling
• How sampling is done?
• First obtain signal values from the continuous signal at regular time-
intervals (Ts) which is sampling time and its reciprocal is fs sampling
frequency
• The result of this process is just a sequence of numbers.
• Our discrete time signal will be denoted as x[n] where n is index.
• As sampling interval Ts is defined, sampling just extracts the signals
value at all integer multiples of Ts such that
x[n] = x(n·Ts)
• At this point (after sampling), our signal is not yet completely digital
because the values x[n] can still take on any number from a
continuous range.
• So we use the terms discrete-time signal.

70
 Definition of Impulse Train Sampling
• We need to have a convenient way in
which to represent the sampling of a CT
signal at regular intervals
• A common/useful way to do this is through
the use of a periodic impulse train signal,
p(t), multiplied by the CT signal

T
– Ts is the sampling period
– ws=2p/T is the sampling
frequency
• This is known as impulse train sampling.
Note xp(t) is still a continuous time signal
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 Under Sampling
• In Undersampling a band pass signal is
sampled slower than its Nyquist rate.
• When one undersamples a bandpass signal,
the samples are indistinguishable from the
samples of a low-frequency samples of the
high-frequency signal.

73
 Oversampling
• In Oversampling a signal is sampled faster
than its Nyquist rate.
• Oversampling is used in most modern analog-
to-digital converters to reduce the distortion
or noise effects introduced by practical digital-
to-analog converters.

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 Example 1
For an intuitive example of the Nyquist theorem, let us
sample a simple sine wave at three sampling rates: fs = 4f
(2 times the Nyquist rate), fs = 2f (Nyquist rate), and
fs = f (one-half the Nyquist rate). Figures in the next slide
shows the sampling and the subsequent recovery of the
signal.

It can be seen that sampling at the Nyquist rate can create

a good approximation of the original sine wave (part a).
Oversampling in part b can also create the same
approximation, but it is redundant and unnecessary.
Sampling below the Nyquist rate (part c) does not produce
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a signal that looks like the original sine wave.
Recovery of a sampled sine wave for different sampling rates

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 Example 2
Consider the revolution of a hand of a clock. The second
hand of a clock has a period of 60 s. According to the
Nyquist theorem, we need to sample the hand every 30 s
(Ts = T or fs = 2f ). In Figure 1.a, the sample points, in
order, are 12, 6, 12, 6, 12, and 6. The receiver of the
samples cannot tell if the clock is moving forward or
backward. In part b, we sample at double the Nyquist
rate (every 15 s). The sample points are 12, 3, 6, 9, and
12. The clock is moving forward. In part c, we sample
below the Nyquist rate (Ts = T or fs = f ). The sample points
are 12, 9, 6, 3, and 12. Although the clock is moving
forward, the receiver thinks that the clock is moving
backward.
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Sampling of a clock with only one hand

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 Quantization
• Sampling results in a series of pulses of varying
amplitude values ranging between two limits: a
min and a max.
• The amplitude values are infinite between the
two limits.
• We need to map the infinite amplitude values
onto a finite set of known values.
• This is achieved by dividing the distance between
min and max into L zones, each of height 
 = (max - min)/L

4.83
 Quantization Levels

• The midpoint of each zone is assigned a

value from 0 to L-1 (resulting in L values)
• Each sample falling in a zone is then
approximated to the value of the midpoint.

4.84
 Quantization Zones
• Assume we have a voltage signal with
amplitutes Vmin=-20V and Vmax=+20V.
• We want to use L=8 quantization levels.
• Zone width = (20 - -20)/8 = 5
• The 8 zones are: -20 to -15, -15 to -10, -10
to -5, -5 to 0, 0 to +5, +5 to +10, +10 to +15,
+15 to +20
• The midpoints are: -17.5, -12.5, -7.5, -2.5,
2.5, 7.5, 12.5, 17.5
4.85
 Assigning Codes to Zones
• Each zone is then assigned a binary code.
• The number of bits required to encode the zones,
or the number of bits per sample as it is
commonly referred to, is obtained as follows:
nb = log2 L
• Given our example, nb = 3
• The 8 zone (or level) codes are therefore: 000,
001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111
• Assigning codes to zones:
– 000 will refer to zone -20 to -15
– 001 to zone -15 to -10, etc.

4.86
Quantization and encoding of a sampled signal

87
 Quantization Error
• When a signal is quantized, we introduce an error
- the coded signal is an approximation of the
actual amplitude value.
• The difference between actual and coded value
(midpoint) is referred to as the quantization error.
• The more zones, the smaller  which results in
smaller errors.
• But, the more zones the more bits required to
encode the samples -> higher bit rate

88
Convolution

Dr. Suja P.
 Significance of Convolution

• To characterize a shift-invariant linear system,

we need to measure only one thing:
• “the way the system responds to a unit
impulse.”
• This response is called the impulse response
function of the system. Once we have measured
this function, we can (in principle) predict how
the system will respond to any other possible
stimulus.
 Significance of Convolution

• Convolution is a mathematical way of

combining two signals to form a third signal. It
is the single most important technique
in Digital Signal Processing.
• Convolution is important because it relates the
three signals of interest: the input signal, the
output signal, and the impulse response.
• Convolution helps to understand a system’s
behavior based on current and past events.
 Importance of linearity and time invariance
in convolution
• The importance of linearity derives from the basic notion
that for a linear system if the system inputs can be
decomposed as a linear combination of some basic inputs
and the system response is known for each of the basic
inputs, then the response can be constructed as the same
linear combination of the responses to each of the basic
inputs.
• Because of time invariance, once the response to one
impulse at any time position is known, then the response
to an impulse at any other arbitrary time position is also
known.
 Strategy
• Decompose input signal into linear
combination of basic signals
• Choose basic signals so that response easy to
calculate Signals (or functions) can be
decomposed as a linear combination of basic
signals in a wide variety of ways. For system
that are both linear and time-invariant, there
are two particularly useful choices for these
basic signals
• Delayed impulses Convolution
• Complex exponentials Fourier Analysis
 Convolution
• Linear - aperiodic
• Circular - periodic
Multiplication of a signal x(n) with a shifted unit sample sequence
Method 1 – Tabular method
Method 2 - Multiplication
Method 3
Visualizing Convolution – example 1

• There are four basic steps to the

calculation:

• The operation has a simple graphical

interpretation:
• The fact that the output has a duration
longer than the input indicates that
convolution often acts like a low pass filter
and smoothes the signal.
• Length of convolution signal = length of x[n]
+h[h]-1
Example 2
 Difference
• Linear convolution is the basic operation to
calculate the output for any linear time
invariant system given its input and its impulse
response.  This convolution is used for infinite
signal.
• Circular convolution is the same thing but
considering that the support of the signal is
periodic 
 Circular Convolution
• The circular convolution is defined on time-limited
sequences of length NN.
• The circular convolution is periodic with period NN.
• In the circular convolution, the shifted sequence wraps
around the summation window, when it would leave
the region.
• In the finite discrete domain, the convolution
theorem holds for the circular convolution, not for the
linear convolution. Linear convolution can be obtained
by appropriate zero-padding of the sequences.