BGS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Signals & System basic concepts

Presented by,
ANUSHA M N
Asst. Professor, Dept. of ECE,
BGSIT, B G Nagara

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• Signal:
A signal is defined as a function of one or more variables
which conveys information on the nature of a physical
phenomenon. The value of the function can be a real
valued scalar quantity, a complex valued quantity, or
perhaps a vector.

• System:
A system is defined as an entity that manipulates one or
more signals to accomplish a function, thereby yielding
new signals.

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• Continuos-Time Signal:
A signal x(t) is said to be a continuous time signal if it is
defined for all time t.

• Discrete-Time Signal:
A discrete time signal x[nT] has values specified only at
discrete points in time.
• Signal Processing:
A system characterized by the type of operation that it
performs on the signal. For example, if the operation is
linear, the system is called linear. If the operation is non-
linear, the system is said to be non-linear, and so forth.
Such operations are usually referred to as “Signal
Processing”.
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 Classification of Signals

•Deterministic Signals
A deterministic signal behaves in a fixed known way with
respect to time. Thus, it can be modeled by a known
function of time t for continuous time signals, or a known
function of a sampler number n, and sampling spacing T
for discrete time signals.

• Random or Stochastic Signals:

In many practical situations, there are signals that either
cannot be described to any reasonable degree of accuracy
by explicit mathematical formulas, or such a description
is too complicated to be of any practical use. The lack of
such a relationship implies that such signals evolve in time
in an unpredictable manner. We refer to these signals as
random. 4
 Even and Odd Signals
A continuous time signal x(t) is said to an even signal if it
satisfies the condition
x(-t) = x(t) for all t
The signal x(t) is said to be an odd signal if it satisfies the
condition
x(-t) = -x(t)
In other words, even signals are symmetric about the
vertical axis or time origin, whereas odd signals are
antisymmetric about the time origin. Similar remarks
apply to discrete-time signals.

Example:

even 5
odd odd
 Periodic Signals
A continuous signal x(t) is periodic if and only if there
exists a T > 0 such that
x(t + T) = x(t)
where T is the period of the signal in units of time.
f = 1/T is the frequency of the signal in Hz. W = 2/T is
the angular frequency in radians per second.
The discrete time signal x[nT] is periodic if and only if
there exists an N > 0 such that
x[nT + N] = x[nT]
where N is the period of the signal in number of sample
spacings.

Example:

Frequency = 5 Hz or 10 rad/s

0 0.2 0.4 6
Continuous Time Sinusoidal Signals
A simple harmonic oscillation is mathematically
described as
x(t) = Acos(wt + )
This signal is completely characterized by three
parameters:
A = amplitude, w = 2f = frequency in rad/s, and  =
phase in radians.

A T=1/f

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 Discrete Time Sinusoidal Signals
A discrete time sinusoidal signal may be expressed as
x[n] = Acos(wn + ) - < n < 
Properties:
• A discrete time sinusoid is periodic only if its frequency is a
rational number.
• Discrete time sinusoids whose frequencies are separated by
an integer multiple of 2 are identical.
• The highest rate of oscillation in a discrete time sinusoid is
attained when w =  ( or w = - ), or equivalently f = 1/2 (or f =
-1/2).
1

-1
0 2 4 6 8 10 8
 Energy and Power Signals
•A signal is referred to as an energy signal, if and only if
the total energy of the signal satisfies the condition
0<E<
•On the other hand, it is referred to as a power signal, if
and only if the average power of the signal satisfies the
condition
0<P<
•An energy signal has zero average power, whereas a power
signal has infinite energy.
•Periodic signals and random signals are usually viewed as
power signals, whereas signals that are both deterministic and
non-periodic are energy signals.

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 Basic Operations on Signals
(a) Operations performed on dependent
variables
1. Amplitude Scaling:
let x(t) denote a continuous time signal. The signal y(t)
resulting from amplitude scaling applied to x(t) is
defined by
y(t) = cx(t)
where c is the scale factor.
In a similar manner to the above equation, for discrete
time signals we write
y[nT] = cx[nT] 2x(t)
x(t)
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 2. Addition:
Let x1 [n] and x2[n] denote a pair of discrete time signals. The signal y[n] obtained by the addition of
x1[n] + x2[n] is defined as
y[n] = x1[n] + x2[n]
Example: audio mixer

3. Multiplication:
Let x1[n] and x2[n] denote a pair of discrete-time signals.
The signal y[n] resulting from the multiplication of the
x1[n] and x2[n] is defined by
y[n] = x1[n].x2[n]
Example: AM Radio Signal

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(b) Operations performed on independent
variable
• Time Scaling:
Let y(t) is a compressed version of x(t). The signal y(t)
obtained by scaling the independent variable, time t, by
a factor k is defined by
y(t) = x(kt)
– if k > 1, the signal y(t) is a compressed version of
x(t).
– If, on the other hand, 0 < k < 1, the signal y(t) is an
expanded (stretched) version of x(t).

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Example of time scaling

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Expansion and compression of the signal
0.9
e-t.
0.8
0.7 exp(-t)
0.6
0.5 exp(-2t)
0.4
exp(-0.5t)
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 5 10 15 13
Time scaling of discrete time systems

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x[n]

5
0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
10
x[0.5n]

5
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
5
x[2n]

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
n 14
Time Reversal

• This operation reflects the signal about t = 0

and thus reverses the signal on the time scale.
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x[n]

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
n
x[-n]

-5
0 1 2 3 4 5
n 15
 Time Shift
A signal may be shifted in time by replacing the independent variable n by n-k,
where k is an integer. If k is a positive integer, the time shift results in a delay
of the signal by k units of time. If k is a negative integer, the time shift results in
an advance of the signal by |k| units in time.

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x[n]

0.5
0 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
x[n+3]

1
0.5
0 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
x[n-3]

1
0.5
0 -2 0 2 n4 6 8 10 16