Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

ELE745 Digital Communications

Chapter 1 : Introduction and A review of Signals

Lian Zhao
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ryerson University

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Chap. 1.1 Overview of Digital Communication System

1. The element of a digital communication systems
Analog signal (A/D)
digital signal

Source
encoder

Channel
encoder

Pulse
modulate

Bandpass
modulate

Channel

Figure 1: Element of a digital communication system.

(a) Information sources: analog (A/D) or digital signal;
(b) Source encoding: to remove redundancy existing in the source information so that the
information can be represented by a smaller number of binary digits;
(c) Channel encoding: to introduce a controlled redundancy to information digits in
order to combat channel impairments so that communication quality can be improved
(d) Pulse modulation: to generate signal waveform which is suitable for transmission
over channel
(e) Passband modulation: translate baseband waveform gi (t) to a frequency that is much
larger than the spectral contents of gi (t) by using a carrier wave
(f) Channel: physical medium for signal propagation (wired/wireless).
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

2. Design digital communication system objective

(a) Efficient use of system resources, such as transmitted signal power and frequency
bandwidth
(b) Accurate transmission (low probability of transmission error)
(c) Simplicity of the transmitter and receiver both hardware and software structure.

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Analog vs. Digital Messages

Example: If the waveform transmitted equals 5V at t = t0 , and the noise/distortion changes
this value to 5.05, this value is what we hear/see/receive. There is no chance to going back to
5V.
For digital, in this case, we will transmit a representation of the signal x(t).
2
2.5
1.5

2
1.5

1
0.5

0.5

0
0.5

0.5

1
1

1.5
2

1.5

2.5
2

2
Time [sec]

x 10

2
Time [sec]

4
3

x 10

Figure 2: Digital transmission.

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Knowing the format of the transmitted signal (but not the order of the pulses), we can still
correctly identify the most likely (probability theory) pulse train which might have been
transmitted. Hence
y(t) 0 1

1 5

This symbolic representation is the biggest advantage of digital communication systems.

Theoretically (and practically) it is possible to receive and decode a signal such that
y(t) = x(t). This is simply a consequence of the fact that there is only a finite number of
possible signals (binary, M-ary) we can transmit.

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Advantages of Digital Communication

More tolerant to channel noise

With amplitude shift keying, as long as the noise does not change the amplitude from
one level to another level, the original bits can be recovered.
With QAM: as long as the received signal is more close to the original symbol than
its neighboring symbols.
Each repeater can regenerate the analog modulated signals from demodulated bits
(noise do not accumulate).

Source coding: can apply digital compression techniques to reduce data rate subject to
distortion criterion.
Error correction coding: can insert parity bits before sending data to allow
detection/correction of errors.
Different signals can be multiplexed more easily (Internet packets can contain any types
of signals, cell phones can send different types of data).
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

How fast can we transmit?

Channel capacity depends on bandwidth, modulation, and SNR.
The fundamental parameters and physical limitations that control the rate and quality are
the channel Bandwidth B and signal power Ps .
Channel bandwidth: the range of frequencies that it can transmit with reasonable
fidelity.
Signal bandwidth: the highest frequency component inside the signal.
Successful transmission requires that the channel bandwidth exceeds the signal
bandwidth.
Signal power Ps is related to the quality of transmission.
From information theorey point of view, B and Ps are, to some extent, exchangeable.

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Channel Capacity and Data Rate

B limits the signal bandwidth that can successfully pass through; SNR at the receiver
determines the recoverability of the transmitted signal.
Channel capacity: the peak throughput that can be reliably carried by a channel.
For AWGN channel, the well-known Shannon equation is given as
C = B log2 (1 + SN R)

(bits/s)

C is the upper bound on the rate of information transmission per second.

The capacity only points out this possibility, however; it does not specify how it is to be
realized. Shannon equation represents the upper limit on the rate of communication over
a channel. It would be achievable only with a system of monstrous and impractical
complexity.

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Chap. 1.2 An Overview of Signals and Systems

Signals: physical quantities that vary with time, space, etc.
Signal measurements:
Signal energy:
Eg =

g (t)dt =

|g(t)|2 dt

for real-valued g(t) and complex-valued g(t) respectively. Observe that

|g(t)|2 = g(t) g (t), where * denotes complex conjugate.
There are a large class of important signals for which Eg is not finite. For these we will
use signal power as a measure
! T2
1
Pg = lim
|g(t)|2 dt
T T T
2
Both Eg and Pg do not indicate the true/actual energy and power. Since energy/power
depends on signal AND the load. Hence, if g(t) is a voltage waveform, then Eg and Pg
represent UNIT energy/power delivered across a 1- resistor.
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Units of Signal Energy and Power

The standard units of signal energy and powe are the joule (J) and the watt (W) respectively.
However, in practice, logarithmic scale is often used to describe signal power. This notation
saves the trouble of dealing with decimal points and zeros when the signal power is very large
or small. As a convention, a signal with average power of P wats can be said to have power of
[10 log10 P ] dBw or

[30 + 10 log10 P ] dBm

For example, -30 dBm represents signal power of 106 W in linear scale.

Discuss Example 2.1 and Example 2.2 in textbook P22.

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Classification of signals
Deterministic and random signals

Deterministic signal: there is no uncertainty with its value at any time. For example:
x(t) = 5 cos(10t)
Random signal: some uncertainty. For example, noise process. We then analyze its
statistical properties.

Periodic and nonperiodic signals: a signal x(t) is called periodic in time if there exits a
constant T0 > 0 such that
x(t) = x(t + T0 )

for < t <

The smallest value of T0 that satisfies this condition is called the period of x(t).
Continuous time and discrete time signals

A continuous time signal x(t) is a continuous function of time and t can take any real
value; For example: x(t) = 5 cos(10t), audio and vedio recordings.
A discrete signal x(kT ) is one that exists only at discrete times. Sometimes, we
denote x(kT ) as x(k) where k { , 3, 2 1, 0, 1, 2, 3 }.

Analog and digital signals

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

A signal whose amplitude can have any value in a continuous range is an analog
signal.
A digital signal is one whose amplitude can take on only a finite number of values.
The term continuous time and discrete time qualify the nature of signal along the
time (horizontal) axis.
The term analog and digital describes the nature of the signal amplitude (vertical)
axis.

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Some useful signal operations

Time shift g(t) g(t t0 )
Time scale g(t) g(at). If a > 1, the scaling is compression, if a < 1, the scaling is
expansion (refer textbook p30, Example 2.3).
Time reversal:
g(t)
g(t)

mirror image relative to the vertical axis

g(t)

g((t t0 ))

mirror image relative to t = t0

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Typical signals
Unit Impulse Function (t) has zero amplitude everywhere except at t = 0, where its
magnitude is infinitely large such that the area under its curve is unity.
(t) = 0

t %= 0

(t)(t T ) = (T )(t T )
!

(t) dt = 1

The unit step function u(t)

x(t)(t t0 ) dt = x(t0 )

1 t0
u(t) =
0 o.w.

The unit comb function: is a uniformly spaced sequence of unit impulses

comb(t) =

n=

(t n)
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

The unit rectangle function:

rect(t) =

The unit triangle function

|t| < 1/2

1/2 |t| = 1/2

|t| > 1/2

1 |t| |t| < 1

tri(t) =

0
|t| 1

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

The unit sinc function

sinc(x) =

sin(x)
x

1. sinc(x) is an even function of x.

2. sinc(x)=0 when sin x = 0 except at x = 0, where it is determined. This means sinc(x)=0
for x = , 2, 3, .
3. When evaluate the value at t = 0, we use
lim sinc(x) = lim

x0

x0

sin(x)
cos(x)
= lim
=1
x0
x
1

4. sinc(x) is the product of an oscillating signal sin x (of period 2) and a monotonically
decreasing function 1/x. Therefore, sinc(x) exhibits sinusoidal oscillations of period 2,
with amplitude decreasing continuously as 1/x.
5. In summary, sinc(x) is an even oscillating function with decreasing amplitude. It has a
unit peak at x = 0 and zero crossing at integer multiples of .

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Fourier Series of Periodic Signals

Given a periodic waveform xp (t) (with period T0 ), we can expand this waveform in a Fourier
series as
'
xp (t) = n= Dn ej2nf0 t
(1)
where

!
1
1
Dn =
xp (t) ej2nf0 t dt and f0 =
(2)
T0 T0
T0
The FS coefficients Dn , n = , 2, 1, 0, 1 are usually complex valued. We can use
the set of FS coefficients {Dn } to sketch the two-sided line spectrum.
Example

'
: pulse train xp (t) =
(t nT0 ). Then xp is periodic, and its FS as
! T0 /2
1
1
1
Dn =
xp (t)ej2nf0 t dt =
(f0 =
)
T0 T0 /2
T0
T0

As a result, the pulse train can be written as

xp (t) =

1 % j2nf0 t
e
T0 n=

(3)
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Considering the Fourier Transform pair:

exp(j2f0 t) (f f0 )
Taking Fourier transform to both sides, we obtain the FT of comb function:
(
)

1 %
n
F(xp (t)) =
f
T0 n=
T0

To

fo

(4)

2fo

Figure 3: Comb function and its Fourier transform.

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

How to relate FS to FT?

FT Can be shown to be a limiting case of the FS as T , xT approaches to a non-periodic
function. In this case, FS FT, such that
!
!
1
X() = lim
x(t)ejt dt
x(t) =
X()ejt d
T0 T
2
0
while

1
Dn =
T0

we can have
Dn =

xp (t)ejn0 t dt
T0

1
1
X (n0 ) =
Xf (nf0 )
T0
T0

Example 2: rectangular pulse train with width and period T0 .

Since

( )
t
A rect
A sinc (f )

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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

and 0 = 2/T0 , we have
A
A
A
Dn =
sinc(f )|f =nf0 =
sinc( nf0 ) =
sinc
T0
T0
T0

n
T0

where

sin()

Review: sinc function property: (1) sinc(0)=1; (2) an even function; (3) equal zeroes at
= , 2,
sinc() =

Lets exercise A = 3, = 1 msec, T0 = 2 msec.

Since
3 rect
Then
Dn

t
103

A sinc(f )

* n +
1
A
X(nf0 ) =
sinc(nf0 ) = 1.5sinc
T0
T0
2
20

(5)

Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Example 3: A truncated sinusoid can be
x(t)
cos(1000t)
(
)
t
rect
1 103

t
= 1.5 cos(1000t) rect
1 103
[( 1000) + ( + 1000)]
(
)
103
3
10 sinc
2

here T0 = 2 msec and = 1 msec.

we have Fourier transform of x(t) as
( 3
)
( 3
)
10
10
3
3
X() = 1.5 10 sinc
( 1000) + 1.5 10 sinc
( + 1000)
2
2
Therefore,
Dn

=
=
=

1
X()| = n0
T
,
( 3
)
( 3
)1.5 103
10
10
sinc
(n

1000)
+
sinc
(n
+
1000)
0
0
2 103
2
2
.
*
+
*
+/
0.75 sinc
(n 1) + sinc
(n + 1)
2
2
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Some Remarks:
From {Dn }, we can have {|Dn |}-magnitude spectrum, and {Dn } phase spectrum. In
the examples given, all Dn s are real values, real value corresponds to 0 phase angle, and
negative value corresponds to angle.
What is happening with negative frequencies? If we have a real value signal xT , it has
fourier series terms
Dn ej2nf0 t

and Dn ej2nf0 t

with Dn = Dn . Let
Dn = |Dn |ejn

Dn = Dn = |Dn |ejn

then,
Dn e

j2nf0 t

j2nf0 t

+ Dn e

ej(n0 t+n ) + ej(n0 t+n )

= 2|Dn |
2
= 2|Dn | cos(n0 t + n )

Hence, negative frequencies are essential, they are the product of the mathematical
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

operations. For real-valued periodic functions, we have FS expansions
xp (t) =

Dn ej2nf0 t = c0 +

n=

where

cn [cos(n0 t + n )]

n=1

|D |
0
cn =
2|Dn |

Hence,

n=0
n = 1, 2,

Two sided line spectrum {Dn } or {|Dn |} and {Dn }

One-sided line spectrum {cn } and {n }

One-sided RMS line spectrum {Rn } and {n }, where

c0 = |D0 |
n=0

c
n
=
Rn =
2|Dn |
n = 1, 2,
2

n = n = Dn n = 0, 1, 2

|Rn | is the RMS value of the cosine component corresponding to the frequency
= n0 .
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Chap 1: Introduction / Review of Signals

Parsevals Theorem
Rayleighs Energy Theorem : given x(t) X(), then the energy of x(t) is
!
!
1
2
Ex =
x (t) dt =
|X()|2 d
2

Given the periodic function g(t) with the FS expansion {Dn }, then the average power is
g(t) = C0 +

Cn cos(n0 t + n )

Pg = C02 +

Pg =

n=1

g(t) = D0 +

Dn ej2nf0 t

n=(&=0)

for real g(t)

n=

1% 2
C
2 n=1 n

|Dn |2

Pg = D02 + 2

n=1

|Dn |2

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