Digital Signal processing

Signal – A signal is some quantity, property or variable that depends on time. A signal is any
time-varying or spatial-varying quantity. In the physical world, any quantity measurable through
time or over space can be taken as a signal.
Eg: voltage changing over time in an electronic circuit , strength of a seismic wave

Signals can be classified as

 Continuous time signals

 Discrete time signals

Continuous time signals - Continuous time signals are defined at each and every instant of time
from start to finish. A continuous-time signal can be represented by a function x(t) whose
domain is a range of numbers (t1, t2), where −∞ < t1 and t2 < ∞ . Nature’s signals are usually
continuous in time

Eg:

Notation of continuous signals

x(t)  Input

y(t)  Output

Discrete time signals - Discrete time signals are defined only at discrete instants of time. a
discrete-time signal can be represented by a function x[n], n is an integer in the range (n1, n2)
where −∞ < n1 and n2 < ∞. Discrete-time signals are often generated from corresponding
continuous-time signals through a sampling process and quantization
Eg: refer notes
Notation of Discrete signals

x[n]  Input

y[n]  Output
Signals are sometimes referred to as analog or digital. An analog signal is deemed to be a
continuous-time signal, and vice versa. Similarly, a digital signal is deemed to be a discrete-time
signal, and vice versa.

A system is any process that produces an output signal in response to an input signal.