Signals & Systems B38SA 2018

Prof. Y. Wiaux

Chapter 1 Assignment

Question 1 - Theory - 10 marks

Consider two continuous-time sinusoidal signals

x1 (t) = A1 cos(ω1 t)
x2 (t) = A2 cos(ω2 t)

Compute the normalised average power of the sum of the sinusoids x(t) = x1 (t) + x2 (t) in the cases the sinusoids
have:

• identical frequencies (i.e. ω1 = ω2 = ω)

• different frequencies.

Solution:

x(t) = x1 (t) + x2 (t) = A1 cos(ω1 t) + A2 cos(ω2 t)

• In the case sinusoids have identical frequencies (ω1 = ω2 = ω)

x(t) = A1 cos(ωt) + A2 cos(ωt) = (A1 + A2 ) cos(ωt)

By definition, the normalized average power for x(t) is

Px = hx2 (t)i.

The square of the signal x(t) is

x2 (t) =(A1 + A2 )2 cos2 (ωt)

1 1
=(A1 + A2 )2 ( + cos(2ωt))
2 2
2 2 1 1
=(A1 + A2 + 2A1 A2 )( + cos(2ωt))
2 2
A21 A22 A2 A2
= + + A1 A2 + 1 cos(2ωt) + 2 cos(2ωt) + A2 A2 cos(2ωt).
2 2 2 2

A21 A2 A2 A2
Px = hx2 (t)i = + 2 + A1 A2 + 1 hcos(2ωt)i + 2 hcos(2ωt)i + A2 A2 hcos(2ωt)i.
2 2 2 2

The average of the cosine terms is zero therefore the normalized average power is reduced to:

A21 A2
Px = + 2 + A1 A2 .
2 2
Alternative solution:

1
 Signals & Systems B38SA 2018
Prof. Y. Wiaux

As shown in Example 1.9, the normalized average power in a sinusoidal signal f with an amplitude of A is:

A2
Pf = .
2
Therefore, the normalized average power of x(t) is:

(A1 + A2 )2 A2 + A22 + 2A1 A2

Px = = 1 .
2 2

• In the case sinusoids have different frequencies

x(t) = A1 cos(ω1 t) + A2 cos(ω2 t)

By definition, the normalized average power for x(t) is

Px = hx2 (t)i.

The square of the signal x(t) is

x2 (t) =A21 cos2 (ω1 t) + A22 cos2 (ω2 t) + 2A1 A2 cos(ω1 t) cos(ω2 t)
1 1 1 1
=A21 ( + cos(2ω1 t)) + A22 ( + cos(2ω2 t)) + A1 A2 cos(ω1 t + ω2 t) + A1 A2 cos(ω1 t − ω2 t)
2 2 2 2
A21 A21 A22 A2
= + cos(2ω1 t) + + 2 cos(2ω2 t) + A1 A2 cos((ω1 + ω2 )t) + A1 A2 cos((ω1 − ω2 )t).
2 2 2 2

A21 A2 A2 A2
Px = hx2 (t)i = + 1 hcos(2ω1 t)i + 2 + 2 hcos(2ω2 t)i + A1 A2 hcos((ω1 + ω2 )t)i + A1 A2 hcos((ω1 − ω2 )t)i.
2 2 2 2

The average of the cosine terms is zero therefore the normalized average power is reduced to:

A21 A2
Px = + 2.
2 2
It is important to note that if we consider ω1 = ω2 in the general expression of Px , it gives the following
expression:

A21 A2 A2 A2
Px = hx2 (t)i = + 1 hcos(2ω1 t)i + 2 + 2 hcos(2ω2 t)i + A1 A2 hcos((ω1 + ω2 )t)i + A1 A2
2 2 2 2
A21 A21
= + + A1 A2 .
2 2

This is in accordance with the result obtained in the first point of the exercise.

2
 Signals & Systems B38SA 2018
Prof. Y. Wiaux

Question 2 - Problem - 10 marks

Determine the periodicity of each of the multi-tone signal given below. For those that are periodic, determine the
fundamental period and the fundamental frequency.
1. x(t) = 2 cos2 (5πt) + 3 cos(15πt)
2. x(t) = 3 cos(10πt + π/3) + 2 sin(5t + π/3)

Solution:

1. Let x1 (t) = 2 cos2 (5πt) and x2 (t) = 3 cos(15πt).

According to the trigonometric identity
1
cos2 (α) = (1 + cos(2α))
2
we have
x1 (t) = 1 + cos(10πt).
The fundamental period of x1 (resp. x2 ) is T1 = 1/5 sec (resp. T2 = 2/15 sec). Then, we can deduce that
m1 T1 = m2 T2 ,
where m1 = 2 and m2 = 3. Since m1 and m2 are integers, the signal x is periodic, with fundamental period
T0 = m1 T1 = 0.4 sec.
Moreover, the fundamental frequencies of x1 , x2 , and x are respectively f1 = 5 Hz, f2 = 7.5 Hz, and f0 =
2.5 Hz.
2. Let x1 (t) = 3 cos(10πt + π/3) and x2 (t) = 2 sin(5t + π/3).
The fundamental period of x1 (resp. x2 ) is T1 = 1/5 sec (resp. T2 = 2π/5 sec). Then, we can deduce that there
exist no integers m1 and m2 to satisfy the equality
m1 T1 = m2 T2
since m1 /m2 is irrational. Thus the signal x is not periodic.
The fundamental frequencies of x1 and x2 are respectively f1 = 5 Hz, f2 = 2.5/π Hz.

Question 3 - MATLAB Problem - 10 marks

Consider the signal x given in Figure 1.
1. Express the signal x through the use of MATLAB anonymous function that utilizes the function interp1.
2. Using MATLAB, compute and graph the signal defined by
t   t
g(t) = x +2 −x 1− ,
2 3
in the time interval t ∈ [−20 sec, 20 sec], using a time increment of ∆t = 0.02 sec.

3
 Signals & Systems B38SA 2018
Prof. Y. Wiaux

The signal x ( t )
2

1.5

0.5

Amplitude
0 5 7

-4 -3 1
-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
t ( sec )

Figure 1: Signal x

Solution:

1. % Define the signal x(t) using data points in vectors tp and xp

tp = [ -100 , -4 , -3 ,1 ,5 ,7 ,100] ;
xp = [0 ,0 ,1 ,1 , -1 ,0 ,0] ;
x = @(t) interp1( tp , xp , t , ’linear’ ) ;
% Obtain signal x(t) through interpolation
t = -10 : 0.02 : 10 ;
plot( t , x(t) , ’b-’ , tp , xp , ’ro’ ) ;
axis( [ -10 ,10 , -2 ,2] ) ;
title(’The signal x ( t )’) ;
xlabel( ’t ( sec )’ ) ;
ylabel( ’Amplitude’ ) ;
grid ;
2. % Define the signal x(t) using data points in vectors tp and xp
tp = [ -100 , -4 , -3 ,1 ,5 ,7 ,100] ;
xp = [0 ,0 ,1 ,1 , -1 ,0 ,0] ;
x = @(t) interp1( tp , xp , t , ’linear’ ) ;
% Obtain signal x(t) through interpolation
t = -20 : 0.02 : 20 ;
gt = x(t/2 + 2) - x(1-t/3) ;
plot( t , gt ) ;
axis( [ -20 ,20 , -2.5 ,2] ) ;
title(’The signal g ( t )’) ;
xlabel( ’t ( sec )’ ) ;
ylabel( ’Amplitude’ ) ;
grid ;

4
 Signals & Systems B38SA 2018
Prof. Y. Wiaux

The signal g ( t )
2

1.5

0.5
Amplitude

-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2

-2.5
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
t ( sec )

Figure 2: Signal g