34 CHAPTER 2.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SYSTEMS

Figure 2.3: Definition of an impulse response

We have shown that

x[n]δ[n − n0 ] = x[n0 ]δ[n − n0 ]. (2.2)
Using this fact, we get the following equalities:

x[n]δ[n] = x[0]δ[n] (n0 = 0)

x[n]δ[n − 1] = x[1]δ[n − 1] (n0 = 1)
x[n]δ[n − 2] = x[2]δ[n − 2] (n0 = 2)
.. ..
. .
| {z }! | {z }
∞ ∞
P
=x[n]
P
δ[n−k] = x[k]δ[n−k]
k=−∞ k=−∞

The sum on the left hand side is

∞
!
X
x[n] δ[n − k] = x[n],
k=−∞

∞
P
because δ[n − k] = 1 for all n. The sum on the right hand side is
k=−∞

∞
X
x[k]δ[n − k]
k=−∞

Therefore, equating the left hand side and right hand side yields

∞
X
x[n] = x[k]δ[n − k] (2.3)
k=−∞

In other words, for any signal x[n], we can always express it as a sum of impulses!