Department 

of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
Signals, System and Specification - PART 1

1. What is Signal?
Any physical phenomenon that conveys or carries some information can be
called a signal. For example, music, speech, motion pictures, still photos, heart
beat, etc. are examples of signals that we normally encounter in day to day life.

Mathematically, any signal can be represented as a function of one or more

independent variables. Therefore:

Signal is defined as any physical quantity that varies with one or more
independent variables.

X1 (t) = 0.7 t (vary linearly with time)

X2 (t) = 1.8 t2 (vary quadratically with time)

X(p,q) = 0.6p+0.5q + 1.1 q2

Usually, the information carried by a signal will be a function of independent

variable, one or more. The independent variable can be time, spatial coordinates,
intensity of colors, pressure, temperature, etc.

Amplitude is the value of a signal at any specified value of the independent

variable.

Waveform is the sketch or plot of the amplitude of a signal as a function of

independent variable.

2. Types of signals

The signals can be classified in number of ways, some way of classifying the
signals are:
a. Depending on the number of the sources for the signals.

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
i. One-channel signals: signal generated by a single source or sensor

are called one-channel signals. For example, the record of

temperature with respect to time is an example of one-channel

signal.

ii. Multichannel signals: signals that are generated by multiple sources

or sensors are called multichannel signals. The record of ECG

(Electro Cardio Graph) at eight different places in a human body is

an example of eight-channel signal.

b. Depending on the number of independent variables

i. One-dimensional signals: A signal which is a function of single

independent variable is called one-dimensional signal.

X1 (t) = 0.7 t

ii. Multidimensional signals: a signal which is a function of two or more

independent variables is called multidimensional signal.

X(p,q) = 0.6p+0.5q + 1.1 q2

c. Depending on whether the independent variable is continuous or discrete.

i. Analog or continuous signals: when a signal is defined continuously

for any value of independent variable, it is called analog or

continuous signal. Most of the signals encountered in science and

engineering are analog in nature.

ii. Discrete signals: When a signal is defined for discrete intervals of

independent variable, it is called discrete signal.

In this lecture we will focus on the following types of signals.

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
1. Continuous Time Signal: in a signal with time as independent variable, if the

signal is defined continuously for any value of the independent variable time “t”,

then the signal is called continuous time signal (CTS). The continuous time

signal is denoted as “X(t)”.

The continuous time signal is defined for every instant of the independent

variable time and so the magnitude (or the value) of continuous time signal is

continuous in the specified range of time. Hence both the magnitude of the signal

and the independent variable are continuous.

2. Discrete Time Signal: in a signal whit time as independent variable, if the signal

is defined only for discrete instants of the independent variable time, then the

signal is called discrete time signal.

In discrete time signal the independent variable time “t” is uniformely divided into

discrete intervals of time and each interval of time is denoted by an integer “n”,

where “n” stands for discrete interval of time and “n” can take any integer value.

The DTS is denoted by “X[n]”.

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     

3. Periodic signals, nonperiodic signals.

A periodic signal X(t) is a function that satisfies the following condition:

X(t) = X(t + T) for all t

Where T is a positive constant. The smallest value of T that satisfies the above

equation is called the fundamental period of X(t).

On the other hand, any signal X(t) for which there is no value of T satisfy the

condition is called nonperiodic signal.

Figure below presents examples of periodic and nonperiodic signals.

The classification of signals into periodic and nonperiodic signals presented thus

far applies to continous-time signals.

Hereafter, we consider the case of discrete-time signals. A discrete-time signal

X[n] is said to be periodic if it satisfies the condition:

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
X[n] = X[n + N] for all integers n

Where N is a positive integer.

The smallest value of integer N for which the above equation is satisfied is called

the fundamental period of the discrete-time signal X[n].

4. Basic Operation on Signals

An issue of fundamental importance is the study of signals and system is the use

of systems to process or manipulate signals. This issue usually involves a

combination of some basic operations. In particular, we may identify two classes

of operations, as described here.

a. Operation performed on dependent variables.

i. Amplitude scaling (amplification) : 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) = C X(t)

Where C is the scaling factor, and example of physical device that

performs amplitude scaling is an electronic amplifier.

ii. Addition: let X1(t) and X2(t) denote a pair of continuous-time signals.

The signal Y(t) obtained by the addition of X1(t) and X2(t) is defined

by :

Y(t) = X1(t) + X2(t)

For discrete-time signals we write:

Y[n] = X1[n] + X2[n]

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
A physical example of a device that adds signals is an audio mixer.

iii. Multiplication: let X1(t) and X2(t) denote a pair of continuous-time

signals. The signal Y(t) resulting from the multiplication of X1(t) by

X2(t) is defined by the following equation :

Y(t) = X1(t) X2(t)

That is, for each prescribed time t the value of Y(t) is given by the

product of the corresponding values of X1(t) and X2(t).

For discrete-time signals we write:

Y[n] = X1[n] X2[n]

b. Operations performed on the independent variable

i. Time scaling: let X(t) denote a continuous-time signal. The signal

Y(t) obtained by scaling the independent variable, time t, by a factor

“a” is defined by the following equation:

Y(t) = X(at)

If a > 1, the signal Y(t) is a compressed version of X(t).

If 0 < a < 1, the signal Y(t) is an expanded (stretched) version of

X(t).

These two operations are illustrated in figure below.

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     

ii. Reflection: let X(t) denote a continuous-time signal. Let Y(t) denote

the signal obtained by replacing time t with –t, as shown by

Y(t) = X(-t)

The signal Y(t) represents a reflected version of X(t) about the

amplitude axis. Figure below shows the reflection operations.

iii. Time shifting: let X(t) denote a continuous-time signal. The time-

shifted version of X(t) is defined by:

Y(t) =X (t - t0)

Where t0 is the time shift.

If the t0 > 0 the waveform representing X(t) is shifted intact to the

right, relative to the time axis.

If t0 < 0 the waveform representing X(t) is shifted to the left, relative

to the time axis.

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 Department of Computer Engineering Techniques (Stage: 3) 
Real‐Time system design 
Dr.: Hasanein Alharbi 
Hasanein.Y.M.Alharbi@mustaqbal‐college.edu.iq 
     
Figure below shows an example of time shift operation, on it t0

equal to 2 time units. Hence, by shifting X(t) to the right by 2 time

unit we get the rectangular pulse Y(t) as shown in figure below.

5. Precedence Rule for Time Shifting and Time Scaling

Let Y(t) denote a continuous-time signal that is derived from another continuous-

time signal X(t) through a combination of time shifting and time scaling.

To correctly obtain Y(t) from X(t), the time-shifting and time-scaling operations

must be performed in the correct order. The proper order is based on the fact

that the scaling operation always replaces t by at, while the time-shifting

operation always replaces t by t – b. Hence the time-shifting operation is

performed first on X(t), resulting in intermediate signal V(t). Next, the time-

scaling operation is performed on V(t).

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