Lecture 26 Frequency Response

Fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing

Spring, 2012

Wei-Ta Chu
2012/5/31

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 Frequency Response
The general description of LTI systems tells us that the
general output y(t) is obtained from the general input
x(t) by the convolution operation defined as

where the impulse response h(t) is the output when the

input is the unit-impulse signal

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 Frequency Response
Take the input signal to be a complex exponential of
the form
We will show that the corresponding output signal is
another complex exponential at the same frequency.
The integral within the parentheses reduces to a
complex constant when the frequency is given a
specific value.
This complex quantity tells
us how the system changes
the magnitude and phase of the
input signal as it forms the
output signal.

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 Example: Complex-Exponential Output
Suppose that the input to an LTI system is ,
and the value of . The output can be
expressed as if we convert to
polar form and multiply.

Thus the output complex exponential has a magnitude

of and a phase of

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 Frequency Response
When the input is a complex exponential signal whose
frequency is , the output is also a complex-
exponential signal having exactly the same frequency.
If we let the frequency vary, we can define the
frequency response of a continuous-time system as

We can plot it to see the effect of the system on any

complex-exponential input signal.

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 Example
Suppose that the impulse response is .
We can determine the frequency response

The evaluation at the upper limit is zero

because

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 Plotting the Frequency Response
Frequency response is summarized with two plots:
magnitude versus frequency and phase versus
frequency
We can talk about passbands and stopbands of analog
filters once we are looking at a plot of
Consider the frequency response

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 Plotting the Frequency Response

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 Logarithmic Plot
It’s common to use a logarithmic spacing along the
horizontal axis to cover several decades in frequency.
Only the positive part is
shown – the frequency
response magnitude is even

A system with real impulse

response

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 Logarithmic Plot
In Figure 10-2(b), a log scale is used for both
magnitude and frequency.
In this case, the frequency
response appears to fall off
linearly with frequency above
rad/sec

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 Magnitude and Phase Changes
When the input to an LTI system is a complex-
exponential signal which specific frequency

then the corresponding output is

where the frequency response of the LTI system is

The frequency response can be expressed in polar form

Note that we multiply the magnitude and add the

phases

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 Example
Suppose that the frequency response of an LTI system
is

To evaluate the frequency response at , we

just substitute to obtain the complex number

The magnitude is and the phase-shift is

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 Example
Suppose the input signal is
The output will be

The output frequency will be the same as the input

frequency

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 Frequency Response
It causes complex-exponential
signals of low frequencies to be
multiplied by values that are
approximately one, while
high frequencies are multiplied
by values to zero.
The frequency is taken
to be the nominal dividing
point between the low
frequency passband and the
high frequency stopband.

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 Response to Real Sinusoidal Signals
We often are interested in the response to real signals
like a cosine signal
Magnitude and Phase Change of the Sinusoidal Response:
If the input to an LTI system is , and if
the impulse response is real-valued, then the output will be

The sinusoidal signal will keep the same frequency,

but it will undergo a magnitude and phase change, just
like the complex-exponential case.

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 Response to Real Sinusoidal Signals

The numerical values of the magnitude

and phase-shift are determined by the
frequency response function evaluated at the input
frequency
We can write a cosine function in terms of complex
exponentials

A cosine signal is obtained because the complex-

exponential signal that comprise it are complex
conjugates of each other.

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 Response to Real Sinusoidal Signals
Since we are considering only LTI systems, the
superposition property applies.
Input:

Output:

The sinusoidal response is the sum of the complex-

exponential response at the positive frequency and
the response at the corresponding negative frequency

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 Symmetry of
The relationship between and

That is, the frequency response at is the complex

conjugate of the frequency response at
Proof: when h(t) is real-valued, it follows that

h(t) is real, so
Write the exponent with two minus signs to obtain the
negative exponent needed for the definition of the
frequency response
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 Symmetry of
The conjugate symmetry property implies that
magnitude and phase responses at and are not
independent. In fact, if the frequency response at is

then we get

the magnitudes are the same, but the phases are

opposites.
The output of the previous case

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 Symmetry of
We have now proven that the sinusoidal signal
will undergo a magnitude and
phase change when it is processed by an LTI system
whose impulse response is real-valued.

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 Example: Sinusoidal Response
Suppose that the frequency response of the LTI system
is

Determine the output signal when the input is

We must evaluate at the frequency

rad/sec.

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 Example: Sinusoidal Response

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 Response to General Sum of Sinusoids
The use of linearity can be extended to the case where
the input is composed of many sinusoids.
Suppose that the input signal is the weighted sum of N
sinusoids
where the frequencies are all different, and each
sinusoid has its own amplitude Ak and phase
If we know the frequency response of the continuous-
time system, we can use linearity to construct a
formula for the output signal. The strategy is to treat
each sinusoidal component separately, and then add all
the results together.

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 Response to General Sum of Sinusoids
If we concentrate on the kth input sinusoid

Linearity allows us to add all the separate outputs to

obtain the final result

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 Example: Response for Two Sinusoids
If the frequency response is

determine the output signal when the input is

Evaluate at and at

The output is

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 Periodic Input Signals
When the input signal is periodic, it’s relatively easy to
show that the output of an LTI system must be periodic.
Definition of periodicity is

where T0 is the period. If T0 is the smallest value that

satisfies this equation, it is called the fundamental
period of the signal.
If we write the convolution integral for

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 Periodic Input Signals
Fourier series (Chapter 3) tells us how to obtain a
signal representation as a sum of complex-exponential
signals.
If we couple this with the frequency response concept,
we can develop a general approach for determining the
output of an LTI system with periodic input that does
not involve the evaluation of a convolution integral.

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 Periodic Input Signals
1. Express the periodic input signal x(t) as a sum of
sinusoids using the method of Fourier series

where is the fundamental frequency in

rad/sec.
2. For the kth complex exponential in the Fourier
series sum, find the corresponding output

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 Periodic Input Signals
3. The complex multiplication of ak times
produces a new set of Fourier series coefficients

4. The output signal y(t) is then synthesized from the

Fourier series definition

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 Ideal Delay System
The ideal delay system is defined by the input/output
relation , where td is the amount of
delay in seconds.
To find the frequency response, we first find the
impulse response: . Then,

The magnitude of the frequency response is constant

(equal to one) independent of frequency and it has a
phase of .
Since is the equation of a straight line as a
function of , we say that the ideal time delay has
constant magnitude and linear phase.

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 Example: Response of Ideal Delay
Suppose that is the input to an
ideal delay system with a delay of 0.001 sec. The
frequency response is , which, when
evaluated at the frequency , is

The corresponding output is

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 Ideal Lowpass Filter
A filter is a system that can remove certain frequencies
while letting others pass through the system relatively
unmodified.
An ideal lowpass filter is defined as

is called the cutoff frequency

is even symmetric about . This property
is needed because real-valued impulse responses lead
to filters with a conjugate symmetric .
Filters like the ideal lowpass filter are impossible to
implement. We simply need to learn how to obtain
good approximations.
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 Ideal Highpass Filter
The ideal highpass filter has its stopband centered on
low frequencies, and its passband extends from
to

As in the case of the ideal lowpass filter, we have

defined the ideal highpass filter so that
so that the corresponding impulse response will be a
real function of time.

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 Ideal Bandpass Filter
The ideal bandpass filter has two stopbands, one near
DC and the other at high frequencies.

Note again the symmetrical definition of the passbands

and stopbands as required to make the corresponding
impulse response real.

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