Problem Set 1

Instructor: Subhadip Mukherjee

Department of E&ECE, IIT-Kharagpur
EC21208: Signals and Systems
12 January 2024

Problem 1. Determine if the following signals are energy signals or power signals, and find the correspond-
ing energy or power.
1. x(t) = 1t u(t − 1), where u(t) represents the unit step signal.
2. x(t) = sin(ω0 t + ϕ), where ω0 , ϕ ∈ R.
∞
X
T0 T0



3. x(t) = r(t − nT ), where r(t) = u t + 2 −u t− 2 , with 0 < T0 < T . Can you sketch the
n=−∞
signal x(t)?
4. x(t) = t exp(−t)u(t).

Problem 2. Consider the continuous-time signal r(t) = δ(t + 2) − δ(t − 2), where δ denotes the unit impulse
Z t
signal. Find the energy in the signal given by x(t) = r(λ) dλ.
−∞

Problem 3. Consider a discrete-time system S obtained through a series interconnection of a system S1

followed by a system S2 . The input-output relationships for S1 and S2 are:

S1 : y1 [n] = 2x1 [n] + 4x1 [n − 1],

1
S2 : y2 [n] = x2 [n − 2] + x2 [n − 3],
2
where x1 [n] and x2 [n] denote the input signals to S1 and S2 , respectively.
1. Determine the input-output relationship of the system S.
2. Does the input-output relationship of the system S change if the order in which S1 and S2 are connected
in series is reversed?

Problem 4. Consider a discrete-time system whose input x[n] and output y[n] are related by
n0
X
y[n] = x[k],
k=−n0

where n0 is a fixed positive integer. Check if this system satisfies linearity, shift-invariance, causality, and
stability.

Problem 5. Consider a discrete-time system described by the following input-output relationship, assuming
the initial condition y[−1] = 0:
y[n] − a y[n − 1] = x[n],
where a ∈ R. Find the condition on a such that this system is stable.

1
Problem 6. Consider a discrete-time system with the input-output relationship given by
Z t
y(t) = e−(t−τ ) x(τ − 2) dτ.
−∞

Determine whether this system is linear shift-invariant (LSI) and find its response to the unit impulse and
unit step signals. Is the system stable?
n o
Problem 7. Consider an LSI system S and a signal x(t) = 2e−3t u(t−1). If S {x(t)} = y(t) and S dx(t)dt =
−3y(t) + e−2t u(t), determine the impulse response of S.

Problem 8. Recall that in the class, we stated that the sufficient condition for a discrete-time LSI system
to be stable is that its impulse response h[n] is absolutely summable, i.e.,
∞
X
|h[k]| < ∞.
k=−∞

Show that this

P∞ condition is also necessary for stability. In other words, show that for a discrete-time LSI
system with k=−∞ |h[k]| = ∞, there exists a bounded input signal x[n] such that the output can become
unbounded.
Hint: Consider the following input signal:
(
0, if h[−n] = 0,
x[n] = h[−n]
|h[−n]| , if h[−n] ̸= 0.

In a similar way, can you argue that the condition of absolute integrability of the impulse response of a
continuous-time LSI system is also necessary for stability?

Problem 9. Let x(t) be a continuous-time signal, and let

 
t
y1 (t) = x(2t) and y2 (t) = x .
2

Consider the following statements:

1. If x(t) is periodic, then y1 (t) is periodic.
2. If y1 (t) is periodic, then x(t) is periodic.
3. If x(t) is periodic, then y2 (t) is periodic.
4. If y2 (t) is periodic, then x(t) is periodic.
Determine if the statements above are true or false. If true, find the relationship between the periods of the
two signals in the statement. If false, produce a counterexample.

Problem 10. Recall that in the class, we defined a system to be causal if for two inputs x1 (t) and x2 (t)
with x1 (t) = x2 (t) for t < t0 , the corresponding system outputs y1 (t) and y2 (t) also satisfy y1 (t) = y2 (t) for
t < t0 .
1. Show that for an LSI system, the definition above is equivalent to the following definition: For any
time t0 and any input x(t) such that x(t) = 0 for t < t0 , the corresponding output y(t) must also be
zero for t < t0 . In other words, you have to show that for an LSI system, the former definition implies
the latter and vice-versa.
2. Find a nonlinear system that satisfies the latter definition but is not causal.
3. Find a nonlinear system that is causal but violates the latter definition.

2
Problem 11. Determine whether the systems described by the following input-output relationships are
invertible or not. Assume that both inputs are outputs are allowed to be complex-valued signals.
Z t
1. y(t) = x(λ) dλ
−∞

2. y(t) = xn (t), where n is a positive integer.

3. y(t) = x(3t − 6)

4. y(t) = cos(x(t))

Problem 12. Find the convolution of the following pairs of signals, where u(t) denotes the unit step signal.
1 −t
1. x(t) = u(t), h(t) = e τ u(t)
τ
2. x(t) = e2t u(−t), h(t) = u(t−3). Verify the commutative property of convolution by explicit calculation.

Problem 13. Prove the following statements if they are true and give a counterexample if they are false.

1. If h(t) is the impulse response of an LSI system and h(t) is periodic and nonzero, then the system is
unstable.
2. If an LSI system is causal, it must be stable.
3. The cascade of a noncausal LSI system and a causal LSI system is always noncausal.

4. A discrete-time LSI system is causal if and only if its unit step response s[n] satisfies s[n] = 0 for all
n < 0.
5. A continuous-time LSI system is stable if and only if its step response s(t) is absolutely integrable.

Problem 14. Consider the cascade of two discrete-time LSI systems with impulse responses given by
h1 [n] = sin(8n) and h2 [n] = an u[n], where |a| < 1. Let x[n] = δ[n] − a δ[n − 1] be the input to this
cascade of systems. Find the output signal.

Problem 15. Determine if the discrete-time systems described by the following input-output relationships
are invertible.
1. y[n] = x[n] − x[n − 1]
n
X
2. y[n] = x[k]
k=−∞
Z ∞
Problem 16. We define the area under a continuous-time signal g(t) as Ag = g(t) dt. Show that if
−∞
y(t) = x ⃝
⋆ h(t), where ⃝
⋆ denotes convolution, Ay = Ax Ah .