Lesson 2

⚫ z-transform, definition

⚫ Examples z-transform

⚫ z-1 as delay operator

⚫ z-1 as algebraic loop breaker

⚫ Questions / exercises

1
Definition z-transform

The z-transform X(z) of a discrete function x[n] is defined as:

∞
𝒙[𝟏] 𝒙[𝟐] 𝒙[𝟑] 𝒙[𝟒] 𝒙[𝟓]
𝑿(𝒛) = ෍ 𝒙 𝒏 ∙ 𝒛−𝒏 = 𝒙 𝟎 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟓 + …
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
𝒏=𝟎

Note that the summation of the z-transform starts with n=0. It is

assumed that x[n<0] = 0.

2
Examples of z-transform
Given the signals x1[n] and x2[n] of the graphs below.

The z-transforms X1(z) and X2(z) are given by:

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑿𝟏 (𝒛) = 𝟏 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
𝟑 𝟏. 𝟓 𝟏 𝟐 𝟎. 𝟓 𝟏
𝑿𝟐 𝒛 = 𝟏 − + 𝟑 − 𝟒+ 𝟓− 𝟔 + 𝟕
3 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
 Examples of z-transform
Given the unit impuls function [n] and delayed impuls [n-5]

The z-transforms of x1[n]= [n] and x2[n]= [n-5] are given by:
𝑿𝟏 (𝒛) = 𝟏

𝟏
𝑿𝟐 𝒛 =
𝒛𝟓

4
Examples of z-transform
Given the unit step function u[n]

The z-transform U(z) is given by:

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑼 𝒛 =𝟏+ + 𝟐+ 𝟑+ 𝟒+⋯= 𝟏+ ∙ 𝟏+ + 𝟐+ 𝟑+⋯ →
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛

𝟏 𝟏 𝒛
𝑼 𝒛 =𝟏+ ∙𝑼 𝒛 → 𝑼 𝒛 ∙ 𝟏− =𝟏 → 𝑼 𝒛 =
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛−𝟏
5
Examples of z-transform
Given an exponential function x[n] = pn

The z-transform X(z) is given by:

𝒑 𝒑𝟐 𝒑𝟑 𝒑𝟒 𝒑 𝒑 𝒑𝟐 𝒑𝟑
𝑿 𝒛 = 𝟏+ + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 +⋯=𝟏+ ∙ 𝟏+ + 𝟐 + 𝟑 +⋯ →
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛

𝒑 𝒑 𝒛
𝑿 𝒛 =𝟏+ ∙𝑿 𝒛 → 𝑿 𝒛 ∙ 𝟏− =𝟏 → 𝑼 𝒛 =
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛−𝒑

6
Examples of z-transform
The table below shows an overview of the z-transform and s-
transform of some commonly used signals

x[n] X(z) x(t) X(s)

[n] 1 (t) 1
𝑧 1
u[n] u(t)
𝑧−1 𝑠
𝑧 1
pn 𝑒 𝑎∙𝑡
𝑧−𝑝 𝑠−𝑎
𝑧 ∙ sin(Ω) 
sin[n] sin(t)
𝑧 2 − 2 ∙ 𝑧 ∙ cos Ω + 1 𝑠2 + 𝜔2
𝑧 ∙ (z − cos Ω ) 𝑠
cos[n] cos(t)
𝑧 2 − 2 ∙ 𝑧 ∙ cos Ω + 1 𝑠2 + 𝜔2

7
 z-1 -operator as delay operator
Consider an arbitrary signal x[n].
The signal y[n] is defined as: y[n] = x[n-1].

The z-transform X(z) and Y(z) can be written as:

∞
𝒙𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟑 𝒙𝟒 𝒙𝟓
𝑿 𝒛 = ෍ 𝒙 𝒏 ∙ 𝒛−𝒏 = 𝒙 𝟎 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟓 + …
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
𝒏=𝟎

∞
𝒙[𝟎] 𝒙[𝟏] 𝒙[𝟐] 𝒙[𝟑] 𝒙[𝟒]
𝒀 𝒛 = ෍𝒙 𝒏−𝟏 ∙ 𝒛−𝒏 = 𝒙 −𝟏 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟓 + … →
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
𝒏=𝟎

𝟏 𝒙𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟑 𝒙𝟒 𝒙𝟓
𝒀 𝒛 = ∙ 𝒙𝟎 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟓 + … = 𝒛−𝟏 ∙ 𝑿 𝒛
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛

A delay of one sample corresponds to a multiplication of z-1 in the

z-domain. Therefore, z-1 is called a unit delay operator.
8
 z-n0 -operator as delay operator
Consider an arbitrary signal x[n].
The signal y[n] is defined as: y[n] = x[n-n0].

The z-transform X(z) and Y(z) can be written as:

∞
𝒙𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟑 𝒙𝟒 𝒙𝟓
𝑿 𝒛 = ෍ 𝒙 𝒏 ∙ 𝒛−𝒏 = 𝒙 𝟎 + + 𝟐 + 𝟑 + 𝟒 + 𝟓 + …
𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛 𝒛
𝒏=𝟎

∞
𝒙 𝟏 − 𝒏𝟎 𝒙[𝟐 − 𝒏𝟎 ] 𝒙[𝟑 − 𝒏𝟎 ]
𝒀 𝒛 = ෍ 𝒙 𝒏 − 𝒏𝟎 ∙ 𝒛−𝒏 = 𝒙 −𝒏𝟎 + + + +⋯ →
𝒛 𝒛𝟐 𝒛𝟑
𝒏=𝟎

𝟏 𝒙𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟑 𝒙𝟒 𝒙𝟓
𝒀 𝒛 = ∙ 𝒙 𝟎 + + + + + + … = 𝒛−𝒏𝟎 ∙ 𝑿 𝒛
𝒛𝒏𝟎 𝒛 𝒛𝟐 𝒛𝟑 𝒛𝟒 𝒛𝟓

A delay of n0 sample corresponds to a multiplication of z-n0

in the z-domain.
9
 z-1 as algebraic loop breaker

The z-1 operator can be used in simulation models to break algebraic

loops. An algebraic loop occurs when a signal loop exists with only
direct feedback through blocks within the loop.

The figure below shows an example of this. Using a unit delay block
(z-1) breakes the loop. This solution only works well if the simulation
step size is much smaller than the time constants of the process.

10
Questions / Exercises
1. Give the z-transform of functions shown in the graphs below.
For both signals, it applies that x[n>10] = 0.

11
Questions / Exercises

2a. Calculate the z-transform of x[n] = u[n-1].

b. Calculate the z-transform of x[n] = u[n] - u[n-1]. Does the

result match your expectation?

3a. Give the z-transform of the function: 𝒙 𝒏 = 𝒆𝒂∙𝒏

b. Derive the z-transform of the function: 𝒙 𝒏 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏(𝛀 ∙ 𝒏)

Hint: use the identity: 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜶 = 𝑰𝒎 𝑒 𝑗∙𝛼

c. Derive the z-transform of the function: 𝒙 𝒏 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔(𝛀 ∙ 𝒏)

Hint: use the identity: cos 𝜶 = 𝑹𝒆 𝑒 𝑗∙𝛼

12
 Questions / Exercises

4. Show in a graph the first 20 values of x[n] if the z-transform equals:

𝟏
a. 𝑿 𝒛 =
𝑧

𝟑∙𝒛
b. 𝑿 𝒛 =
𝑧−𝟎.𝟖

𝟐
c. 𝑿 𝒛 =
𝑧−𝟎.𝟓

𝟏
d. 𝑿 𝒛 =
𝒛𝟐 −𝟎.𝟓∙𝑧−𝟎.𝟑𝟔

13