4/12/24, 6:31 PM Nyquist frequency - Wikipedia

Nyquist frequency
In signal processing, the Nyquist frequency (or folding
frequency), named after Harry Nyquist, is a characteristic of a
sampler, which converts a continuous function or signal into a
discrete sequence. For a given sampling rate (samples per
second), the Nyquist frequency (cycles per second) is the
frequency whose cycle-length (or period) is twice the interval
Typical example of Nyquist
between samples, thus 0.5 cycle/sample. For example, audio CDs
frequency and rate. To avoid
have a sampling rate of 44100 samples/second. At 0.5 aliasing, the sampling rate must be
cycle/sample, the corresponding Nyquist frequency is 22050 no less than the Nyquist rate of the
cycles/second (Hz). Conversely, the Nyquist rate for sampling a signal; that is, the Nyquist rate of the
22050 Hz signal is 44100 samples/second.[1][2][A] signal must be under double the
Nyquist frequency of the sampling.
When the highest frequency (bandwidth) of a signal is less than
the Nyquist frequency of the sampler, the resulting discrete-time
sequence is said to be free of the distortion known as aliasing, and the corresponding sample rate is
said to be above the Nyquist rate for that particular signal.[3][4]

In a typical application of sampling, one first chooses the highest frequency to be preserved and
recreated, based on the expected content (voice, music, etc.) and desired fidelity. Then one inserts an
anti-aliasing filter ahead of the sampler. Its job is to attenuate the frequencies above that limit.
Finally, based on the characteristics of the filter, one chooses a sample rate (and corresponding
Nyquist frequency) that will provide an acceptably small amount of aliasing. In applications where the
sample rate is pre-determined (such as the CD rate), the filter is chosen based on the Nyquist
frequency, rather than vice versa.

Folding frequency
In this example, fs is the sampling rate,
and 0.5 cycle/sample × fs is the
corresponding Nyquist frequency. The
black dot plotted at 0.6 fs represents the
amplitude and frequency of a sinusoidal
function whose frequency is 60% of the
sample rate. The other three dots
indicate the frequencies and amplitudes
of three other sinusoids that would
produce the same set of samples as the The black dots are aliases of each other. The solid red line is an
actual sinusoid that was sampled. example of amplitude varying with frequency. The dashed red lines
are the corresponding paths of the aliases.

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Undersampling of the sinusoid at 0.6 fs is what allows there to be a lower-frequency alias. If the true
frequency were 0.4 fs, there would still be aliases at 0.6, 1.4, 1.6, etc.

The red lines depict the paths (loci) of the 4 dots if we were to adjust the frequency and amplitude of
the sinusoid along the solid red segment (between fs/2 and fs). No matter what function we choose
to change the amplitude vs frequency, the graph will exhibit symmetry between 0 and fs. This
symmetry is commonly referred to as folding, and another name for fs/2 (the Nyquist frequency) is
folding frequency.[5]

Other meanings
Early uses of the term Nyquist frequency, such as those cited above, are all consistent with the
definition presented in this article. Some later publications, including some respectable textbooks, call
twice the signal bandwidth the Nyquist frequency;[6][7] this is a distinctly minority usage, and the
frequency at twice the signal bandwidth is otherwise commonly referred to as the Nyquist rate.

Notes
A. When the function domain is distance, as in an image sampling system, the sample rate might be
dots per inch and the corresponding Nyquist frequency would be in cycles per inch.

References
1. Grenander, Ulf (1959). Probability and Statistics: The Harald Cramér Volume (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=UPc0AAAAMAAJ&q=%22nyquist+frequency%22+date:0-1965). Wiley. "The
Nyquist frequency is that frequency whose period is two sampling intervals."
2. John W. Leis (2011). Digital Signal Processing Using MATLAB for Students and Researchers (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=Qtd-e1NtZVkC&pg=PA82). John Wiley & Sons. p. 82.
ISBN 9781118033807. "The Nyquist rate is twice the bandwidth of the signal ... The Nyquist
frequency or folding frequency is half the sampling rate and corresponds to the highest frequency
which a sampled data system can reproduce without error."
3. James J. Condon & Scott M. Ransom (2016). Essential Radio Astronomy (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=Jg6hCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA281). Princeton University Press. pp. 280–281.
ISBN 9781400881161.
4. Harry L. Stiltz (1961). Aerospace Telemetry (https://books.google.com/books?id=cro8AAAAIAAJ&
q=%22nyquist+frequency%22+date:0-1965). Prentice-Hall. ISBN 9780130182838. "the existence
of power in the continuous signal spectrum at frequencies higher than the Nyquist frequency is the
cause of aliasing error"
5. Thomas Zawistowski; Paras Shah. "An Introduction to Sampling Theory" (http://www2.egr.uh.edu/
~glover/applets/Sampling/Sampling.html). Retrieved 17 April 2010. "Frequencies "fold" around half
the sampling frequency - which is why the [Nyquist] frequency is often referred to as the folding
frequency."
6. Jonathan M. Blackledge (2003). Digital Signal Processing: Mathematical and Computational
Methods, Software Development and Applications (https://books.google.com/books?id=G_2Zh7ld
QIIC&dq=intitle:digital+intitle:signal+intitle:processing+nyquist-frequency&pg=PA93). Horwood
Publishing. ISBN 1-898563-48-9.

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7. Paulo Sergio Ramirez Diniz, Eduardo A. B. Da Silva, Sergio L. Netto (2002). Digital Signal
Processing: System Analysis and Design (https://books.google.com/books?id=L9ENNEPbZ8IC&d
q=intitle:digital+intitle:signal+intitle:processing+bandwidth+nyquist-frequency&pg=PA24).
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-78175-2.

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