INTRODUCTION TO

SIGNALS & SYSTEMS

SIGNAL

A signal is a function of time representing a

physical variable, eg: voltage, current etc.
A signal is defined as a function of one or
more independent variables.
CLASSIFICATION OF SIGNALS

Signals are basically classified into two

different types as follows.

 Continuous time signals

 Discrete time signals
CT Signals

In continuous time signals the independent

variable is continuous, and they are defined
for a continuum of values
Example
DT Signal

Discrete time signals are defined only at

discrete times and for these signals the
independent variable takes on only a discrete
set of values
Example
Representation

To distinguish between continuous-time and

discrete time signals, we will use the symbol
‘t’ to denote the continuous time independent
variable and ‘n’ to denote the discrete time
independent variable.
Classifications of CT signals

The CT signals can be further classified into

the following
Unit step
Unit ramp
Exponentional
Impulse
Unit Step Signal
Ramp Signals
System

A system can be viewed as a

process in which input signals are
transformed by the system or
cause the system to respond in
some way resulting in other signals
as outputs.
CT system
DT system