Chapter 2

Signal Bandwidth

Topics:
 Bandwidth of Signals.
 Various definitions of bandwidth

Huseyin Bilgekul
Eeng360 Communication Systems I
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Eastern Mediterranean University Eeng 360 1
 Bandwidth of Signals
 Spectral bandwidth of signals is very important because of croweded RF bands.
 We will give six engineering definitions and one legal definition of bandwidth that are often
used:

1. Absolute Bandwidth: is f2 – f1, where the spectrum is zero outside the interval f1 < f < f2 along
the positive frequency axis.
Bandlimited
|X(f)| Absolute Bandwidth
B
0
2B
2. 3-dB BW (Half-power BW): is f2 – f1 , where for frequencies inside the band f1 < f < f2
, the magnitude spectra fall no lower than 1/2 times the maximum value , and the
maximum value occurs at a frequency inside the band.

|X(f)| -3dB
3dB Bandwidth
B3dB
0
2B3dB
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 Bandwidth of Signals
3. Equivalent Noise Bandwidth is the width of a fictitious rectangular spectrum
such that the power in that rectangular band is equal to the power associated with
the actual spectrum over positive frequencies.

|H(f)|2 Equivalent Noise Bandwidth Beq

|H(0)|2

0
2Beq

4. Null-to-null BW (zero-crossing BW): is f2 – f1 , where f2 is the first null in the

envelope of the magnitude spectrum above f0 and, for bandpass systems, f1 is the first
null in the envelope below f0 , where f0 is the frequency where the magnitude
spectrum is a maximum. For baseband systems, f1 is usually zero.

|X(f)|
Null-to-null Bandwidth Bn

0
2Bn Eeng 360 3
 Bandwidth of Signals
5. Bounded Spectrum Bandwidth: is f2 – f1 where outside the band f1 < f < f2, the PSD,
which is proportional to |H(f)|2, must be down by at least a certain amount, say 50
dB, below the maximum value of the power spectral density.

6. X% Power Bandwidth: is f2 – f1, where f1 < f < f2 defines the frequency band in
which x% of the total power resides. (100-x)% of the total power is outside the
bandwidth.
7. Legal Definition of Bandwidth: is defined according to FCC rules and regulations.

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Bandwidth of Signals

Null to null Bandwidth

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Example Problem

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Example Problem

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