17-02-09

EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Week 5 – Signal representations using

Fourier series (Part II)

(Textbook: Ch. 4.4-4.7)

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Fourier series
•  An arbitrary periodic function x(t) with fundamental period T0 can be expressed
as follows: ∞
x(t ) = a0 + ∑ (an cos(nω0t ) + bn sin (nω0t ))
n =1

where ω0 is the fundamental frequency of x(t) and coefficients a0, an, bn

are referred to as the trigonometric Fourier series (FS) coefficients.

1
a0 =
T0 ∫ x(t )dt
T0
Mean value of x(t) or the DC component

2
an =
T0 ∫ x(t )cos(nω t )dt
T0
0

2
bn =
T0 ∫ x(t )sin(nω t )dt
T0
0

2
2

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

FS coefficients for symmetrical signals

1.  If x(t) is zero-mean, then a0 = 0

2.  If x(t) is an even function, then bn = 0

3.  If x(t) is an odd function, then a0 = an = 0

4.  If x(t) is a real function, then the FS coefficients a0 , an and bn are also real-
valued for all n.

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 4
•  Determine the Fourier series of the periodic signal x(t) defined over as follows:

⎧1 0≤t ≤2
x(t ) = ⎨
⎩− 1 2≤t ≤4

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Fourier series (FS)

•  Fourier series of x(t): 4 ∞
1 ⎛ π ⎞
x(t ) = ∑ sin⎜ n t ⎟
π n=1,3,5.... n ⎝ 2 ⎠
x(t) with n = 1 (fundamental component) x(t) with 2 terms
1.5 1.5

1 1

0.5 0.5
x(t)

x(t)
0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
t t

x(t) with 3 terms x(t) with 4 terms

1.5 1.5

1 1

0.5 0.5
x(t)

x(t)
0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
t
5t
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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time 6

Jump Discontinuity: Gibbs Phenomenon

•  A CT function with a discontinuity can be approximated
more accurately by including a larger number of CTFS
coefficients.
0.33
n = 100

0 n = 20

n=5
-0.33

-0.66

t
-0.99

-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time 7

Gibbs Phenomenon
•  Gibbs phenomenon: the presence of ripples (overshoot)
near the discontinuity does not die out as more terms are
added.
•  It is a limitation of the CTFS representation of
discontinuous signals.
0.66

0.33 n = 100

n = 20
0

n=5
-0.33

-0.66

-0.99

0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 5
Determine the Fourier series of the periodic signal x(t) as follows:

x(t)

3
... ...
-2 0 2 4 t

-3

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 6
Determine the Fourier series coefficients for the following signal:

⎛ π⎞ ⎛ π⎞
x(t ) = 3 + cos⎜ 4t + ⎟ + sin ⎜10t + ⎟
⎝ 4⎠ ⎝ 3⎠

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Exponential Fourier series

•  An alternative expression for the Fourier series is obtained if complex
exponentials (i.e. e jnω0t ) are used as the basis functions to expand a CT
periodic signal:

•  Definition: an arbitrary periodic function x(t) with a fundamental period

of T0 can be expressed as follows:
∞
jnω0t
x(t ) = ∑D e n
n = −∞

where the exponential coefficients Dn are calculated as:

1 − jnω0t
Dn =
T0 ∫ x(t )e
<T0 >
dt

ω0 is the fundamental frequency given by ω0=2π/T0.

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Exponential Fourier series

•  The exponential and trigonometric Fourier series coefficients are related to each
other:

•  We know that from the basic definition of Fourier series:

∞
x(t ) = a0 + ∑ (an cos(nω0t ) + bn sin (nω0t ))
n =1

•  We can demonstrate that:

−1
1
(an − jbn )e jnω0t + ∑ 1 (a−n + jb−n )e jnω0t = ∑ Dn e jnω0t
∞ ∞
x(t ) = a0 + ∑
n =1 2 n = −∞ 2 n = −∞

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 7
•  Determine the exponential FS coefficients for the periodic signal x(t) defined
over as follows:
x(t)

3
... ...
-2 0 2 4 t

-3

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 8
Determine the exponential FS coefficients for the periodic signal x(t) :

x(t)

3
x(t ) = 3e −0.2t 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π
... ...
-2π 0 2π 4π t

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Fourier spectrum
•  The exponential Fourier series coefficients provide frequency information
about the content of a signal:

1 − jnω0t
Dn =
T0 ∫ x(t )e
<T0 >
dt

•  Dn in general is complex-valued.

•  Plot of the magnitude of the exponential Fourier series coefficients |Dn| VS n

(or nω0) is known as the magnitude spectrum

•  Plot of the phase of the exponential Fourier series coefficients Dn VS n (or

nω0) is known as the phase spectrum

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Fourier Spectrum Example

Find the magnitude and phase spectra of signal x(t) :

x(t)

3
x(t ) = 3e −0.2t 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π
... ...
-2π 0 2π 4π t

From Activity 8, we know the exponential Fourier series coefficients of x(t) is:

0.3416
Dn ≈
(0.2 + jn)

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Fourier Spectrum x(t)

x(t ) = 3e −0.2t 0 ≤ t ≤ 2π
3
... ...
-2π 0 2π 4π t
Magnitude plot
2

1.5
|Dn|

0.5

0
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
n

Phase plot
100

50
phase of Dn

-50

-100
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 16 6 8 10
n
16

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Properties of exponential CTFS

•  Symmetry property – For real valued periodic signals, the
exponential CTFS coefficients Dn and D-n are complex
conjugated of each other.
•  Linearity property – The exponential CTFS coefficients of a
linear combination of two periodic signals x1(t) and x2(t),
both having the same fundamental period T0 are given by
the same linear combination of the exponential CTFS
coefficients for x1(t) and x2(t), i.e.
CTFS CTFS
if x1 (t) ←⎯⎯ → Dn and x2 (t) ←⎯⎯ → En , then
CTFS
a1 x1 (t) + a2 x2 (t) ←⎯⎯ → a1Dn + a2 En
with the linearly combined signal having a fundamental period
of T0. 17
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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Properties of exponential CTFS

•  Time-shifting property – If a periodic signal x(t) is time-
shifted, the amplitude spectrum remains unchanged. The
phase spectrum changes by an exponential phase shift., i.e.
CTFS
if x(t) ←⎯⎯ → Dn , then
CTFS
x(t − t0 ) ←⎯⎯ → Dn e− jnω0t0
•  Time scaling – If a periodic signal x(t) with period T0 is time
scaled, the CFTS spectra are inversely time-scaled, i.e.
CTFS
if x(t) ←⎯⎯ → Dn , then
⎛ t ⎞ CTFS
x ⎜ ⎟ ←⎯⎯ → Dan
⎝a⎠ 18
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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Properties of exponential CTFS

•  Time reversal – If a periodic signal x(t) is time-reversed, the
amplitude spectrum remains unchanged. The phase
spectrum changes by an exponential phase shift., i.e.
CTFS CTFS
if x(t) ←⎯⎯ → Dn , then x(−t) ←⎯⎯ → D−n
•  Differentiation and integration – The exponential CTFS
coefficients of the time-differentiated and time-integrated
signal are expressed in terms of the exponential CTFS
coefficients of the original signal as follows:
CTFS
if x(t) ←⎯⎯ → Dn , then
dx CTFS CTFS Dn
dt
←⎯⎯ → jnω 0 Dn and ∫ x(t)dt ←⎯⎯→ jnω
T0 19 0
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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Parseval’s Theorem
•  The power of a periodic signal x(t) can be calculated from its
exponential CTFS coefficients as follows:
∞
1 2 2
Px = ∫ x(t) dt = ∑ Dn
T0 <T0 > n=−∞

•  For real-valued signal, |Dn|=|D-n|, we have:

∞ ∞
1 2 2 2 2
Px = ∫ x(t) dt = ∑ Dn = D0 + 2∑ Dn
T0 <T0 > n=−∞ n=1

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EECE 2602 -- Signals and Systems in Continuous Time

Activity 9
•  Calculate the power of the periodic signal x(t) defined over as follows:

x(t)

3
... ...
-2 0 2 4 t

-3

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