4 Analysis of digital pulses

4.1 Introduction
Information is transmitted as an energy from a source to a destination. This energy can take the form of
light waves, radio waves or even sound waves. Any electronic signal can be analyzed either in the time
domain or in the frequency domain. All electrical signals, no matter their shape, can be represented by a
series of sine or cosine waves.
The standard form of a single frequency signal is:

V (t )V sin(2ft  )

where v(t) is the time varying voltage (V), V is the peak voltage (V), f the frequency (Hz) of the signal
and  its phase ()

Amplitude Amplitude

V max

V max
T (1/f)
0

-V max
f (1/T)

Time domain Frequency domain

Figure 1 Representation of signal in frequency and time domains

A signal can be represented in the time domain as a varying voltage against time or in the frequency
domain as voltage amplitudes against frequency. Figure 1 shows how a sine wave is represented in the
time domain and the frequency domain. The signal shown has a period T, the frequency of the signal
will be 1/T Hz. This is shown in the frequency domain as a single vertical arrow at that frequency. The
amplitude of the arrow represents the amplitude of the signal.

4.2 Repetitive Signals

A repetitive signal is one that repeats after a given time. It can be shown that a repetitive signal is made
up of a series of sine and/or cosine waves, called the Fourier series. It can be described by:

f (t )  A0  A1 cos  1t  A2 cos 2 1t ... AN cos N 1t

 B1 sin  1t  B2 sin 2 1t ... BN sin N 1t

1
2

where 1 is the fundamental angular frequency (=2f1).

This equation shows that the waveform comprises of an average value (A0), a series of cosine func-
tions in which each successive term has a frequency that is an integer multiple of the frequency of the
first cosine (or sine) in the series. The A and B components can either be found using tables or by using
the mathematical formula:

1
T 
A0  f(t)dt

2
T 
AN  f(t)  sin(N 1 t)dt

2
BN   f(t)  sin(N 1 t)dt
T
Any periodic waveform has an average, or DC, component and a series of harmonically related sine and
cosine waves. A harmonic is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. The first harmonic is the
fundamental frequency, the second is twice the frequency of the fundamental, the third is three times the
multiple, and so on. The fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency in the signal and is thus equal to
the inverse of the repetition time. Thus a periodic waveform can be represented by:

f(t) = DC + fundamental + 2nd harmonic + 3rd harmonic + ... + nth harmonic

An example of a repetitive wave is given in Figure 2. It contains a fundamental frequency of ampli-

tude 1 V, a third harmonic amplitude of 0.3 V and fifth harmonic amplitude of 0.2 V. The equation for
this wave is:
f (t )sin( 1t )0.3 sin(3 1t )0.2 sin(5 1t )

V
0.9

0
T
0.3

0.2
-0.9
1/T 3/T 5/T f

Time domain Frequency domain

Figure 2 Time and frequency domain representation of a repetitive signal

4.3 Wave symmetry

If a periodic signal is symmetrical about either the vertical or horizontal axis then either the cosine terms
or the sine terms become zero.
 Wave symmetry 3

4.3.1 Even symmetry

When a periodic signal is symmetrical about the vertical axis then it is an even function and the B coef-
ficients in the Fourier equation become zero. Thus the waveform contains only cosine components and a
DC level. An example of this type of waveform is given in Figure 3.
With this function f(t) = f(–t), thus the resulting equation will be:

f (t )  A0  A1 cos  1t  A2 cos 2 1t ... AN cos N 1t

Figure 3 Even symmetry

4.3.2 Odd symmetry

When a periodic signal is symmetrical about the line midway between the vertical and horizontal axis it
is an odd function and the A coefficients in the Fourier equation are then zero. Thus the waveform will
contain only sine components, with no DC offset. An example of this type of waveform is given in Fig-
ure 4.

Figure 4 Odd symmetry

With this function f(t) = –f(–t), thus the resulting equation will be:

3
4

f (t ) B1 sin 1t  B2 sin 2 1t ... BN sin N 1t

4.3.3 Half-wave symmetry

When the second half cycle of periodic signal is the same as the first half, but is the inverse, then it has
half-wave symmetry. The even harmonics in this wave become zero and the waveform will only contain
odd harmonics (1st, 3rd, 5th, .., and so on).

Time

Figure 5 Half-wave symmetry

4.4 Fourier series of a repetitive rectangular waveform

The signal shape of most interest in data communications is the repetitive rectangular pulse, as shown in
Figure 6. It is defined by its amplitude and its duty cycle, which is the ratio of the active time of the
pulse () to the period of the waveform (T). The duty cycle is thus given by:

t
Duty Cycle
T

t
+V

Figure 6 Repetitive pulse waveform

The time-based repetitive pulse waveform is given by:

V n 
v(t )    Vn cos(n2f1t )
T n 1
the amplitudes of the harmonics is given by:

2V sin Nx
Vn  .
T x
where

x
T

V1 is the amplitude of the fundamental, V2 is the amplitude of the second harmonic, etc. The frequencies
contained in the signal will be:

1 2 3
f1  Hz, f 2  Hz, f 3  Hz, etc.
T T T

The DC component of the signal is thus:


V.
T

The RMS voltage of a repetitive signal with peak voltage harmonics V1.. Vn and DC component V0 is
given by the formula:

2 2 2
V1 V2 V
Vrms  V0   ...... n
2

2 2 2

where V0 is the DC voltage, V1 the peak amplitude of first harmonic, and so on. It can be seen that the
amplitudes of the harmonics varies as the sin(x)/x function. A typical sin(x)/x function is shown in Fig-
ure 7.
Figure 8 gives an example of a repetitive pulse train with a duty cycle of 0.2 and a pulse amplitude
of 1 V.

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Figure 7 Sin(x)/x function

5
6

T
t t/T = 0.2

Figure 8 Pulse train with a duty cycle of 0.2

The corresponding Fourier series is given by:

Vt   2Vt sin( N t T ) 
v( t )    .  cos( Nt )
T N 1  T
 N  t
T 

Figure 9 shows the amplitudes of the frequency harmonics.

4.5 Examples
Repetitive pulses of 5 V amplitude, pulse width of 5 s and repetition time of 25 s is applied to a
communications channel which can be modelled as an ideal low-pass filter with a pass band up to 140
kHz. Figure 10 shows the pulse train.
0.4
Amplitude 0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05 Harmonic
0
-0.05
-0.1
0
4 8 12 16 20 24 28

Figure 9 Frequency spectrum (for duty cycle of 0.2)

 5V

5 s 0V

25 s

Figure 10 Repetitive pulse train

Determine:

(i) DC voltage offset of the input signal;

(ii) first five harmonic frequencies of the input signal;
(iii) amplitude of the first five harmonics in the input signal.

Also, sketch the time domain response, over a period of 25 s, of the output signal.

ANSWER
The time response will be:

Vt   2Vt sin( N t T ) 
v (t )     .  cos( N 1t )
T N 1  T
 N  t
T 

(i) DC offset:

t 5
V DC V pk 5. 1 V
T 25

(ii) First five frequencies:

1 1
f1    40 kHz
T 25  10  6
f 2 80 kHz
f 3 120 kHz
f 4 160 kHz
f 5  200 kHz

(iii) Amplitude of first five harmonics:

2Vt sin( N t T )
VN  .
T N t T
Thus:

7
8

2  5  5 sin(0.2 N )
VN  .
25 0.2 N
318
.
 .sin(0.63 N ) V
N
Thus:
N f (kHz) V amplitude (Volts)
1 40 1.87
2 80 1.51
3 120 1.01
4 160 0.47
5 200 0

. sin( 1t ) 151
vi (t ) 1187 . sin(2 1t ) 101
. sin(3 1t )
+ 0.47 sin(4 1t ) ......

assuming filter blocks above 140 kHz, then the output will be:

. sin( 1t )151
vo (t )1187 . sin(2 1t )101
. sin(3 1t ) V

This gives the following table:

t () V0 V1 V2 V3 
1 1.77 cost 1.51 cos2t 1.01 cos3t
45 1 1.32 0 –0.71 1.61
90 1 0 –1.51 0 –0.51
135 1 –1.32 0 0.71 0.39
180 1 –1.87 1.51 –1.01 –0.37
225 1 –1.32 0 0.71 0.39
270 1 0 –1.51 0 –0.51
315 1 1.32 0 –0.71 1.61
0,360 1 1.87 1.51 1.01 5.39

The pulse output time response can now be plotted for one cycle. Figure 11 shows a rough sketch of
the output pulse. The shape of the output would be much smoother if more time points were taken.
 6

4
Voltage (V)

0
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
-1
Angle (deg.)

Figure 11 Pulse output

The frequency domain of the output has a DC value of 1 V, a fundamental frequency of

40 kHz, amplitude 1.87 V; a second harmonic at 80 kHz, amplitude 1.51 V; a third harmonic
at 120 kHz, amplitude 1.01 V; a forth harmonic at 160 kHz, amplitude 0.47 V and there is no
fifth harmonic. A diagram of this is given in Figure 12.

Amplitude
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
40 80 120 160 200
Frequency (kHz)

Figure 12 Frequency response of output