GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL of ELECTRICAL and COMPUTER ENGINEERING

ECE 3084
Summer 2014
Problem Set #1
Assigned: 15-May-13
Due Date: 22-May-13

Your homework is due at the start of class on Thursday, May 22.

Note that the notation we will use in lecture, on homeworks, and on tests is slightly
different than that used in the textbook by Chen. Here, to maintain continuity with
ECE2026, we use u(t) to represent the unit-step function, and x(t) to represent signals in general
and system inputs in particular. Chen, as well as many control system engineers, prefer to use u(t)
to represent system inputs. To avoid conflict, many alternative notations for unit-step functions
have been used; Chen uses q(t).
You may turn in your homework up to one day late, by 3:00 PM the following day. A
30% penalty will be assessed on late homeworks (even homeworks turned in on the day it
is due but not at the start of class, although the penalty might be slightly less at our discretion).
We understand that sometimes multiple assignments hit at once, or other life events intervene, and
hence you have to make some tough choices. Wed rather let you turn something in late, with some
points off, than have a no late assignments accepted at all policy, since the former encourages
you to still do the assignment and learn something from it, while the latter just grinds down your
soul. The somewhat aggressive late penalty is not intended to be harsh its intended to encourage
you to get things in relatively on time (or just punt if you have to and not leave it hanging over
you all semester) so that you can move on to assignments for your other classes. Also, there is the
practical matter that we cannot accept homeworks after solutions are posted, and we would like to
post solutions shortly after both sections have submitted their homework.
Please refrain from looking at backfiles of homework and exam solutions i.e.,
word in Georgia Tech parlance from previous versions of ECE2025, ECE2026, or
ECE3084, beyond your own materials assembled while taking those classes and any
old material we explicitly provide to you. If you get stuck, please come get help from your
professor or TA before consulting a backfile.

PROBLEM 1.1:
As a warm-up, this problem reviews material from ECE2026, particularly Eulers formula and
complex numbers. Recall that Eulers formula said that exp(ja) = cos(a) + j sin(a), and that
this could be used to derive the inverse Eulers formulas cos(a) = [exp(a) + exp(a)]/2 and
sin(a) = [exp(a) exp(a)]/(2j).
The notations <e{z} and =m{z}
represent taking the real and imaginary part of a complex
number z. If z = a + jb, where j = 1 and a and b are real, then <e{z} = a and =m{z} = b
(notice that you do not include the j when taking the imaginary part).
Do all parts of this problem without using a calculator or a computer.1
(a) Find (j j )j , i.e. j to the power of j to the power of j. (Hint: first convert j to its polar form
j = A exp(j), for appropriate values of A and ).
1

I guess calculators are really just tiny, specialized computers, but lets move on.

(b) Draw a labeled plot of a portion of the periodic signal x(t) = =m{40 exp(j2000t)}. Let
the left limit of your horizontal axis correspond to t = 0, and choose the right limit of your
horizontal axis such that you plot exactly three periods.2
(c) (Credit to where it is due: this part was inspired by an old MIT problem set.) Show that
1 exp(ja) = 2 sin(a/2) exp(j[a ]/2)
We will use this property in the part of the course that covers Fourier transforms.

PROBLEM 1.2:
Expressions of the form y(t) = x(At + B) can modify a signal in three ways: time shifting, time
scaling (stretching or compressing), and/or flipping. You have to be careful when multiple such
effects are happening at once, since it is easy to get confused.
Consider a function x(t) given by the graph:
x(t)

t
0

12

Given this x(t), draw a labeled sketch each of the following functions y(t):
(a) ya (t) = x(t)
(b) yb (t) = x(t + 2)
(c) yc (t) = x(3t + 2)
(d) yd (t) = x(1 4t)
(Credit to where it is due: this problem was adapted from an old MIT problem set.)

PROBLEM 1.3:
Using your brain instead of a calculator, draw a labeled sketch the following signals:
(a) xa (t) = u(t + 1) u(t 1) + u(t 3)
(b) xb (t) = (t + 1)u(t 1) tu(t) u(t 2)
(c) xc (t) = 2(t 1)u(t 1) 2(t 2)u(t 2) + t(t 3)u(t 3)
(Credit where it is due: this problem was adapted from Problem 1.4 on page 39 of Fundamentals
of Signals and Systems Using the Web and MATLAB, 3rd Edition, by Kamen and Heck.)
2
Throughout this course, when we say period, we mean fundamental period. Of course a signal with the
property that x(t) = x(t + T0 ) will also have the property that x(t) = x(t + kT0 ), where k is an integer, so anything
periodic with period T0 is also periodic with period 2T0 , 3T0 , 4T0 , etc. The fundamental period of a periodic signal
is the smallest T0 such that x(t) = x(t + T0 ).

PROBLEM 1.4:
Try your hand at simplifying the following expressions:
Z

t3

( + 9)d

(a)
t+2

[u( 2) u( 5)]d (Hint: you can get rid of the unit step functions in the integrand

(b)

if you incorporate their effects by changing the limits of the integral.)

(c)

1
X

t sin

k=1

(d)

(e)

t
2


(t k)

1
[( 3) + ( 5)]d

d 4
{t u(t + 5)} (Careful thats t + 5, not t 5!)
dt

PROBLEM 1.5:
Consider a continuous-time system whose output y(t) relates to the input x(t) according to the
equation
y(t) = cos([t ])[x(t ) + ],
where the parameters , , , and are real constants.
In the questions below, only focus on the parameter or parameters that are relevant to the
particular property you are being asked about in that particular question. You do not need to say
anything about the parameters that are irrelevant to that particular property; in particular, we
will take off points if you constrain parameters that do not need to be constrained.
If you need to constrain a parameter to satisfy the stated criterion, give the least restrictive
constraint, i.e. if the system has a particular property for a range of values, be sure to specify
the whole range. If no constraints are needed at all, write NONE.
Each part is independent of the others, i.e. the restrictions you state in (b) are not on top of
the restrictions you list in your answer to (a).
(Warning: A common mistake on this problem is that students will try to make , , or be
function of t, which makes no sense at all, since those parameters are constants. Dont make the
same mistake!)
(a) Describe how the parameters must be constrained to make the system be linear.
(b) Describe how the parameters must be constrained to make the system be time invariant.
(c) Describe how the parameters must be constrained to make the system be causal.
(d) Describe how the parameters must be constrained to make the system be memoryless.