[Table of Contents][Chapter 2]

1. Mathematical definition of phase distortion [1]

The mathematical foundation of this thesis research will now be developed. The
introduction of terms relevant to this research and mathematical definition of them
will aid to better understand and identify the nature of phase distortion present in
audio signals.
The impulse response h(t) and complex frequency response H( ), which
characterize a causal, linear, and time-invariant system are interrelated by the
Fourier transform pair
(1.1)
(1.2)

The complex frequency response in Eqs. (1.1) and (1.2) can be expressed in polar
form as
(1.3)

where |H( )| is the magnitude response (or gain for sinusoidal, steady-state
operation) and ( ) is the phase response (or steady-state phase shift of output
relative to input). The requirement in the time domain for distortionless signal
processing (preservation of waveform shape) is for h(t) to have the form
(1.4)

whereis the unit impulse and constants K > 0 and T 0. Eq. (1.4) and the
convolution theorem together imply that a distortionless system scale the input
signal by a constant K and delays the signal by T seconds. The output is therefore a
delayed version of the input. Substituting Eq. (1.4) into Eq. (1.1) gives the
corresponding restrictions on the frequency response
.

(1.5)

Comparing Eqs. (1.5) and (1.3) indicates that there is a twofold frequency-domain
requirement for distortionless processing; constant magnitude response |H( )|
=K and phase response proportional to frequency ( ) = - T. Distortion of the
waveform or linear distortion is caused by deviations of |H( )| from a constant

value K. Phase distortion denotes departures of ( ) from the linearly decreasing

characteristic - T.
Duetocausality,thereisaminimumamountofphaseshift,orminimum
phasem()necessarilyassociatedwithagivenmagnituderesponse|H()|.This
isdescribedbytheHilberttransform
(1.6)

If ( ) = m( ), as given in Eq. (1.6), then h(t) will be zero for negative values of
time. Due to sources described next, additional, or excess phase can exist as well,
therefore in general the total phase shift is
.

(1.7)

A practical definition for excess phase is

(1.8)

where 0 is a constant and a(0) = 0. In Eq. (1.8), a( ) is the frequencydependent phase shift of a (nontrivial) all-pass network, - T represents pure time
delay as in Eq. (1.5), and 0 is a frequency-independent phase shift caused by
polarity reversal between input and output of a Hilbert transformer, for example.
Comparing the substitution of Eqs. (1.8) with (1.7) and Eq. (1.3) to Eq. (1.5), it can
be seen that the terms m( ), a( ), and 0 contribute to the phase distortion of
the system.
Twofrequencydomainmeasuresrelatedtothephaseresponsearephase
delayp()andgroupdelayg()definedas
(1.9)
(1.10)

For an amplitude-modulated carrier wave, the difference between phase delay and
group delay is displayed in Fig. 1.1.

Fig.1.1.Phasedelayandgroupdelayforamplitudemodulatedwave.[D.Preis,"PhaseDistortionandPhase
EqualizationinAudioSignalProcessingATutorialReview,"J.AudioEng.Soc.,vol.30,pp.774794(1982
Nov.),Fig.1.]

Thelowerwaveformherehasapositivep()andg()withrespecttotheupper
waveformatcarrierfrequency.FromEqs.(1.3)and(1.5),theabsenceofphase
distortionrequiresthatthephaseandgroupdelaysinEqs.(1.9)and(1.10)each
equaltheoveralltimedelayT 0,or
(1.11)

Therefore,deviationsofeitherp()org()fromtheconstantvalueTindicate
thepresenceofphasedistortion.ThesubstitutionofEqs.(1.7)and(1.8)intoEq.
(1.10)showsthethreetermsthatcontributetothetotalgroupdelay
(1.12a)
(1.12b)

ComparingEqs.(1.11)and(1.12a),groupdelaydistortionisdefinedasg()
=g()TorbyusingEq.(1.12b),
(1.13)

Eq. (1.13) implies that g( ) = 0 is a necessary condition for no phase distortion

and peak-to-peak excursions of g( ) is a useful quantitative measure of phase

distortion. Although the all-pass group delay ga( ) 0, the minimum-phase group
delay gm( ) can be negative or positive. Therefore, g( ) from Eq. (1.13) can
be of negative or positive value. When g( ) is calculated from ( ) using Eq.
(1.10), only the phase-slope information is preserved. The phase intercept
information, (0) = m(0) + 0 is lost through differentiation. This result implies
that when g( ) = 0 in Eq. (1.13), some phase distortion is possible, if for
example, ( ) = m( ) = - /2 [H( ) is an ideal integrator] or (0) = 0 = /2
[H( ) contains a Hilbert transformer]. Thus g( ) = 0 and (0) 0 (or a
multiple of ) implies no group-delay distortion but a different form of phase
distortion known as phase-intercept distortion. In general, the total phase distortion
produced by a linear system consists of both group-delay and phase-intercept
distortion. As indicated in Eq. (1.13), the two sources of group-delay
distortion g( ) are the minimum-phase response and the frequency-dependent
all-pass portion of the excess phase response.
Fig. 1.2 shows the frequency and time-domain responses of a minimum-phase lowpass second-order resonant system whose transfer function is
(1.14)

where s is the complex frequency variable (s = j ) and > > 0.

Fig.1.2.Responsesofminimumphaselowpassresonantsystem.(a)Frequencydomain.(b)Timedomain.[D.
Preis,"PhaseDistortionandPhaseEqualizationinAudioSignalProcessingATutorialReview,"J.Audio
Eng.Soc.,vol.30,pp.774794(1982Nov.),Fig.2.]

Asthepeakinginthemagnituderesponseincreasesbythereductionofthe
dampingparametervalue,thegroupdelayresponsepeaksnearresonance.Inthe
timedomain,theimpulseresponseh(t)=e(t)sin(t)oscillatesat
frequency=/2Hzandisexponentiallydampedwithtimeconstant1/ .The
pronouncedringingisduetothefrequenciesinthevicinityof/2Hzare
stronglyemphasized.Thelackofsymmetryintheimpulseresponseisdueto
groupdelaydistortion.Forthiscase,fromEq.(1.12b),g()=gm().

Fig.1.3showsthefrequencyandtimedomainresponsesofafirstorderallpass
networktransferfunctionthathastheform

(1.15)

Fig.1.3.Responsesoffirstorder,allpasssystem.(a)Frequencydomain.(b)Timedomain.[D.Preis,"Phase
DistortionandPhaseEqualizationinAudioSignalProcessingATutorialReview,"J.AudioEng.Soc.,vol.
30,pp.774794(1982Nov.),Fig.3.]

ThemagnitudeM()ofthecomplexfrequencyresponseisconstant.Thegroup
delayg(),whichisalwayspositiveinvalue,showsadecreaseasfrequencies
increase.Forthiscase,fromEq.(1.12b),g()=ga().
Fig.1.4illustratesphasedistortioncausedbyafrequencyindependentphaseshift
orphaseinterceptdistortion.

Fig.1.4.Bandlimitedsquarewave(dotted),itsHilberttransform(dashed),andsumofdottedanddashedcurves
(solid).[D.Preis,"PhaseDistortionandPhaseEqualizationinAudioSignalProcessingATutorial
Review,"J.AudioEng.Soc.,vol.30,pp.774794(1982Nov.),Fig.4.]

Thedottedcurverepresentsabandlimitedsquarewave(sumofthefirstfour
nonzeroharmonics).ThedashedcurveistheHilberttransformofthesquarewave
obtainedbytheshiftingthephaseofeachharmonicby/2radians,or90 .This
constantphaseshiftofeachoftheharmonicsyieldsalinearlydistortedwaveform
havinggreatlyincreasedpeakfactors.Thesolidcurveisthesumofthesquare
waveanditsHilberttransform.Sincethecorrespondingharmonicsinthissumare
ofequalamplitudeandinphasequadrature,thesolidcurvecouldhavebeen
obtainedbyscalingthemagnitudeoftheamplitudespectrumoftheoriginalsquare
waveby androtatingitsphasespectrumby45 .Forthiscase,fromEq.
(1.8),x()=0=/4rad.Mathematically,theHilberttransformofthetime
functionf(t)isitselfafunctionoftimewhichisdefinedbytheconvolutionof
1/twithf(t):
(1.16)

The integral in Eq. (1.16) is understood in the sense of principal value. Assuming
the Fourier transform of f(t) to be F( ) and noting that the Fourier transform of
-1/ t is e(j/2) = j =
for positive frequencies > 0, spectrally, the Hilbert
transform of f(t) corresponds to a perfect /2 rad (or 90 ) shift in the positivefrequency phase spectrum of F( ). Two successive Hilbert transformations of f(t)
yield -f(t), which is the simple polarity reversal in the time domain or 180 phase
shift of F( ) in the frequency domain. The impulse response -1/ t of a Hilbert
transformer is not causal, meaning it is non-zero for negative values of time. The
response is also of infinite duration in time, which implies that, in practice, an
approximation is only possible with a Hilbert transformer.
This chapter introduced the mathematical foundation of the thesis research. Phase
distortion and group delay were defined in mathematical terms. Frequency and
time-domain characteristics of a minimum-phase second-order low-pass and firstorder all-pass systems were investigated. Finally, an example of phase-intercept
distortion was presented. These results will aid in the understanding and
identification of phase distortion of audio signals in mathematical terms. The next
chapter will investigate phase distortion from a human perception standpoint.
[Table of Contents][Chapter 2]