Lesson-2

Discrete-time Sinusoids and sampling

Outlines
1 Discrete Time Sinusoidal signals
2. Sampling in time domain
Discrete Time Sinusoidal signals

A discrete-time sinusoidal signal may be expressed as

x(n) = A cos(ωn + θ), −∞ < n < ∞

where n is an integer variable, called the sample
number, A is the amplitude of the sinusoid, ω is
the frequency in radians per sample, and θ is
the phase in radians.
Example of a discrete-time sinusoidal signal (ω = π/6 and θ = π/3).
Discrete-time sinusoids are characterized by the following properties:
Property 1:
A discrete-time sinusoid is periodic only if its
frequency f is a rational number.
Proof :

By definition, a discrete-time signal x(n) is periodic

with period N(N > 0) if and only if x(n + N) = x(n) for
all n
The smallest value of N for which the above equation is true is called
the fundamental period.
For a sinusoid with frequency f0 to be periodic, we should
have
cos[2πf0(N + n) + θ] = cos(2πf0n + θ)
This relation is true if and only if there exists an integer k
such that 2πf0N = 2kπ
or, equivalently, f0 = k/N

Therefore, a discrete-time sinusoidal signal is periodic only

if its frequency f0 can be expressed as the ratio of two
integers (i.e., f0 is rational).
How to determine the fundamental period N
of a periodic sinusoid:
Express its frequency f0 in the form f0= k/N and
cancel common factors so that k and N are
relatively prime. Then the fundamental period of
the sinusoid is equal to N.

For example,
f1 = 31/60 implies that N1 = 60,
whereas f2 = 30/60 results in N2 = 2.
Example 2.1 Determine whether the two following
Example 2.1:
sinusoids are periodic or not.
(a) x1 (n)  cos  0.125 n 
(b) x2 (n)  cos  0.5n  (b) The digital frequency,

Solution: 0.5 1 Which is not

f   rational.
(a) The digital frequency, 2 4
0.125 1 Which is x2(n) is not periodic .
f   rational.
2 16 See the figure
x1(n) is periodic of period 16. in the next slide
Property 2: Discrete‐Time Harmonics Are Always Periodic in Frequency
In other words: 
Discrete‐time sinusoids whose frequencies are separated by an integer multiple
of 2π are identical.

Proof:  If we start with the sinusoid cos(ω0n) and add a multiple of

2π with ω0, we get,

cos[(0  2 k )n] This result says that discrete‐time

(DT) sinusoids at the angular
 cos (0 n  2 kn) frequencies ω0 and ω0+2πk are
identical.
 cos (0 n)
It defines the principal period as,

  0  
Or, in terms of digital frequency,

1 1
  f 
2 2
Showing periodicity in frequency: 

Observation: The first sinusoid has digital frequency, f1= 0.0265  Just f is
The second sinusoid has digital frequency, f2= 1.0265 increased
by 1
Any of them gives the same sinusoid !!!
Important Information
1. A DT sinusoid can be uniquely identified only if its
frequency falls in the principal range.

2. A DT sinusoid with a frequency outside this range

can always be expressed as a DT sinusoid with a
frequency that falls in the principal period by
subtracting out an integer.
Analog to digital and digital to analog conversion: 
Analog to digital conversion: 
To process analog signals by digital means, it is first
necessary to convert them into digital form, that is, to
convert them to a sequence of numbers having finite
precision. This procedure is called analog-to-digital
(A/D) conversion, and the corresponding devices are
called A/D converters (ADCs).
Conceptually, we view A/D conversion 
as a three‐step process. 

1.Sampling.
2.Quantization
3.Encoding
This process is illustrated in the following figure:
Sampling.
This is the conversion of a continuous-time
signal into a discrete-time signal obtained by
taking “samples” of the continuous-time signal at
discrete time instants. Thus, if xa(t) is the input
to the sampler, the output is xa(nT ) ≡ x(n), where
T is called the sampling interval.
Quantization.
This is the conversion of a discrete-time
continuous-valued signal into a discrete-time,
discrete-valued (digital) signal. The value of
each signal sample is represented by a value
selected from a finite set of possible values.
The difference between the unquantized sample
x(n) and the quantized output xq(n) is called the
quantization error.
Coding.
In the coding process, each discrete value xq(n)
is represented by a b-bit binary sequence.

In this lesson, we will study Sampling and the

next lesson will illustrate the others.
 Sampling: The Bridge from Continuous to
Discrete
Generally, sampling is considered as any process that
records a signal at discrete instances. In this course , we
restrict our attention to uniform sampling. In uniform
sampling, sample values are equally spaced from one
another by a fixed sampling interval T . The reciprocal of
the sampling interval is called the sampling frequency
(or sampling rate)

Fs=1/T,
which has units of hertz.
Periodic or uniform sampling:

A type of sampling used most often in practice. This is

described by the relation:
x(n) = xa(nT ), −∞ < n < ∞
where x(n) is the discrete-time signal obtained by taking
samples of the analog signal xa(t) every T seconds.
The conversion is obtained by using simply
n
t  nT 
Fs Illustrated in the figure shown in the next slide
Periodic sampling of an analog signal.
Sampling of an analog sinusoid:
Consider an analog sinusoidal signal of the form
x (t) = A cos(2πFt + θ)
a

which, when sampled periodically at a rate Fs=1/T

samples per second, yields,
x (n )= x a (n T ) Here, we define the digital
= A c o s(2  F n T ) frequency f as,
F
= A c o s(2  n) F or, equivalently, as
Fs f 
= A c o s(2  f n ) Fs ω = ΩT
Relation between continuous frequency and discrete
frequency

ω = ΩT f = FT
Comparison of continuous frequency and discrete frequency

Continuous frequency Discrete frequency

−∞ < F < ∞ −1/2 < f <1/2
−∞ < Ω< ∞ −π < ω <π
We get,
1 1
  f  The frequency FN=2|F| is called the
2 2 Nyquist’s frequency
1 F 1
   
2 Fs 2 Fs/2 is called the folding frequency.
Fs Fs
   F 
2 2
Fs
 F 
2
 Fs  2 | F |
A very important insight
where
Thus an infinite number of continuous-time sinusoids is
represented by sampling the same discrete-time signal
(i.e., by the same set of samples). Consequently, if we
are given the sequence x(n), an ambiguity exists as to
which continuous-time signal xa(t) these values
represent. Equivalently, we can say that the frequencies
Fk = F0 +kFs , −∞ < k < ∞ (k integer)
are indistinguishable from the frequency F0 after
sampling and hence they are aliases of F0.
To avoid aliasing we must sample the
analog signal at least at Nyquist
frequency, i.e., at least at twice the
analog frequency.
Example 2.2

Solution:
Example 2.3

Solution:
Example 2.4 (Aliasing and Its Effects)

Solution:
Example 2.5

Solution: