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Discrete-time signals are mathematical entities; in particular, they are functions with an independent time variable and a dependent variable that typically represents some kind of real-world quantity of interest. But as interesting as a signal may be on its own, engineers usually want to do something to it. This kind of action is what discrete-time systems are all about. A discrete-time system is a mathematical transformation that maps a discrete-time input signal (usually designated $x$) into a discrete-time output signal (usually designated $y$). In other words, it takes an input signal and modifies it to produce an output signal:

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System $\mathcal{H}$ takes takes a discrete time signal $x$ as an input and produces an output $y$.
There is no end to the possibilities of what a system could do. Systems might be trivially dull (e.g., produce an output of 0 regardless of the input) or incredibly complex (e.g., isolate a single voice speaking in a crowd). Here are a few examples of systems:
  • A speech recognition system converts acoustic waves of speech into text
  • A radar system transforms the received radar pulse to estimate the position and velocity of targets
  • A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) system transforms measurements of electron spin into voxel-by-voxel estimates of brain activity
  • A 30 day moving average smooths out the day-to-day variability in a stock price

Signal length and systems

Recall that discrete-time signals can be broadly divided into two classes based upon their length: they are either infinite length or finite length (and recall also that periodic signals, though infinite in length, can be viewed as finite-length signals when we take a single period into account). Likewise, discrete-time systems are also finite or infinite length, depending on the kind of input signals they take. Finite-length systems take in a finite-length input and produce a finite-length output (of the same length), with infinite-length systems doing the same for infinite-length signals.

Examples of discrete-time systems

So a system takes an input signal $x$ and produces an output signal $y$. How does this look, mathematically? Below are several examples of systems and their mathematical expression:
  • Identity: $y[n] = x[n]$
  • Scaling: $y[n] = 2\, x[n]$
  • Offset: $y[n] = x[n]+2$
  • Square signal: $y[n] = (x[n])^2$
  • Shift: $y[n] = x[n+m]\quad m\in Z$ \]
  • Decimate: $y[n] = x[2n]$
  • Square time: $y[n] = x[n^2]$
  • Moving average (combines shift, sum, scale): $y[n] = \frac{1}{2}(x[n]+x[n-1])$
  • Recursive average: $y[n] = x[n]+ \alpha\,y[n-1]$

So systems take input signals and produce output signals. We have seen some examples of systems, and have also introduced a broad categorization of systems as either operating on finite or infinite length signals.

Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
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John Reply
what is physics
Siyaka Reply
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
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David Reply
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David
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emma Reply
what is chemistry
Youesf Reply
what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
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Adjanou
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Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
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Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
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Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
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Source:  OpenStax, Discrete-time signals and systems. OpenStax CNX. Oct 07, 2015 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11868/1.2
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