Telecommunications Laboratory – Zampognaro; Roseti.

6. Background on signals and Matlab operations

A signal, noted with (%), refers to the values assumed by  as a function of the time % (% ∈ ℝ):

(%), ∀% ∈ ), ∀ ∈ *

(%) is defined within its temporal domain + (which can also extend to ±∞). The co-domain * is the
set of all values assumed by (%). A signal is typically associated to information travelling into a
physical medium, therefore it has real values (* ∈ ℝ) and varies with continuity assuming all the values
of * between co-domain minimum and maximum values. For instance, if assuming as a signal a voltage
variation on a wire with respect to ground -(%), when the voltage changes from -1 to -2, it assumes

-min and -max as constraints of the electronic circuitry dealing with it, defining the co-domain
for a very short interval all the values in between (state transition). This signal will be defined between

(%) has two different values as side limits).

extension. Nonetheless, ideal signals can have jump discontinuities (therefore, at a given time a signal

Complex signals in general do not exist by nature, but they are introduced as notation to represent in

modulation, etc.). Therefore, with a mathematical extension, a signal (%) can be considered a
a compact way two independent signals, and are useful to introduce operations on signals (ie, filtering,

function of time that assumes complex values, so with an independent real and imaginary component:

(%) = . (%) + 01 (%), ∀% ∈ )

In general, the following relations are valid (* is the complex conjugate operator):

1
4. (%) ≅ ℜ7(%)8 = :(%) +  ∗ (%);
2
1
3 (%) ≅ ℑ7(%)8 = :(%) −  ∗ (%);
2 1 20
As alternative, (%) can also be expressed as modulus and phase:

(%) = |(%)| ?∙@AB:(C);

where:

4 |(%)| = E. (%) + 1 (%) = F(%) ∗ (%)

D
3G:(%); = % H 1 (%) I +
∙ H1 − . (%) I
D . (%) 2 |. (%)|
2

In addition to continuous signals, discrete signals are particularly important, due to relevant advances
in digital processing. Discrete-time signals are defined only within a numerable domain {% } of
different temporal values. These domain values can be finite, infinite, equally spaced or not.

The most common case, and also more relevant in digital number processing (although uneven

of the signal are equally spaced by a value J. Therefore, if belongs to the set (or subset) of all integer
sampling is recently employed, namely Sigma-Delta ADC), is when the temporal intervals of definition

numbers ℤ, the following relation for the domain is valid:

%L = ∙ )

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