Signal Spectra and Signal Processing

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Manila
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

PROBLEM SET 2: ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION

General Instructions: Copy and answer each item, writing your explanation and/or solutions right after the
question. Mark your final answers. Write neatly and legibly. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE; plagiarized work will be
dealt with accordingly.

1. Sampling of analog signals. Discuss in three to ten sentences the following: (a) the difference between
folding and Nyquist frequencies; (b) how aliasing may occur and how it will affect the processing of
signals; and (c) the Nyquist sampling theorem.

2. Sampling of analog signals. An analog signal contains frequencies up to 10 kHz.

a. What range of sampling frequencies allows exact reconstruction of this signal from its samples?
b. Suppose that this signal was sampled with a sampling frequency of 𝐹𝑠 = 8 kHz. Examine what
happens to the frequency 𝐹1 = 5 kHz.
c. Suppose that this signal was sampled at 𝐹𝑠 = 12 kHz. Examine what happens to the frequency
𝐹2 = 2 kHz.

3. Sampling of analog signals. An analog signal 𝑥𝑎 (𝑡) = sin(480𝜋𝑡) + 3 sin(720𝜋𝑡 ) is sampled at 600
times per second.
a. Determine the Nyquist sampling rate for 𝑥𝑎 (𝑡).
b. Determine the folding frequency.
c. What are the frequencies in the resulting discrete-time signal 𝑥 (𝑛)?
d. If 𝑥 (𝑛) is passed thru an ideal digital-to-analog converter, what is the reconstructed signal?

4. Quantization of sampled, continuous-amplitude signal. Discuss the process of quantizing discrete-

time, continuous-amplitude signals. What are the two methods by which this can be done? Show the
difference between the two by quantizing ten samples of the signal 𝑥 (𝑛) = 0.5𝑛 , 𝑛 = 0,1,2, … , 9 to the
hundredths place value. Present the graph of the original and the quantized samples, using both methods,
and a table of values.

5. Quantization of continuous-amplitude signal. Define the following terms in relation to quantization of

continuous-amplitude signal: (a) quantization noise or quantization error; (b) quantization levels; (c)
dynamic range; and (d) resolution. Use illustrations to emphasize your arguments.

6. Quantization of continuous-amplitude signal. A digital communications link carries binary-coded

words representing samples of an input signal 𝑥𝑎 (𝑡) = 3 cos 400𝜋𝑡 + 2 cos 800𝜋𝑡 + 2 cos 1600𝜋𝑡. The link
is operated at 20,000 bits per second and each input sample is quantized into 1024 different voltage
levels.
a. What must be the Nyquist frequency of this signal?
b. How many bits are used to represent a sample of the signal? From this, find the sampling rate and
the folding frequency of the signal. Will the signal be sampled without aliasing? Why or why not?
c. What is the resulting discrete-time signal 𝑥(𝑛)?
d. Find the dynamic range 𝐷𝑅 and the resolution Δ of the quantizer used for this system.

Problem Set 2: Analog to digital conversion Page 1 of 2

Signal Spectra and Signal Processing
e. Analyze the performance of the quantizer used for this system. The following definitions hold true for
discrete-time, periodic sinusoids: The power of the discrete-time, unquantized sinusoid is
𝑁−1
1
𝑃𝑥 = ∑ 𝑥 2 (𝑛)
𝑁
𝑛=0
while that of the quantized sinusoid
𝑁−1
1
𝑃𝑞 = ∑ 𝑒 2 (𝑛)
𝑁
𝑛=0
where 𝑒 represents the difference between the quantized sample 𝑥𝑞 (𝑛) and the unquantized sample
𝑥 (𝑛). The integer 𝑁 refers to the periodicity of the discrete-time sinusoid. From these, compute the
signal power 𝑃𝑥 and the quantization noise power 𝑃𝑞 .

The signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SNQR) measures the quality of the quantizing system. In
absolute terms, it is the ratio of the signal power to the quantization noise power, or

𝑃𝑥
𝑆𝑁𝑄𝑅 (abs) =
𝑃𝑞

In decibels, it is computed as

𝑃𝑥
𝑆𝑁𝑄𝑅 (dB) = 10 log10 𝑆𝑁𝑄𝑅 (abs) = 10 log10
𝑃𝑞
Using these formulas, compute for the 𝑆𝑁𝑄𝑅 of the quantizer used for the system in absolute and in
decibel quantities.
===============================END OF PROBLEM SET===============================

Problem Set 2: Analog to digital conversion Page 2 of 2