EE3054 - Homework 6 - Solutions

1. The difference equation of the system is given to be

y[n] = −y[n − 1] + y[n − 2] + x[n]. (1)

(a) To find the transfer function, take the z-transform of both sides
of (1). We get

Y (z) = −z −1 Y (z) + z −2 Y (z) + X(z). (2)

Hence,

[1 + z −1 − z −2 ]Y (z) = X(z) (3)

so that the transfer function H(z) is given by

Y (z)
H(z) =
X(z)
1
= . (4)
1+ z −1 − z −2
(b) To find the impulse response h[n], we can take the inverse z-
transform of the transfer function given in (4). In this case, H(z)
has two poles. The locations of the poles are found by solving the
quadratic equation 1 + z −1 − z −2 = 0 to be −1.618 and 0.618. The
partial fraction expansion of H(z) is of the form
A1 A2
H(z) = + (5)
1 + 1.618z −1 1 − 0.618z −1
with A1 and A2 being constant coefficients. To find A1 and A2 ,
multiply both sides of (5) by (1 + 1.618z −1 )(1 − 0.618z −1 ). This
gives

1 = A1 (1 − 0.618z −1 ) + A2 (1 + 1.618z −1 ). (6)

Equating the constant terms and the coefficients of z −1 on the two

sides of (6), we get the two equations

A1 + A 2 = 1
−0.618A1 + 1.618A2 = 0. (7)

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 Solving these two equations, we get A1 = 0.7236 and A2 = 0.2764.
Hence, the partial fraction expansion of H(z) is
0.7236 0.2764
H(z) = + . (8)
1 + 1.618z −1 1 − 0.618z −1
Noting that the original difference equation (1) is causal, the im-
pulse response h[n] is obtained by taking the causal inverse z-
transform of H(z). Hence,

h[n] = 0.7236(−1.618)n u[n] + 0.2764(0.618)n u[n]. (9)

The stem plot of h[n] is shown in Figure 1.

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000
h[n]

2000

−2000

−4000

−6000

−8000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
n

Figure 1: Problem 1(b): Stem plot of h[n].

(c) The poles of the system were calculated above to be -1.618 and
0.618. Since -1.618 lies outside the unit circle (its magnitude is
greater than 1), the system is not BIBO stable.
2. The difference equation of System 1 is given to be

y[n] = 0.5y[n − 1] + x[n − 1]

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and the difference equation of System 2 is given to be

y[n] = 2y[n − 1] + x[n − 1].

Hence, the z-transforms of Systems 1 and 2 are the H1 (z) and H2 (z)
shown below:
z −1
H1 (z) = (10)
1 − 0.5z −1
z −1
H2 (z) = . (11)
1 − 2z −1
The impulse response of System 3 is given to be h3 [n] = δ[n] + δ[n − 1].
Hence, the z-transform of System 3 is

H3 (z) = 1 + z −1 . (12)

The z-transform of a parallel combination of two systems is the sum

of the z-transforms of the two systems. Hence, the z-transform of the
parallel combination of Systems 1 and 2 is

z −1 z −1
H12 (z) = H1 (z) + H2 (z) = +
1 − 0.5z −1 1 − 2z −1
2z −1 − 2.5z −2
= . (13)
(1 − 0.5z −1 )(1 − 2z −1 )
The z-transform of a cascade combination of two systems is the product
of the z-transforms of the two systems. Hence, the z-transform of the
overall system is

H(z) = H12 (z)H3 (z)

(2z −1 − 2.5z −2 )(1 + z −1 )
= .
(1 − 0.5z −1 )(1 − 2z −1 )
2z −1 − 0.5z −2 − 2.5z −3
= . (14)
1 − 2.5z −1 + z −2
(a) From (14), we have

Y (z) 2z −1 − 0.5z −2 − 2.5z −3

= H(z) = . (15)
X(z) 1 − 2.5z −1 + z −2

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 Hence,
[1 − 2.5z −1 + z −2 ]Y (z) = [2z −1 − 0.5z −2 − 2.5z −3 ]X(z) (16)
so that
y[n] − 2.5y[n − 1] + y[n − 2] = 2x[n − 1] − 0.5x[n − 2]
−2.5x[n − 3]. (17)
Hence, the difference equation of the overall system is given by
y[n] = 2.5y[n − 1] − y[n − 2] + 2x[n − 1] − 0.5x[n − 2]
−2.5x[n − 3]. (18)
(b) To find the impulse response, we can take the inverse z-transform
of H(z) shown in (14). Note that the order of the numerator
polynomial of H(z) is higher than the order of the denominator
polynomial. So, we have to first divide the numerator by the
denominator before taking a partial fraction expansion:
6.75 − 12.375z −1
H(z) = −2.5z −1 − 6.75 + . (19)
1 − 2.5z −1 + z −2
The last term in (19) can be decomposed into partial fractions as
6.75 − 12.375z −1 A1 A2
= + (20)
1 − 2.5z + z
−1 −2 1 − 0.5z −1 1 − 2z −1
with A1 and A2 being constant coefficients. The constants A1
and A2 can be obtained by multiplying both sides of (20) by
(1 − 0.5z −1 )(1 − 2z −1 ) and equating the constant terms and the
coefficients of z −1 on the two sides of the equation. This gives the
two equations
A1 + A2 = 6.75
−2A1 − 0.5A2 = −12.375. (21)
Solving, A1 = 6 and A2 = 0.75. Hence,
6 0.75
H(z) = −2.5z −1 − 6.75 + + (22)
1 − 0.5z −1 1 − 2z −1
so that
h[n] = −2.5δ[n − 1] − 6.75δ[n] + 6(0.5)n u[n]
+0.75(2)n u[n]. (23)

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 (c) The poles of H(z) are at 0.5 and 2. Since the pole 2 is outside
the unit circle, the system is not BIBO stable. This can also be
seen by noting that h[n] includes a 2n term which goes to ∞ as
n → ∞.

3. To solve the difference equations, we can use one-sided z-transforms.

The crucial result is the following: if the one-sided z-transform of a
signal x[n] is X(z), then the one-sided z-transform of x[n − n0 ] is
z −n0 (X(z) + −1n1 =−n0 x[n1 ]z ).
P −n1

(a) y[n] = 3y[n − 1] + x[n], y[−1] = 1: Taking the one-sided z-

transform of both sides of the difference equation, we obtain

Y (z) = 3z −1 (Y (z) + y[−1]z) + X(z) (24)

so that
X(z) + 3y[−1]
Y (z) =
1 − 3z −1
3 X(z)
= + . (25)
1 − 3z −1 1 − 3z −1
Hence,
( )
X(z)
y[n] = 3(3) u[n] + z
n −1
(26)
1 − 3z −1

where z −1 {} denotes the (causal) inverse z-transform. Since the

input signal x[n] is not specified, we cannot simplify (26) further.
(b) y[n] = y[n − 1] + y[n − 2] + x[n], y[−1] = 1, y[−2] = 2: Taking the
one-sided z-transform of both sides of the difference equation, we
get

Y (z) = z −1 (Y (z) + y[−1]z) + z −2 (Y (z) + y[−1]z + y[−2]z 2 )

+X(z). (27)

Hence,

(1 − z −1 − z −2 )Y (z) = y[−1] + y[−1]z −1 + y[−2] + X(z)(28)

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 so that
y[−1] + y[−1]z −1 + y[−2] + X(z)
Y (z) =
1 − z −1 − z −2
3+z −1
X(z)
= + (29)
1−z −z
−1 −2 1 − z −1 − z −2

The roots of 1 − z −1 − z −2 = 0 are -0.618 and 1.618. The first term in

(29) can be decomposed into partial fractions as

3 + z −1 0.3819 2.6181
= + . (30)
1−z −z
−1 −2 1 + 0.618z −1 1 − 1.618z −1
Hence,

y[n] = (0.3819)(−0.618)n u[n] + (2.6181)(1.618)n u[n]

( )
X(z)
+z −1
(31)
1 − z −1 − z −2

where z −1 {} denotes the (causal) inverse z-transform. Since the input

signal x[n] is not specified, we cannot simplify (31) further.