INTEGRAL TRANSFORMS AS A CHANGE OF BASIS IN A VECTORIAL SPACE

Francisco C. V. Grilo, Ant6nio M. E.S. Casimiro, J O ~ OA. Correia Lopes

Faculaade de Engenharia da Universidade do Port0 - D. E. E. C.

Rua dos Brags -4099 PORT0 Codex -PORTUGAL

An analogy between the signals and The Change of Base in Vectorial Spaces
vectors leads to an easy understanding of
the operations of the signal processing the- When we are dealing with linear
ory. spaces, if we whish to change the represen-
The value of the signal in one point tation of the vector v from the basis b where
of the variable& presented as the compo-
nent of the vector in the basis vector associ-
ated with that point. to basis b' where
The decomposition of the signal in its
components is called the Dirac transform.
the components vqmin the basis b' can be
1 The change of the convolution into a
multiplication, made by the Fourier trans-
form, is a change of bases in the linear
obtained from components vk in the basis b
by the matrix relation:
..
space where the signals are defined.
"1

Introduction

This paper is an introduction to a new

insight in the signal processing theory. where the G.jare the coordinates of the j
vector of b when expressed in basis b'.
The idea is to extend the linear spaces
theory and operations in order to become So, each component
easy the understanding of what is going on
with the usual operations in signal process-
ing. j=l

The Dirac .transform (decomposition

of a signal in its components) is presented
because it is the fundamental transform with
which we can obtain other transforms
namely the Fourier and Laplace transform
HI.
The Simal-Vector Relation
Let's suppose, that we are dealing
now, with the bidimentional ortonormal
space, and that we have a vector V defined
by the components VI and v2 (fig. 1).
Fig. 1
The same vector V can be repre-
sented by its components over one line
where each point can be associated with a
vector of the basis (fig.2).
where
v(y) is the representation of the signal v in
the "y" domain
v(x) is the representation of the signal v in
the "x" domain
G(y,x) and G'(x,y) are the Kernel of the
direct and inverse transforms.
The Analogy
Looking carefully for the expression
of the change of bases in vectorial spaces:

j=l

and the expression of the integral transform:

% e2

Fig. 2
each defined in time do- we can see that the G(x,y) acts like an
main, (or other domain) can be thought as a llinfinitivell and llcontinuosIlmatrix that
Of a vector* The value Of
multiplies the components v(x) of V in the
the signal in each instant of time basis to give the components of in the
the in the basis basis y in the Same way that Gkjmulfiplies
vector of that point, the components Vjto give the component
Vtk.
The Intern-a1 Transform
Some useful results
The integral transform which we are
dealing with has the generalized expression: Using this analogy we can make the
00 decomposition of V in the components of
v(y) = J G(y,x) v(x) dx the basis x:
-00
00

and v(x)= J 6(x-Z) V(Z) dz

-00
00

J
-00
G'(x,y) v(y) dy that is analogue to the expression of the

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 vectorial calculus
The value that a signal takes in each
point of its domain may be seen as the com-
ponent of the vector, that the signal repre-
so 6(x-z) acts like the unitary matrix I. sents, in the basis vector associated with
that point.
We call this decomposition the Dirac
transform. We call Dirac transform to the de-
composition of a signal in its components.
Another interesting insight deals with
the change of the convolution integral into a
multiplication that is made by the Fourier References
transform.
I
[l] Grilo, Francisco C.V., Casimiro,
The convolution integral can be seen Ant6nio M.E.S., Lopes, Jog0 A.C.,
as a linear transform of input signal to the Teoria Vectorial do Sinal. Porto:
output signal made by circuits [3]. A.E.F.E.U.P., 1989
The Fobrier transform changes the [2] Mason, Samuel J., Zimmermann,
convolution into a multiplication. Henry J., Electronic Circuits
With the analogy presented this fact Signals and Systems, New York,
can be seen as a change of the matrix used John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1960
in the convolution into a diagonal matrix
[3] Zadeh, Lotfi A., Desoer, Charles
made by Fourier transform (among other
A., Linear System Theory,
integral transforms).
McGraw Hill
So the Fourier transform changes the
convolution operator and the signals to the
referential where the eigenvectors of the
convolution matrix are the vectors of the ba-
sis.

Conclusions

With the identification between sig-

nals and vectors is,easy to understand usual
operations that are fundamental in signal
processing.
The change made by the Fourier
transform between the convolution in one
1 domain and the multiplication in the other
domain may be seen as a change of bases so
that the signals and the operator of the con-
volution are represented in the basis defined
by the eigenvectors of this operator.

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