Signal – a function representing a physical quantity or variable and typically it contains information

about the behaviour or nature of the phenomenon.

 Wavelength
 Period/Time
 Frequency
 Amplitude
 Velocity

Classification of Signals

1. Continuous – time Signal & Discrete – time Signal

2. Analog Signal & Digital Signal

3. Real Signal & Complex Signal

Real
A real signal is a complex signal x(t) = a(t) + jb(t) where b(t) = 0
Imaginary
A (pure) imaginary signal is a complex signal x(t) = a(t) + jb(t) where a(t) = 0
 4. Deterministic Signal & Random Signal

Deterministic Signal – the value of the signals are completely specified for any given time.

Random Signal – signals take random values at any given time and must be characterized
statistically.

Deterministic signal Random Signal

5. Even Signal & Odd Signal

Signals are sometimes classified by their symmetry along the time axis relative to the origin, t =

0. Even signals fold about t = 0, and odd signals fold about t = 0 but with a sign change. Simply put,
6. Periodic Signal & Non-periodic Signal

7. Energy Signal and Power Signal

 Signals Basic Types

1. Unit Step Function – also known as Heaviside Unit Function

2. Shifted Unit Step Function

3. Unit Impulse Function

 4. Ramp Signal

Ramp signal is denoted by r, and it is defined as

Area under unit ramp is unity.

5. Parabolic Signal

Parabolic signal can be defined as

6. Signum Function

Signum function is denoted as sgn .

It is defined as

sgn = 2u – 1

7. Exponential Signal
 8. Rectangular Signal

Let it be denoted as x(t) and it is defined as

9. Triangular Signal

Let it be denoted as
 10. Sinusoidal Signal

Sinusoidal signal is in the form of x(t) = A cos(w0±ϕw0±ϕ) or A sin(w0±ϕw0±ϕ)

11. Sinc Function

It is denoted as sinc(t) and it is defined as sinc (t)=sinπt/πt = 0 for t = ± 1 , ± 2 , ± 3 . . .

12. Sampling Function

It is denoted as sa(t) and it is defined as sa(t)=sint/t = 0 for t = ± π , ± 2π , ± 3π . . .
 INTRODUCTION

Signal
A signal as referred to in communication systems, signal processing, and electrical engineering is
a function that "conveys information about the behaviour or attributes of some phenomenon". In the
physical world, any quantity exhibiting variation in time or variation in space (such as an image) is
potentially a signal that might provide information on the status of a physical system, or convey
a message between observers, among other possibilities. The IEEE Transactions on Signal
Processing states that the term "signal" includes audio, video, speech, image, communication,
geophysical, sonar, radar, medical and musical signals.

In nature, signals can take the form of any action by one organism able to be perceived by other
organisms, ranging from the release of chemicals by plants to alert nearby plants of the same type of a
predator, to sounds or motions made by animals to alert other animals of the presence of danger or of
food. Signalling occurs in organisms all the way down to the cellular level, with cell signalling. Signalling,
in evolutionary biology, proposes that a substantial driver for evolution is the ability for animals to
communicate with each other by developing ways of signalling. In human engineering, signals are
typically provided by a sensor, and often the original form of a signal is converted to another form of
energy using a transducer. For example, a microphone converts an acoustic signal to a voltage
waveform, and a speaker does the reverse.

The formal study of the information content of signals is the field of information theory. The
information in a signal is usually accompanied by noise. The term noise usually means an undesirable
random disturbance, but is often extended to include unwanted signals conflicting with the desired
signal (such as crosstalk). The prevention of noise is covered in part under the heading of signal integrity.
The separation of desired signals from a background is the field of signal recovery, one branch of which
is estimation theory, a probabilistic approach to suppressing random disturbances.

Engineering disciplines such as electrical engineering have led the way in the design, study, and
implementation of systems involving transmission, storage, and manipulation of information. In the
latter half of the 20th century, electrical engineering itself separated into several disciplines, specialising
in the design and analysis of systems that manipulate physical signals ; electronic
engineering and computer engineering as examples; while design engineering developed to deal with
functional design of man–machine interfaces.
Signals are classified into the following categories:

 Continuous Time and Discrete Time Signals

 Deterministic and Non-deterministic Signals

 Even and Odd Signals

 Periodic and Aperiodic Signals

 Energy and Power Signals

 Real and Imaginary Signals

1. Continuous Time and Discrete Time Signals

A signal is said to be continuous when it is defined for all instants of time.

A signal is said to be discrete when it is defined at only discrete instants of time/

 2. Deterministic and Non-deterministic Signals
A signal is said to be deterministic if there is no uncertainty with respect to its value at any instant of
time. Or, signals which can be defined exactly by a mathematical formula are known as deterministic
signals.

A signal is said to be non-deterministic if there is uncertainty with respect to its value at some instant of
time. Non-deterministic signals are random in nature hence they are called random signals. Random
signals cannot be described by a mathematical equation. They are modelled in probabilistic terms.

3. Even and Odd Signals

A signal is said to be even when it satisfies the condition x(t) = x(-t)

A signal is said to be odd when it satisfies the condition x(t) = -x(-t)

Any function ƒ(t) can be expressed as the sum of its even function ƒe(t) and odd function ƒo(t).
ƒ(t ) = ƒe(t ) + ƒ0(t ) where ƒe(t ) = ½[ƒ(t ) +ƒ(-t )]

As shown in the following diagram, rectangle function x(t) = x(-t) so it is also even function.
 4. Periodic and Aperiodic Signals
A signal is said to be periodic if it satisfies the condition x(t) = x(t + T) or x(n) = x(n + N).

Where T = fundamental time period, 1/T = f = fundamental frequency.

The above signal will repeat for every time interval T0 hence it is periodic with period T0.

5. Energy and Power Signals

A signal is said to be energy signal when it has finite energy.

A signal is said to be power signal when it has finite power.

NOTE: A signal cannot be both, energy and power simultaneously. Also, a signal may be neither energy
nor power signal.

Power of energy signal = 0

Energy of power signal = infinity

6. Real and Imaginary Signals

A signal is said to be real when it satisfies the condition x(t) = x*(t)

A signal is said to be odd when it satisfies the condition x(t) = -x*(t)

Note: For a real signal, imaginary part should be zero. Similarly for an imaginary signal, real part should
be zero