Understanding DSP's Frequency

Domain, Part 1
By Richard Lyons

This series is drawn from the course "DSP Made Simple for
Engineers." For more information, see
http://www.besserassociates.com/outlinesOnly.asp?CTID=27

0 /2 /2


The problem
One of t he maj or obst acl es engi neer s encount er whi l e l ear ni ng di gi t al
si gnal pr ocessi ng ( DSP) i s under st andi ng how spect r al component s ar e
def i ned and i l l ust r at ed i n t he f r equency domai n. When peopl e begi n t o
r ead DSP l i t er at ur e t hey encount er st r ange new t er mi nol ogy descr i bi ng
di scr et e spect r a such as folding frequency, aliasing, orthogonal,
images, Nyquist, spectral replications, and negative frequency. Typi cal
DSP spect r al di agr ams i ni t i al l y seempecul i ar because t hey of t en show
negat i ve f r equency spect r al component s and what appear t o be r epl i cat ed
spect r al component s.
Maki ng mat t er s wor se f or t he i nqui si t i ve engi neer , var i ous DSP
aut hor s use di f f er ent , and somet i mes puzzl i ng, not at i on i n l abel i ng
f r equency axi s i n t hei r spect r al pl ot s; of t en t he f r equency di mensi on of
her t z i s not used at al l i n di scr et e spect r al di agr ams. For exampl e,
many uni ver si t y DSP t ext books act ual l y l abel t he di scr et e f r equency- axi s
cover i ng a r ange f r om t o +! The per pl exi ng f r equency- domai n
t er mi nol ogy and not at i on or i gi nat e f r oma ki nd of f r equency ambi gui t y
i nher ent i n di scr et e ( sampl ed) syst ems and t he f act t hat i n DSP we
somet i mes descr i be al l si gnal s as i f t hey wer e compl ex- val ued ( wi t h r eal
and i magi nar y par t s) . Under st andi ng t he di f f er ences bet ween anal og and
di scr et e spect r a i s one of t he r easons DSP has t he r eput at i on of bei ng
di f f i cul t t o l ear n. For t unat el y sever al books have been publ i shed t hat
ease t he engi neer ' s bur den of l ear ni ng DSP.
[ 13]

For our shor t j our ney t o under st andi ng t he mat hemat i cs and not at i on
of di scr et e spect r a we st ar t by di scussi ng t he f r equency- domai n
ambi gui t y associ at ed wi t h di scr et e si gnal s, and ar r i ve at our
dest i nat i on of under st andi ng t he subt l e aspect s, t he not at i on, and t he
l anguage of t he di scr et e f r equency domai n of DSP. However , as we pr oceed
we' l l make br i ef s st ops t o r evi ew compl ex si gnal s, negat i ve f r equency,
and di scr et e spect r umanal ysi s usi ng t he f ast Four i er t r ansf or m( FFT) .

Frequency-domain ambiguity
We begi n by r evi ewi ng t he sour ce of one unpl easant aspect of sampl ed-
dat a syst ems: t he f r equency- domai n ambi gui t y t hat exi st s when we
di gi t i ze a cont i nuous ( anal og) si gnal x( t) wi t h an anal og- t o- di gi t al
( A/ D) conver t er as shown i n Fi gur e 1.



Continuous x(t)
A/D
Converter
Computer
Clock
Generator
x(n)
Squarewave whose
frequency is f
s
Hz.
[Ribbon cable] [Coax cable]


Figure 1: Per i odi c sampl i ng of ( di gi t i zi ng) a cont i nuous si gnal .

Thi s pr ocess samples t he cont i nuous x( t) si gnal t o pr oduce t he x( n)
sequence of bi nar y wor ds t hat ar e st or ed i n t he comput er f or f ol l ow- on
pr ocessi ng. ( Var i abl e ' n' i s a di mensi onl ess i nt eger t hat we use as our
i ndependent t i me- domai n i ndex i n DSP, j ust as t he l et t er ' t' i s used i n
cont i nuous- t i me equat i ons. ) The x( n) sequence r epr esent s t he vol t age of
x( t) at per i odi cal l y spaced i nst ant s i n t i me, and so we cal l t he Fi gur e
1 pr ocess " per i odi c sampl i ng. " We l l desi gnat e t he t i me per i od bet ween
sampl es as t
s
, measur ed i n seconds, and def i ne i t as t he r eci pr ocal of
t he sampl i ng f r equency f
s
, i . e. , t
s
= 1/ f
s
. I n t he l i t er at ur e of DSP t he
f
s
sampl i ng f r equency i s gi ven t he di mensi ons of sampl es/ second , but
somet i mes we i ndi cat e i t s di mensi on as Hz because f
s
shows up on t he
f r equency axi s of our spect r al di agr ams.
Looki ng at an exampl e, consi der t he ef f ect of sampl i ng a 400 Hz
si nusoi dal x( t) wavef or mat a sampl i ng f r equency f
s
= 1 kHz shown i n
Fi gur e 2( a) . The x( n) di scr et e- t i me sampl es f r omt he A/ D conver t er ar e
pl ot t ed as t he dot s, and t hey r e separ at ed i n t i me by t
s
= 1
mi l l i second. The f i r st t hr ee sampl es of t he x( n) sequence ar e x( 0) = 0,
x( 1) = 0. 59, and x( 2) = 0. 95.

400 Hz
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
1
0
1
1
0
1
Time
(ms)
(a) (b)
1400 Hz
Time
(ms)
x(1)
x(0)
0 1 2 3 4 5
1
0
1
(c)
-600 Hz
Time
(ms)
t
s
=1/f
s


Figure 2: Fr equency- domai n ambi gui t y shown whi l e di gi t i zi ng
si nusoi ds whose f r equenci es ar e ( a) 400 Hz; ( b) 1400
Hz, dashed cur ve; and ( c) 600 Hz dashed cur ve.

The f r equency- domai n ambi gui t y of sampl ed syst ems we r e demonst r at i ng
her e i s i l l ust r at ed i n Fi gur e 2( b) wher e t he x( n) sampl es woul d be
unchanged i f t he A/ D conver t er s anal og x( t) i nput was a 1400 Hz
si nusoi d. We see anot her exampl e i n Fi gur e 2( c) wher e t he cont i nuous


x( t) i s a 600 Hz si nusoi d, agai n r esul t i ng i n x( n) sampl es i dent i cal
wi t h t hose i n Fi gur e 2( a) . Thi s means t hat , gi ven t he x( n) sampl es
al one, we can t t el l i f t he cont i nuous x( t) si newave s f r equency was 400
Hz, 1400 Hz, or 600 Hz. That uncer t ai nt y i s what we' r e cal l i ng
" f r equency- domai n ambi gui t y. " ( I f t he not i on of negative frequency
bot her s you, don' t wor r y, we l l j ust i f y t hat concept l at er . For now,
we l l mer el y def i ne a 600 Hz si newave as one whose phase i s shi f t ed by
180
o
r el at i ve t o a +600 Hz si newave. )
As you mi ght i magi ne, t her e ar e an i nf i ni t e number of ot her
f r equenci es t hat a si nusoi dal x( t) coul d have and st i l l pr oduce t he same
x( n) sampl es i n Fi gur e 2. Those ot her f r equenci es, t hat we l l cal l
images, havi ng f r equenci es f
i
( k) , can be i dent i f i ed by:
f
i
( k) = 400 k
.
f
s
Hz ( 1)
wher e k i s an i nt eger , and t he ' i ' subscr i pt means i mage. Equat i on ( 1)
t el l s us t hat , i n t he wor l d of DSP, sampl ed val ues of any cont i nuous
si newave whose f r equency di f f er s f r om400 Hz by an i nt eger mul t i pl e of
f
s
ar e i ndi st i ngui shabl e f r omsampl ed val ues a 400 Hz si newave. A f ew of
t he i mages of 400 Hz, when f
s
= 1 kHz, ar e l i st ed i n Fi gur e 3( a) .

0 1 2 1 2 Freq
(kHz)
1600 Hz
1400 Hz
2400 Hz
k
...
2
1
0
1
2
...
f
i
(k)
...
600 Hz
400 Hz
...
... ...
(f
s
)
(a) (b)
Plot of f
i
(k) frequencies.


Figure 3: Exampl es of image frequencies of 400 Hz when f
s
i s
1 kHz, ( a) a f ew exampl es, ( b) one possi bl e
f r equency- domai n depi ct i on.

When t he pi oneer s of DSP encount er ed and under st ood t hi s f r equency-
domai n ambi gui t y, t hey wer e f aced wi t h t he quest i ons of what t er mi nol ogy
t o use i n i t s descr i pt i on, and j ust how shoul d di scr et e spect r al
di agr ams be dr awn. One common f r equency- domai n depi ct i on of t hi s
si t uat i on i s shown i n Fi gur e 3( b) , wher e we can say, t he spect r umof our
di scr et e x( n) sequence i s an i nf i ni t e set of spect r al i mpul ses
per i odi cal l y spaced i n t he f r equency domai n. ( Mat hemat i cal pr oof s
j ust i f yi ng Fi gur e 3( b) ar e avai l abl e.
[ 4, 5]
)
Pl ease keep t hr ee t hought s i n mi nd her e. Fi r st , t he not i on t hat t he
spect r umof t he di scr et e x( n) sequence appear s t o compr i se an i nf i ni t e
set of spect r al i mpul ses does not i mpl y t hat x( n) has i nf i ni t e spect r al
ener gy. Those mul t i pl e i mpul ses i n Fi gur e 3( b) mer el y i ndi cat e t hat x( n)
coul d be a sampl ed ( di scr et e- t i me) ver si on of any one of i nf i ni t el y many
cont i nuous si newaves havi ng di f f er ent f r equenci es. Second, pl ease r esi st
t he t empt at i on t o cal l t hose spect r al i mpul ses harmonics. The wor d
har moni c has a speci f i c meani ng i n t he anal og wor l dr el at ed t o spur i ous
t ones gener at ed by nonl i near har dwar e component st hat i s not i mpl i ed by
Fi gur e 3( b) . For now, l et ' s cal l t hose f r equency- domai n i mpul ses
spectral replications. Thi r d, not i ce t hat t he spaci ng bet ween t he
spect r al r epl i cat i ons i s t he sampl i ng r at e f
s
Hz, as i ndi cat ed by Eq.
( 1) .
OK, now we ar e r eady t o make our di scr et e spect r al di agr ammor e
compl et e, and consi st ent wi t h r eal - wor l d si gnal s, by t ackl i ng t he
concept s of quadr at ur e ( compl ex) si gnal s and negat i ve f r equency.
Act ual l y, we' r e f or ced t o do t hi s because so much of DSP deal s wi t h
compl ex number s; such as t he compl ex- val ued ( magni t ude and phase)
spect r a of di scr et e t i me- domai n sequences, t he compl ex- val ued f r equency




r esponses of di gi t al f i l t er s, and t he compl ex- val ued si gnal s needed t o
bui l d moder n di gi t al communi cat i ons syst ems.
Par t 2 of t hi s mat er i al pr ovi des a br i ef i nt r oduct i on t o quadr at ur e
( compl ex) si gnal s; l eadi ng us t o our goal of under st andi ng t he nat ur e,
and not at i on, of t he spect r al di agr ams used i n DSP.

REFERENCES
[ 1] S. Smi t h, The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal
Processing, ht t p: / / www. dspgui de. com/ .

[ 2] R. Lyons, Understanding Digital Signal Processing, 2/E, Pr ent i ce
Hal l , Upper Saddl e Ri ver , New J er sey, 2004.

[ 3] D. Gl over and J . Del l er , Digital Signal Processing and the
Microcontroller, Pr ent i ce Hal l , Upper Saddl e Ri ver , New J er sey,
1999.

[ 4] A. Oppenhei m, et al , Discrete-Time Signal Processing, Pr ent i ce Hal l ,
Upper Saddl e Ri ver , New J er sey, 1999, Sect i on 4. 2.

[ 5] J . Pr oaki s and D. Manol aki s, Digital Signal Processing-Principles,
Algorithms, and Application, Pr ent i ce Hal l , Upper Saddl e Ri ver , New
J er sey, 1996, Sect i on 4. 2. 9.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ri char d ( Ri ck) Lyons i s a consul t i ng Syst ems Engi neer and l ect ur er wi t h
Besser Associ at es i n Mount ai n Vi ew, Cal i f or ni a. He i s t he aut hor of
" Under st andi ng Di gi t al Si gnal Pr ocessi ng 2/ E" ( Pr ent i ce- Hal l , 2004) , and
Edi t or of , and cont r i but or t o, " St r eaml i ni ng Di gi t al Si gnal Pr ocessi ng,
A Tr i cks of t he Tr ade Gui debook" ( I EEE Pr ess/ Wi l ey, 2007) . He i s al so an
Associ at e Edi t or f or t he I EEE Si gnal Pr ocessi ng Magazi ne.