GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL of ELECTRICAL and COMPUTER ENGINEERING

ECE 3084
Summer 2014
Problem Set #2
Assigned: 22-May-14
Due Date: 29-May-14
Your homework is due at the start of class on Thursday, May 29 .
You may turn in your homework up to one day late, by 3:00 PM the following day. A
30% penalty will be assessed on late homeworks (even homeworks turned in on the day it
is due but not at the start of class, although the penalty might be slightly less at our discretion).
We understand that sometimes multiple assignments hit at once, or other life events intervene, and
hence you have to make some tough choices. Wed rather let you turn something in late, with some
points off, than have a no late assignments accepted at all policy, since the former encourages
you to still do the assignment and learn something from it, while the latter just grinds down your
soul. The somewhat aggressive late penalty is not intended to be harsh its intended to encourage
you to get things in relatively on time (or just punt if you have to and not leave it hanging over
you all semester) so that you can move on to assignments for your other classes. Also, there is the
practical matter that we cannot accept homeworks after solutions are posted, and we would like to
post solutions shortly after both sections have submitted their homework.
Please refrain from looking at backfiles of homework and exam solutions i.e.,
word in Georgia Tech parlance from previous versions of ECE2025, ECE2026, or
ECE3084, beyond your own materials assembled while taking those classes and any
old material we explicitly provide to you. If you get stuck, please come get help from your
professor or TA before consulting a backfile.

PROBLEM 2.1:
The classes ECE2026 and ECE3084 have their roots in an older class called ECE2025. We developed
several cool Matlab GUIs for ECE2025 that cover various continuous-time signals and systems
topics. In ECE2025, these GUIs were explored during dedicated lab periods staffed by professors
and graduate TAs. Unfortunately, we dont have a weekly lab time devoted to ECE3084, and the
few class periods that we have dedicated as lab time are reserved for labs involving real hardware
beyond just a compute. So, we will instead have you explore these GUIs on your own as homework
problems. If you have Matlab installed on your own computer, you can download the GUIs by
downloading and installing the SP-First Toolbox by following the instructions at:
http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mcclella/SPFirst/Updates/SPFirstMATLAB.html
You will also find it installed on all the ECE instructional lab computers.
The first two problems on this homework will concentrate on on the use of a Matlab GUIs
about continuous-time convolution, which is defined according to
Z
y(t) = x(t) h(t) =

Z
x( )h(t )d = h(t) x(t) =

h( )x(t )d.

(1)

In this GUI, you can select an input signal x(t), as well as the impulse response of an analog
filter h(t). Then the demo shows the flipping and shifting used when a convolution integral is
performed. Figure 1 shows the interface for the cconvdemo GUI.
Lets begin by setting the input to a 4-second pulse x(t) = u(t) u(t 4). We will use this x(t)
throughout the remainder of this problem.

Figure 1: Interface for the continuous-time convolution GUI cconvdemo.

For each of the following filter impulse responses, use the GUI to produce the output signal.
Use the sliding hand tool to grab the time marker and move it to produce the flip-and-slide effect
of convolution. Include a screenshot of the output for each response in your homework solution
for some position of the hand tool that you think is interesting.1 Next to each screenshot,
write (i) the shape of the output of the convolution (rectangle, triangle, or trapezoid), (ii) the
maximum value of the output of the convolution, and (iii) the length (in time) of the output of
the convolution.
(a) A 2-second pulse with amplitude 12 , i.e., h(t) = 12 {u(t) u(t 2)}.
(b) A 4-second pulse with amplitude 14 , i.e., h(t) = 14 {u(t) u(t 4)}.
(c) A shifted impulse, i.e., h(t) = (t 3).
HIgh-level ECE3084 hint: To prepare for the first quiz, make sure you could answer the the
questions about shape, maximum value, and time length of each output without using the GUI,
just by looking at the equations for x(t) and h(t).

Homework submissions that consistently have the hand tool in the exact same position as another homework
submission will be viewed with suspicion.

PROBLEM 2.2:
Problem 2.1 was intended to get you accustomed to using the GUI. Now lets try something a little
more complicated with the cconvdemo GUI used in the previous problem. Set the input to the
rectangular pulse x(t) = u(t) u(t 3), and set the filters impulse response to the exponential
h(t) = e0.25t [u(t) u(t 7)].
Use the GUI to produce a plot of the output signal. Use the sliding hand tool to grab the time
marker and move it to produce the flip-and-slide effect of convolution. Note: if you move the hand
tool past the end of the plot, the plot will automatically scroll in that direction.
The top panel is a plot of x( ), overlayed with the flipped impulse response h(t ) used to
produce the flip and slide effect of convolution. The middle panel shows the integrand which is
the product of x( ) and h(t ). The top two plots are functions of , while the bottom plot of
y(t) is a function of t. Observe that the output y(t) is composed of five distinct regions: no overlap
(on the left side), partial overlap (on the left side), complete overlap, partial overlap (on the right
side), and no overlap (on the right side). If you substitute x(t) and h(t) from from parts (a) and
(b) into Eq. (1), you can show that the output is given by the piecewise equation

0
t < T0
Region 1

Z L2

e0.25(t ) d
T1 t < T2
Region 2

L1

Z L4
y(t) =
(2)
e0.25(t ) d
T3 t < T4
Region 3

L3

Z L6

e0.25(t ) d
T5 t < T6
Region 4

L5

0
T7 t
Region 5
Use the GUI to observe that y(t) does indeed have five distinct regions, use it to find the values of
T0 through T7 . Then determine the limits of integration for each integral above. Make sure that
you are flipping and sliding h(t). Also, notice that the limits of integration might depend on the
variable t.
Write your answers to this problem on the Answer sheet for Problem 2.2(d)
table. It is the last page of this PDF; you should print it out so you can handwrite your answers
on it. Include it in your homework submission in an appropriate spot (i.e. between Problem 2.1
and Problem 2.3, which you should start on a new piece of paper).

PROBLEM 2.3:
OK, thats enough fun with the GUIs. Lets go back to old-fashioned pencil-and-paper.
Suppose impulse response of a continuous-time system is
h(t) = (t) + et u(t).
Determine y(t) = x(t) h(t), the output of this system when the input is
x(t) = (t) e2t u(t).
Hint: Express y(t) as the sum of four convolutions, three of which will be convolutions of (t) with
another function. (Remember that (t) v(t) = v(t), where v(t) is any continuous-time signal.)
The fourth convolution will be between two exponential signals.

PROBLEM 2.4:
Consider a system utilizing a shaped waveform as the excitation signal for an acoustic ranging
system (i.e., to measure time-of-flight and hence distance). The system employs a matched filter
to detect copies of the excitation signal in the received waveforms. The excitation signal is:

0
for t < 0

1 for 0 < t < 1

1 for 1 < t < 4
f (t) = u(t) 2u(t 1) + 2u(t 4) u(t 6) =

1 for 4 < t < 6

0
for t > 6
where the units of time are given in milliseconds, not seconds.
Parts (d) and (f) will require you to perform convolutions. The trick to these particular convolutions is to find the outputs for integer time values and then just connect the dots since the
functions being convolved piecewise constant, the output will be continuous and consist of straight
line segments.
(a) Sketch the excitation waveform f (t).
(b) Sketch the time-reversed waveform f (t).
(c) Sketch the impulse response of the causal matched filter, hc (t) = f ((t t0 )), where t0 = 6
is the minimum delay that enforces causality. Hint:

0
for t < 0

1 for 0 < t < 2

1 for 2 < t < 5
hc (t) =

1 for 5 < t < 6

0
for t > 6
(d) Sketch the complete output waveform y(t) = x(t) hc (t) if the input to the causal matched
filter is x(t) = f (t). Confirm that the maximum output occurs at t = 6, and confirm that
y(6) = 6. Also confirm that the output is symmetric around its peak.
(e) For what value of t would the maximum output occur if the input to the causal matched
filter is x(t) = f (t 30)?

(f) Suppose the system designer was confused about matched filtering and set h(t)
= f (t).

Sketch the complete output waveform y(t) = x(t) h(t) for x(t) = f (t). Comfirm that a
positive peak occurs at t = 5 with y(5) = 5 and that a negative peak occurs at t = 8 and
y(8) = 4.

Answer sheet for Problem 2.2d

Use the plots of x( ) and h(t ) together with the corresponding plot of y(t) to complete the
following table with the correct values for the integral limits in Equation 2.

T1 =
T3 =
T5 =

T0
T2
T4
T6
T7

=
=
=
=
=

L1 =
L3 =
L5 =

L2 =
L4 =
L6 =

Region
Region
Region
Region
Region

1
2
3
4
5