Signal Power and Signal Energy

A signal can be classified based on the property of being an

energy signal or a power signal. The concept of signal energy and
signal power have been the result of existing of different
application requirements for a signal.for example It is nice to
know how much electricity can be used in a defibrillator without
ill effects. It is also nice to know if the signal driving a set of
headpones is enough to create a sound. While both of these
examples deal with electric signals, they are clearly very different
signals with very different tolerances. And this have developed
the comept of energy and power.

Signal Energy

when we think of a signal , we think of a function that various

amplitude with time. and so a measurement of the strength of a
signal would be the area under the curve. not since the signal can
have a negative part , which contribute also in the strength , it
seems better to squaring the signal or taking its absolute value,
then finding the area under that curve. It turns out that what we
call the energy of a signal is the area under the squared signal.

The mathematical expression of Energy in a continuous signal:

The mathematical expression of Energy for discrete time finite

length sequence x[n]:
The mathematical expression of Energy for discrete time infinite
length sequence x[n]:

Signal Power

the notion of energy is powerful and very useful. However, what if

the signal does not decay? In this case we have infinite energy for
any such signal. Does this mean that a sixty hertz sine wave
feeding into your headphones is as strong as the sixty hertz sine
wave coming out of your outlet? Obviously not. This is what leads
us to the idea of signal power.

An example of a signal with infinte energy.

Power is a time average of energy (energy per unit time). This is

useful when the energy of the signal goes to infinity.

We compute the energy per a specific unit of time, then allow

that time to go to infinity.
The mathematical expression of Power:

The measurement unit for power and energy are watts (W) and
joules (J).

Not all energy signals are also power signals because any signal
with finite energy will have zero power. The reverse also is true
,not all power signals are energy signal. To understand why this
is, think about a signal that has nonzero but finite power.
Integrating the power over all time gives you energy. When you
integrate nonzero finite power over infinite time, you get infinite
energy.

A signal does not have to be either energy or power signals

because any infinite-duration, increasing-magnitude (have
unbounded power and energy) signal will not be either.

Mathematically, a signal can have infinite power, but thats not a

practical reality. Infinite energy indicates that the signal duration
is likely infinite, so it doesnt make sense to deal with energy.
Power, on the other hand, is energy per unit time averaged over
all time, making power more meaningful than energy.