TELE3013 Telecommunication Systems 1

Fourier Transforms

Fourier Series

Recall Fourier Series from second year mathematics: Any well-behaved periodic
function x(t ) can be expressed as a Fourier series,
x(t ) = n = c n e jn0t

where 0 = 2 T , with T the period of the function.

By well-behaved we mean that the function satisfies certain conditions like being
absolutely integrable, piecewise continuous and piecewise differentiable. We will not
be concerned in this course with the mathematical formalities. Students that are
interested in the rigorous mathematical background should look to the third year
analysis courses run by the School of Mathematics.

Interpreting the above idea, we can express all periodic functions as a weighted sum
of sinusoids of frequencies that are integer multiples of a fundamental, base
frequency, corresponding the underlying frequency of the function itself
{n 0 ; n = 0,1,2,K} . Recall also Eulers relationship, e j = cos + j sin , to see
that the complex Fourier series above is equivalent to the more common sine and
cosine series that you would (hopefully) have worked with before. Students should
recall the classic example of the Fourier series for the rectangular wave, where the
rectangular wave can be approximated by including the successively higher frequency
components into the series. As this happens, the higher frequency components make
the rectangle successively shaper. The key point being that a function like a
rectangular wave can be built by adding together different frequency sinusoids, and
the higher frequency sinusoids are responsible for contributing the shaper edges the
rapid changes in the function.

The Fourier coefficients can be found by remembering that the set of complex
exponentials form an orthonormal set;
1, if n = m
T 2

e jmw0t jnw0t
e dt = (n m ) =
T 2 0, otherwise
The exponential of a particular frequency can thus be used to select out the
corresponding coefficient from the Fourier series,

T 2
cn = e jm0t x (t ) dt
T 2
Fourier Transforms

The Fourier transform is obtained by relaxing the requirement for the function to be
periodic. The effect of this that we no longer require just a discrete set of frequencies
to represent the function, but now we need a continuous set of frequencies
{ f ( , )}. The Fourier transform allows us to express a well-behaved function
x(t ) as a continuous sum or integral over a set of different frequency sinusoids,
where the sinusoid at frequency f has a weight in the sum of X(f);

x(t ) = X ( f )e j 2ft df

The same orthonormal relationship holds, so the coefficients are found as

X ( f ) = x(t )e j 2ft dt

These coefficients X(f) represent how much of the frequency f exists in the function.
We call this function, X(f), the Fourier transform of x(t), and interpret it as
representing the frequency components that exist in the function x(t ) . This is often
called the spectrum of X(f).

In general X(f) will be a complex number and be written as

X ( f ) = X ( f ) e j ( f )
where we call X ( f ) the magnitude or amplitude spectrum, and ( f ) the phase
spectrum. X ( f ) represents the amplitude of the sinusoid of frequency f in x(t), and
( f ) its relative phase. For a real-valued signal, it is easy to show that the magnitude
spectrum must be an even function of frequency ( X ( f ) = X ( f ) ), while the phase
spectrum must be an odd function ( ( f ) = ( f ) , for all frequencies f.

This Fourier representation is of enormous importance in telecommunications and

signal processing in general. We tend to describe systems by their transfer function,
H ( f ) = H ( f ) e j ( f ) , expressing the change in amplitude H ( f ) and phase ( f )
that sinusoid of frequency f would experience if passed through this system. For an
arbitrary input x(t), we can use the Fourier transform to find the sinusoids that go to
make up this signal. The output spectrum, Y(f), can be found by taking each
component of the signal at frequency f, X(f), and multiplying it by H(f) to alter its
magnitude and phase by H ( f ) and ( f ) respectively, giving the effect of the
system on each of the frequency components in the input signal. That is, the output
spectrum Y(f) is found by multiplying the input spectrum X(f) by the system transfer
function H(f),
Y( f ) = H ( f )X ( f )
This is a very elegant way of performing system analysis.
Example

In this course you will find Fourier transforms by referring to tables, which will be
provided in the tests and exams. However, before using tables it is important that
students become comfortable finding Fourier transforms from first principles, so you
will not get the tables just yet.

As an example, lets find the Fourier transform of the raised cosine function,
1 (1 + cos t ), if t 1
R c (t ) = 2
0 , otherwise
Firstly, we use Eulers relationships, e j = cos + j sin . From the definition of the
Fourier transform we can write
[ + 14 cos(t )(cos(2ft ) j sin (2ft ))]dt
1
Rc ( f ) = 1
1 2
The integral is then performed using a lot of trigonometric identities to give
1 sin (2f )
R c (t ) =
2 f (1 4 f 2 )
(work through the algebra yourselves)

Since the Fourier transform is real, the phase spectrum is zero at all frequencies,
( f ) = 0, f .
The magnitude response is plotted below,
x(t) X(f)
1 1

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

-2 -1 0 1 2 t -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 f

The spectrum shows that this signal contains appreciable spectral components only
between -1 and 1, what we call a narrow bandwidth signal. The Bandwidth of a signal
is a measure of the range of frequencies that exist in the signal. We will meet raised
cosine pulses later in the course, as they are very important in transmission down
bandwidth-limited channels.

More examples of the Fourier transform will be covered in tutorial 0.

Properties

There are a large number of important properties of the Fourier transform. A summery
of a few is given below. These can be very helpful in finding the Fourier transforms
of various signals. These statements can all be easily proved.
Fourier Inverse Fourier transform pair: If y(f) is the Fourier transform of x(t),
then the Fourier transform of y(t) is x(-f).
X (t ) x(t )

Linearity: Preserves addition and multiplication by scalars.

a1 x1 (t ) + a 2 x2 (t ) a1 X 1 ( f ) + a 2 X 2 ( f )

Time shift: A time delay of the signal introduces a linear phase shift across the
spectrum.
x(t t 0 ) e j 2fto X ( f )

Scale change: Time and frequency have an inverse relationship. An increase in time
scale produces a decrease in the frequency scale, and vice versa.
1 f
x(at ) X
a a

Sinusoidal Modulation: Shifts the spectrum to be centred about the carrier

frequency.
x(t ) cos(2f 0 t ) 12 [ X ( f f 0 ) + X ( f + f 0 )]

Differentiation:
dn
x(t ) ( j 2f )n X ( f )
dt n

Integration:
( j 2f )1 + 12 X (0) ( f )
t


x( ) d

Convolution: convolution in the time domain maps to multiplication in the frequency

domain.
x(t ) y (t ) X ( f )Y ( f )

(recall: the convolution of x(t) with y(t) is x(t ) y (t ) = x( ) y (t ) d ).

Multiplication: multiplication in the time domain becomes convolution in the

frequency domain.
x (t ) y (t ) X ( f ) Y ( f )

Parsevals Relation: The energy of the signal can be found in either the frequency or
time domains.

x(t ) dt =
2 2
X ( f ) df