Lab 5
Lab 5
Lab 5
22
-Department of Electronic Engineering-
5. Manipulation of the Time Parameter:
In this Lab we will look at three signal operations affecting the time parameter of the signal; time
shifting, time scaling and time reversal. These operations are very common components to real-
world systems and, as such, should be understood thoroughly when learning about signals and
systems.
Some common operations on signals affect the time parameter of the signal. One of these is time
shifting in which a quantity is added to the time parameter in order to advance or delay the signal.
Another is the time scaling in which the time parameter is multiplied by a quantity in order to dilate
or compress the signal in time. In the event that the quantity involved in the latter operation is
negative, time reversal occurs.
5.1 Time Shifting:
Time shifting is, as the name suggests, the shifting of a signal in time. This is done by adding or
subtracting a quantity of the shift to the time variable in the function. Subtracting a fixed positive
quantity from the time variable will shift the signal to the right (delay) by the subtracted quantity,
while adding a fixed positive amount to the time variable will shift the signal to the left (advance) by
the added quantity. As shown in figure 5.1, f (tT) moves f (t) to the right by T which is an example of
delaying a signal.
Fig. 5.1: Time shifting of a signal
If a signal can be expressed in the form as shown below in equation 5.1, we say that x (t) is a time-
shifted version of s(t). An example of time shifting is also shown in figure 5.1 for graphical
illustration.
(5.1)
Fig. 5.2: Time-shifting of a signal s(t)
Signals & Systems Lab 5
23
-Department of Electronic Engineering-
Consider a simple function as shown in equation 5.2, when this function is shifted by
seconds
it gives the equation 5.3 which is simply s (t) with its origin shifted to the right, or delayed, by 2
seconds.
(5.2)
(5.3)
Similarly, shifting the function s (t) as shown in equation 5.2, by