ELEC 361 Signals and Systems
Concordia University
Fall 2008
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Course Objectives: The objective of this course is to apply knowledge of mathematics (namely algebra and calculus,
complex variables and series) and engineering (basic circuits) to make important insights on the signals (that is a stream of
data) and the systems (that process signals). Various classes of signals and systems will be introduced with a special focus on
the important subclasses. This course is quite basic to the field of communications (ELEC 461 and subsequent courses),
control (ELEC 372 and subsequent courses) and signal processing (ELEC 442).
Lecture Information:
Dr. Aishy Amer (Coordinator), Section W
Office: EV 5.221; Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:30h-11:30h
Tel: 848-2424 x 4081; Email: amer@ece.concorida.ca
Dr. Donald Davis, Section U
Office : EV 5.207; Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9h-10h
Tel : xxxx; Email: don@ece.concordia.ca
Course webpage: http://www.ece.concordia.ca/~amer/teach/elec361/
Prerequisite: ELEC 261: Complex Variables.
Textbook: Signals & Systems by Alan V. Oppenheim, Alan S. Willsky and S. Hamid Nawab, 2 nd Edition, Prentice-Hall, 1997
Soft Skills: On top of the technical content of this course you will also be practicing an important skill that all engineers must
have, namely the ability to learn on your own. For this course, the self learning skill will be based on Chapter 7 (Sampling and
Reconstruction). This subject will not be lectured on. Instead you will be expected to learn this on your own. This material
will be evaluated by a separate exam and it will also appear on the final exam. Some instructions on self learning will be
given in class.
Tutorial Sessions: There will be one tutorial per week. During these tutorials, tutors will be answering any questions that you
might have. They will also solve a few problems related to a material that was already covered in previous classes. Although
attendance for the tutorials is optional, we strongly encourage each and every one of you to take advantage of this excellent
opportunity.
Homework: Several homework assignments will be given throughout the semester. However, these assignments will not be
collected. You will be given the solutions to these assignments. A copy of the solution will be placed at the copy center.
Quizzes: Six quizzes will be given and the best five will be counted. The questions on the quizzes will be related to the
assignment questions. A quiz will be given during or after the week when the corresponding assignment is posted. (For the
quiz dates, check the course webpage).
Exams
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One midterm, one short exam on sampling, and a final exam will be given during the semester. (For the exam
dates, check the course webpage.)
Exams will be closed book/closed notes.
The final exam will be comprehensive.
No make-up exams will be given. If you miss the exam for a valid reason, the weight on the midterm will be
added to that of the final exam.
Sharp EL 531 and the Casio FX-300 MS will be the only calculators allowed in elec361 exams.
The exams office personnel are going to issue an Academic Misconduct Incident Report to any student who is in
possession of an unauthorized electronic device (e.g., cell phone) in a final exam. Note that just turning an
unauthorized electronic device off is not OK; it must not be in the student's possession.
Grading:
Quizzes:
Midterm Exam:
10%
30%
1
Exam on Sampling: 10%
Final Exam:
50%
Honor Code: All students are expected to fully respect the academic honor system and abide by the Code of Academic
Conduct set by Concordia University. Any reasonable suspicion of an honor violation will be reported.
Course Schedule:
DATE
Week 1: Chap. 1
Week 2: Chap. 2
Week 3: Chap. 3
Week 4: Chap. 3
Week 5: Chap. 4
Week 6: Chap. 5
Week 7: Chap. 5
Week 8: Review
Soft Skills: Chap. 7
Week 9: Chap. 9
Week 10: Chap. 9
Week 11: Chap 10
Week 12: Chap. 10
Week 13
TOPIC
Signals, Continuous vs. discrete, Elementary signals. Systems, continuous vs.
discrete. System properties.
Discrete and continuous convolution. Properties of LTI systems. Difference
equations and differential equations for causal LTI systems.
Fourier series for continuous signals.
Fourier series for discrete signals.
Continuous-time Fourier transform. Properties of the Fourier transform.
Discrete-time Fourier transform.
Discrete-time Fourier transform.
Review and Midterm.
Chapter 7: Sampling and Reconstruction (READ ON YOUR OWN).
Laplace transform. Region of convergence, inverse Laplace transform. Polezero plots and relationship with FT. Properties of Laplace transform.
Analysis of LTI systems using Laplace transform. Relationship to LCC
differential equations, unilateral Laplace transform.
z-Transform. Region of convergence, inverse z-transform. Pole-zero plots and
relationship with Fourier transform. Properties of z-transform.
Analysis of LTI systems using z-transform. Relationship to LCC difference
equations, unilateral z-transform
Review
Suggested Problems: To facilitate preparation for the quizzes and exams, we have divided the set of suggested problems
given below so that for each assignment we have listed the questions that we think you are expected to know. The rest of the
questions, to which you are given the solutions, are also important and it is to your benefit to know them as well.
 Assignment 1: Problems 1.21, 1.23, 1.28(a-e), 1.30(a-f), 1.34, 1.37, 1.40, 1.42, 1.45
o Expected to know: Everything listed
 Assignment 2: Problems 2.21(a,c), 2.22, 2.26, 2.28(a-d), 2.29(a-d), 2.33, 2.38, 2.39, 2.40, 2.45, 2.64, 2.48, 2.61, 2.66,
2.67, 2.68
o Expected to know: Everything listed
 Assignment 3: Problems 3.22, 3.23, 3.44, 3.62, 3.65, 3.66, 3.28, 3.31, 3.38, 3.48, 3.57
o Expected to know: Everything listed except 3.65, 3.66
 Assignment 4: Problems 4.21(a-e), 4.22(a-c), 4.24, 4.28, 4.33, 4.34, 4.44, 4.46, 4.50, 4.51
o Expected to know: 4.21(b,d), 4.22(a,c), 4.24(a), 4.28(a), 4.33(a), 4.44, 4.51(a,e)
 Assignment 5: Problems 5.21(a-e), 5.22(a-e), 5.23, 5.24(a-e), 5.29, 5.34, 5.42, 5.44, 5.48, 5.51, 5.55
o Expected to know: 5.21(b,e), 5.22(a,b,e), 5.23(a-d), 5.24(b,e), 5.29(a), 5.34, 5.42, 5.55(a)
 Assignment 6: Problems 7.21, 7.24, 7.25, 7.26, 7.29, 7.37, 7.41, 7.43
o Expected to know: 7.21, 7.24, 7.26, 7.29, 7.43
 Assignment 7: Problems 9.21(a-e), 9.22(a-e), 9.23, 9.24, 9.28, 9.33, 9.60, 9.35, 9.37, 9.40, 9.45, 9.51, 9.59, 9.61, 9.64,
9.66
o Expected to know: 9.21(b,d), 9.22(b,c), 9.23, 9.28, 9.33, 9.35, 9.37(b), 9.45, 9.51, 9.59, 9.60(a-c)
 Assignment 8: Problems 10.21(a-e), 10.31, 10.24, 10.26, 10.29, 10.37, 10.42, 10.45, 10.52, 10.59
o Expected to know: 10.21(a,e), 10.24, 10.26, 10.31, 10.37, 10.45, 10.52
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