ECE 3704 CONTINUOUS AND DISCRETE SYSTEM THEORY

Fall 2014 CRN 82311 v.3 9 September 2014

Catalog Description: Continuous- and discrete-time system theory. Block diagrams, feedback, and stability theory. System analysis with Bode diagrams. Discrete-time stability, difference equations, Z-transforms, transfer functions, Fourier transforms, and frequency response. Sampling of continuous systems and an introduction to digital filtering.

pre-req.: 2704. (3H, 3C) I.

meeting: TR 2:00-3:15 PM in SEB 125.

instructor: Prof. A. A. (Louis) Beex, Whit 462, voice: 540-231-4877, fax: 540-231-3362, e-mail: beex@vt.edu

course supervisor: Prof. D. K. Lindner, 455 Durham, e-mail: lindner@vt.edu

office hours: MW 12:15 AM – 1:45 PM; for other times, you may make an appointment by e-mail.

required text: Linear Systems and Signals by B. P. Lathi, Oxford, 2nd ed., 2005.

required software: MATLAB, The Mathworks, a recent release (see http://www.mathworks.com/).

on-line access: The course syllabus, assignments, some solutions, and some additional notes, will be available to you through the class web site on Scholar.

tests: Tests 1 and 2 (T1, T2), during the second class period in the indicated week, will be closed book/notes. Any make-up exam will be oral. The Final Exam (FE) may be partly closed and partly open book/notes; details will be announced a few weeks before the FE.

final exam: Monday 15 DEC 14, 1:05-3:05 PM.

grading: If the HWP are fully executed: T1 20%, T2 20%, HW 5%, HWP1 10%, HWP2 10%, FE 35%; numerical grades are given, which correspond to letter grades (4=A, 3=B, etc.) using +/- scale (with the exception of the D-, which – as a final grade – converts to F). Grading questions are to be resolved within one week of the work having been returned, or made available, to you. Not fully executing the HWP incurs a penalty of one full letter grade off your final course grade.

homework: Homework is primarily for your edification, practice, and self-assessment. Solutions will be provided. Only selected problems will be graded. Late homework will not be accepted.

homework projects: Definitive project due dates for the take-home Matlab projects will be stated on the HWP assignments. Late projects incur a penalty of a full letter grade for each 24-hour period (or fraction thereof).

attendance policy: Class attendance per se does not figure in your grade. However, attendance does have a strong indirect impact, as you will be responsible for what is covered and taught in class and through projects.

special needs: Students with special needs or circumstances (religious, conflicts, disabilities, etc.) are encouraged to discuss these with me during my office hours.

Honor System: Cultivate an ethical, professional attitude. Discussions on lecture subject material, to clarify your understanding, are highly encouraged. However, it is your personal/own understanding only that should be reflected in all work that you turn in. You may thus claim credit only for your own work. All graded work is covered by the Honor Code; violations will be prosecuted.

Covered Topics:

5% Review of stability

10% Block diagrams and signal flow graphs

5% Introduction to state equations

10% Bode plots

15% Difference equations and Z-transforms

10% Sampling of continuous-time systems

20% Z-domain analysis, transfer functions, stability, and frequency response

10% Discrete Fourier transforms and FFTs

15% Introduction to digital filtering

Major Measurable Learning Objectives: Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to:

a. Describe complex systems with the use of block diagrams and signal flow graphs.

b. Analyze the performance and stability of interconnected linear systems, including feedback systems.

c. Construct Bode plots for systems and interpret these plots to predict system responses.

d. Solve difference equations by using Z-transforms. e. Analyze discrete-time systems with Z-transforms and transfer functions. f. Sample continuous-time systems to create a discrete-time system model. g. Compute discrete-time Fourier transforms and use fast Fourier transforms.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ACHIEVE THE COURSE OBJECTIVES. I SEE IT AS MY TASK TO FACILITATE YOUR ACHIEVEMENT (We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one else can spare us … - Marcel Proust).

Approximate reading assignments (class coverage and specific assignments determine what material you are responsible for), rough course outline, and anticipated project dates†:

Week Of

8/26 Introduction/review continuous-time signals and systems

Ch 1, 2

9/2 Transfer functions, block diagrams 4.3-6

9/9 Fourier transform

Frequency response

7.3-5

4.8

9/16 Bode plots, filtering 4.9-10

9/23 Sampling: from continuous to discrete 8.1-3

9/30 Discrete-time signals & systems 3.1-4 T1 (on 2 OCT)

10/7 Difference equations, zero-input response 3.5-8 HWP1 assigned

10/14 Zero-state response, unit pulse response, stability

3.8-13

10/21 Z-transform, DE solution 5.1-3

Note that the above is a rough outline of total/actual coverage.

Reference Texts: Signals and Systems: analysis using transform methods and Matlab, M. J. Roberts, McGraw-Hill, 2004. Signals & Systems: Continuous and Discrete, R. E. Ziemer, W. H. Tranter, and D. R. Fannin, Prentice-Hall, 4th ed., 1998.

Replaced Sections (no longer active the way stated originally):

office hours: MW 11:15 AM – 12:45 PM; for other times, you may make an appointment by e-mail.

T1 (on 3 OCT); T2 (on 7 NOV)

10/28 System realization, system and frequency response

5.4-6 HWP1 due

11/4 connections 5.7-10 T2 (on 6 NOV)

11/11 filtering 9.4 HWP2 assigned

11/18 DFT and FFT 8.5-6

11/25 *** THANKSGIVING BREAK ***

12/2 Fourier analysis of discrete-time signals 9.1-3 HWP2 due

12/9 reflections

Final Exam