1.

Signal Power

We have found how to calculate the amplitudes (voltages) of the waves that make up a signal.
It is also useful, for example in radio broadcasting, to know the power that is in our signal
at each frequency. Given a voltage V, we know that P |V |2 = V V . As such, you would
expect to be able to obtain a measure of the signal power simply by squaring the frequency
domain representation of the signal. This is essentially what is done.
Think about a sine wave like the one on the left in Fig. 28. This has en equation
x(t) = A sin(2f0 t). If we want to represent it as an amplitude spectrum in the frequency
domain, we can do so as shown in the right hand plot in the figure. The wave has a frequency
of f0 and an amplitude of A. We see that this is represented by a spike of height A/2 at
frequency f0 and another such spike at frequency f0 . The reason for this splitting is rooted
in the equation

ej2f0 t ej2f0 t
2
where we can see that a sine wave can be split into two complex exponentials, one with
sin(2f0 t) =

positive frequency and one with negative frequency. It is not really important now though,
and for practical purposes, negative and positive frequencies both contribute the same wave
to a signal but the amplitude gets split between them. This plot shows how the voltage is
1
f0

Amplitude (Volts)

Amplitude (Volts)

T0 =

A
2

- f0

f0

Frequency (Hz)

-A

Power (Watts)

Time (Seconds)
A2
4

- f0

f0

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 28: Left: a sine wave, A sin(2f0 t); right: frequency domain representation of the
wave; bottom: power spectrum of the wave.

broken down between frequencies, ie. half the voltage is at frequency f0 and half at +f0 .
If we went to know how the power is distributed, all we need to do is square the values in
the plot. This is shown in the lower plot in Fig. 28. We can see the height of each spike is
26

now A2 /4 = (A/2)2 , and the units are now in Watts to indicate power. This plot is called
the power spectrum, or power spectral density of our function.
You may recall how to calculate the RMS power of a sine wave from an introductory
course. To find the total power, we square the wave and average over one period. For the
sine wave in the plot, that would be
1 Z T0 /2
(A sin(2f0 t))2 dt
T0 T0 /2
1 Z T0 /2 2 1 cos(4f0 t)
dt
A
=
T0 0
2

P =

#t=T0 /2

"

1
A2
=
A2 t
sin(4f0 t)
T0
4f0
A2
.
=
2

t=0

If we add up all the power in the spectrum at the bottom plot of Fig. 28, we get P =
A2 /4 + A2 /4 = A2 /2 which is of course the same power we obtained by integrating in the
time domain.
1.4.1

Square Wave

Lets look at a more complex example, starting with trying to represent the function shown
in Fig. 29 in the frequency domain. The plot shows a square wave which repeats for ever.
xp(t)

Figure 29: A periodic square wave, amplitude 2, period 6, duty cycle 100%.

It has a peak amplitude of 2 Volts, and a period of 6 s. The duty cycle is 50% which means
that it is at +2 V half the time and -2 V the other half. Thus, the middle pulse in the
waveform extends from t = 1.5 to t = 1.5 s. This is a periodic so we can use a Fourier
series to represent it. It will only contain waves with frequencies equal to af0 for integer a.
Period is T0 = 6 which means the fundamental frequency f0 = 1/T0 = 16 . We will find the
complex Fourier series coefficients by evaluating the correlation between xp (t) and waves of
27

different frequencies using Eq. 24:

ca

1 Z T0 /2
xp (t)ej2af0 t dt
=
T0 T0 /2
1
1Z 3
xp (t)ej2a 6 t dt
=
6 3

Recall that the complex exponential is just a way of representing a sine wave plus a cosine
wave. If we expand this out, we will have two integrals, one to fine the Fourier sine coefficient
and one to find the cosine coefficients. Our function is even so there are no sine coefficients
and we only need to evaluate the cosine integral:
1Z 3
1
ca =
xp (t) cos(2a t)dt
6 3
6
Z 3
1
2
xp (t) cos(2a t)dt
=
6 0
6
2 Z 1.5
2Z 3
1
1
=
(2) cos(2a t)dt +
(2) cos(2a t)dt
6 0
6
6 1.5
6
#t=1.5
#t=3
"
"
1
1
1
4 1
4
sin(2a t)
sin(2a t)
+
=
6 2a 16
6 t=0
6 2a 16
6 t=1.5




4 1
1.5
3
4 1
1.5
=
sin(2a
sin(2a
)

0
+
)

sin(2a
)
6 2a 16
6
6 2a 16
6
6


3
3
2
2 sin(2 a) sin(2 a)
=
a
12
6
a
= 2sinc( ) 2sinc(a).
2
It turns out that the Fourier series is described by two sinc functions. You might have
expected something like this since we know that the sinc function gives the frequency spectrum of a single rectangular function. Fig. 30 shows a plot of the calculated coefficients for
a between -10 and 10. You will notice that the plot is as a function of frequency. Remember
that each a value represents a cosine wave cos(2f0 at) with a frequency of f0 a. This means
that for each a, there is a corresponding frequency f = f0 a that it represents. This is what
sets the x-axis scale on the figure. You may notice that f0 or T0 do not appear anywhere
in the ca coefficients. This means that we have really calculated the coefficients for a square
wave of any period. The square wave they represent depends on the value of f0 . To make
sure we have done this correctly, it is best to try and reconstruct our square wave using
the coefficients we have calculated and Eq. 23. Remember, each coefficient represents the
amplitude of a cosine wave with a frequency of f0 a. By adding all these waves together, we
should get our original function back. This reconstruction, using the coefficients in the plot,
is shown on the right of Fig. 30. We can see that we are beginning to approximate the shape
of the square wave.
28

10

cos(2pf 0 at )

Amplitude (Volts)

a = -10

1.5

1
0.5

0
-0.5
-10f0

-5f0

5f0

10f0

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 30: Left: Frequency spectrum, showing the amplitudes of the cosine waves making
up a square wave; right: square wave reconstructed using the coefficients in the plot and the
equation shown. If we were to use all (infinity) of the coefficients, the reconstruction would
exactly match the original.

As you know, the square wave is made up of cosine waves at a number of different
frequencies. The total power present in the square wave would be equal to the sum of the
power in each frequency component. To find the power at individual frequencies, we simply
square the values on the left in Fig. 30 to get the new plot in Fig. 31. This plot tells us how
the power is divided up between different frequencies. If we wanted to know the total power
in the signal, we would just need to add all of these values up. Since the values in the plot
are just the square of the Fourier series coefficients, we can calculate the power as
P =

|ca |2 .

(27)

a=

Power (Watts)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
-10f0

-5f0

5f0

10f0

Frequency (Hz)

Figure 31: Power spectrum of a square wave, obtained by squaring the coefficients in Fig. 30.

1.4.2

Triangle Wave

As a second example, a triangle wave is shown in Fig. 32. This wave has a peak amplitude
of 3 V and a period T0 = 14 s. Again, it is even so we will only need to evaluate the cosine
29

xp(t)

Figure 32: Triangular wave, amplitude 3, period 14.

integral to find the Fourier series coefficients. Think about the wave between t = 0 and
t = 7 s. From even symmetry, we will only need to evaluate our correlation integral over
this interval and double the result to get the integral over a whole period. In this region,
the function is a line with a slope m =
The equation is therefore

6
7

and a yintercept b = 3 V.

6
xp (t) = 3 t, 0 t 7
7

and the correlation integral is

2 Z7
xp (t) cos(2af0 t)dt
T0 0
2 Z7
6
1
=
(3 t) cos(2a t)dt
14 0
7
14
1
2 Z76
1
2 Z7
3 cos(2a t)dt
t cos(2a t)dt
=
14 0
14
14 0 7
14
#t=7
"
2
1
3
=
sin(2a t)
1
14 2 14 a
14 t=0

ca =

"

"

#t=7

1
2 6
1
1
1

t) + 2a t sin(2a t)
1 2 cos(2a
14 7 (2a 14 )
14
14
14


3
2
7

=
sin(2 a) 0
1
14 2 14 a
14

ca

t=0

#

2 6
1
1
7
7

) + 2a 7sin(2a ) cos(0) sin(0)

1 2 cos(2a
14 7 (2a 14 )
14
14
14


3
6
6
1
=
sin(a) +
sin(a)
1 cos(2 a)
2
a
(a)
2
a
a
1
= 3sinc(a) + 3 a 2 sin2 ( )
( 2 )
2
a
= 3sinc2 ( ) 3sinc(a).
2

That was horrible and it is not realistic to have to do such a calculation, and manage to get
30

it right, very often. Luckily, as you might expect from the relatively simple final answer,
there are shortcuts which we will see that make this much easier. For now, it is sufficient to
understand how the integration was set up, and that it resulted in a sensible final answer.
Again, we see that our answer is frequency independent.
Fig. 33 plots the calculated coefficients on the upper left. Those shown are for values of
a between -10 and 10. To check the result, a reconstruction of the original wave is plotted
on the right. The signal was calculated by summing cosine waves with the weights given
by the ca coefficients shown in the figure. The same number of coefficients were used as for
the square wave reconstructed in Fig. 30 but you can see that the reconstruction is much
more accurate. Qualitatively, this is because a triangle wave looks more like a cosine wave
than a square wave so it is easier to make. We can quantify this by looking at how quickly
the magnitude of the ca coefficients decreases as frequency increases. The triangle is mostly
made up of a cosine wave with frequency f0 = 14 Hz. This is also reflected in the power
spectrum at the bottom of the plot.
10

cos(2pf 0 at )

Amplitude (Volts)

a = -10

1.5

3
1

0.5

0
-10f0

7
-5f0

5f0

10f0

Frequency (Hz)

Power (Watts)

1.5

0.5

0
-10f0

-5f0

5f0

Frequency (Hz)

10f0

Figure 33: Left: calculated frequency spectrum of the triangle wave; right: wave reconstructed from the spectrum, using the equation given; bottom: power spectrum, obtained
by squaring the coefficients in the upper plot.

As you should have noticed, a lot of work is involved in solving the integrals to find the
Fourier series coefficients. In practice, this is not necessary for many simple functions, as the
Fourier series is easily derived from the Fourier transform of one period of the function. It
works like this: Given a periodic function, we start by looking at one period. For example,
Fig. 34 (a) shows a rectangular function with a width W . We call this g(t). This can be
thought of as one period of the periodic function, shown in plot (d). To define the periodic
function, we need to know the period T0 or frequency f0 = 1/T0 . We call this function
31

gf0 (t). Looking in a table of Fourier transforms, we will find that the FT of g(t) = ( wt ),
the non-periodic function, is G(f ) = W sinc(f W ). We can use this relationship to find the
Fourier series for a periodic pulse wave with any frequency and duty cycle. We plot G(f ),
scaled by f0 , in Fig. 34 (b). This function in the continuous Fourier transform of a scaled
version of g(t). Next, we sample this function at integer multiples of f0 W , that is take
samples at f0 G(f ) = f0 G(af0 W ), a = 0, 1, 2, . . . These samples are represented by the
circles in the figure. The values at these samples are the Fourier series coefficients which
represent the periodic version gf0 (t). They already take into account the period (through
f0 ) and the width (through W ). These coefficients are plotted in plot (c). This is a plot
of ca = Gf0 (a) = f0 G(f )|f =f0 a . Thus, we can state that for an arbitrary square wave with
width W and period T0 = 1/f0 , the Fourier series is ca = f0 W sinc(af0 W ). Compare this to
the integration that was required in Section 1.4.1. As usual, we can reconstruct the periodic
(a)

(b)

t
g (t ) = P
W

f 0G ( f ) = f 0Wsinc( fW )

1
- 6 f 0W

W
2

W
2

6 f 0W
- 2 f 0W

(c)

(d)
c

G f 0 (a ) = f 0Wsinc(af 0W ), A Z

g f 0 (t ) =

2 f 0W

cos(2pf 0 at )

a = -

1
- 6 f 0W

- T0

W
2

W
2

6 f 0W
- 2 f 0W

T0 t

2 f 0W

Figure 34: (a) Rectangular function, one period of a square wave; (b) Fourier transform of
a rectangular function, sampled to find the Fourier series coefficients; (c) cn coefficients, the
Fourier series representation of the periodic square wave in (d).

signal by summing together cosine waves weighted by the ca coefficients. This returns us to
the signal in plot (d).
The same procedure is illustrated in Fig. 35 to find the Fourier series representation of


a triangle wave. Plot (a) shows the triangular function, denoted by g(t) = Wt . The
periodic extension of this function is shown in plot (d) for an arbitrary period T0 . If we were
so set T0 = 2W , you can see that the result would be a continuous triangle wave. As before,
we look in a table to find that G(f ) = sinc2 (f W ) as in plot (b). We sample this function,
32

scaled by f0 , at f = af0 to obtain the ca coefficients plotted in (c). Adding together cosine
waves at with frequencies and amplitudes defined by the plot gives us the periodic function
in plot (d).
(b)

(a)

f 0G ( f ) = f 0Wsinc 2 ( fW )

t
g (t ) = L
W

1
- 6 f 0W

-W

6 f 0W
- 2 f 0W

(d)

2 f 0W

G f 0 (a ) = f 0Wsinc 2 (af 0W ), A Z

g f 0 (t ) =

cos(2pf 0 at )

(c)

a = -

1
- 6 f 0W

- T0

-W

T0

6 f 0W
- 2 f 0W

2 f 0W

Figure 35: (a) Triangular function, one period of a triangle wave; (b) Fourier transform
of (a), sampled to find the Fourier series coefficients; (c) cn coefficients, the Fourier series
representation of the periodic triangle wave in (d).

If we look back to the example in Fig. 32, we have a triangle wave with W = 7, T0 = 14,
and a peak to peak amplitude of 6. This wave is actually shifted down so half of it is below
the x-axis in the figure but we will ignore this for the time being. Plugging in the values to
7
the equation in plot (c) of Fig. 35, with a scaling of 6, and recognizing that f0 W = 14
=
gives

1
2

ca = = 6f0 W sinc2 (afo W )

a
= 3sinc2 ( ).
2
You can see that with very little work, we have immediately determined the same answer
(at least the first term) that we obtained when integrating to find the answer from Fig. 32.
What about the second term ? We have know that the Fourier series for Fig. 32 should be
a
cn = 3sinc2 ( ) 3sinc(a)
2
. Since a is an integer, the sinc(a) term will be zero for all a except a = 0. This term
represents a cosine wave with zero frequency. Since cos(0) = 1, this term represents at DC
offset, a constant shift in the level of the signal. The 3sinc(a) has the simple effect of
33

shifting the signal down by 3 units. Comparing the triangle function in Fig. 35 to the wave
in Fig. 32, we can see why this is necessary.

34