Monzingo-7200014 book ISBN: XXXXXXXXXX November 24, 2010 20:1 507

Appendix A: Frequency
Response Characteristics
of Tapped-Delay Lines
The frequency response characteristics of the tapped-delay line lter shown in Figure A-1
can be developed by rst considering the impulse response h(t ) of the network. For the
input signal x(t ) = (t ) it follows that
h(t ) =
2n+1

i =1
w
i
[t (i 1)] (A.1)
where w
i
, i = 1, . . . , 2n + 1 denotes the various complex weights located at the taps in
the tapped-delay line having intertap delay spacing equal to .
Taking the Laplace transform of (A.1) yields
{h(t )} = H(s) =
2n+1

i =1
w
i
e
s(i 1)
(A.2)
Equation (A.1) represents a sequence of weighted impulse signals that are summed to
form the output of the tapped-delay line. The adequacy of the tapped-delay line structure
to represent frequency dependent amplitude and phase variations by way of (A.2) depends
on signal bandwidth considerations.
Signal bandwidth considerations are most easily introduced by discussing the con-
tinuous input signal depicted in Figure A-2. With a continuous input signal, the signals
appearing at the tapped-delay line taps (after time t = t
0
+ 2n has elapsed where t
0
denotes an arbitrary starting time) are given by the sequence of samples x(t
0
+(i 1)),
i = 1, 2, . . . , 2n +1. The sample sequence x(t
0
+(i 1)), i = 1, . . . , 2n +1, uniquely
characterizes the corresponding continuous waveform from which it was generated pro-
vided that the signal x(t ) is band-limited with its highest frequency component f
max
less
than or equal to one-half the sample frequency corresponding to the time delay, that is,
f
max

1
2
(A.3)
Equation (A.3) expresses the condition that must be satised in order for a continuous
signal to be uniquely reconstructed froma sequence of discrete samples spaced seconds
apart, and it is formally recognized as the sampling theorem [1]. Since the total (two-
sided) bandwidth of a band-limited signal x(t ) is BW = 2 f
max
, it follows that a tapped-
delay line can uniquely characterize any continuous signal having BW 1/ (Hz), so
1/ can be regarded as the signal bandwidth of the tapped-delay line.
Since the impulse response of the transversal lter consists of a sequence of weighted
impulse functions, it is convenient to adopt the z-transformdescription for the lter transfer
507
Monzingo-7200014 book ISBN: XXXXXXXXXX November 24, 2010 20:1 508
508 Appendix A: Frequency Response Characteristics of Tapped-Delay Lines
FIGURE A-1
Transversal lter
having 2n +1
complex weights.
w
2
w
1
w
3
w
2n + 1

Input, x(t) Output, y(t)

FIGURE A-2
Continuous input
signal.

t
0 + 2n

t
t
0
0
x(t)
Signals appearing at delayline taps
function instead of the (more cumbersome) Laplace transform description of (A.2) by
dening
z

= e
s
(A.4)
so that
{h(t )} = H(z) =
2n+1

i =1
w
i
z
(i 1)
(A.5)
The frequency response of the transversal lter can then be obtained by setting s = j
and considering how H( j ) behaves as varies. Letting s = j corresponds to setting
z = e
j
, which is a multiple-valued function of since it is impossible to distinguish
= + from = , and consequently
H( j ) = H
_
j k
2

_
(A.6)
Equation (A.6) expresses the fact that the tapped-delay line transfer function is a
periodic function of frequency having a period equal to the signal bandwidth capability
of the lter. The periodic structure of H(s) is easily seen in the complex s-plane, which
is divided into an innite number of periodic strips as shown in Figure A-3 [2]. The strip
located between = / and = / is called the primary strip, while all other
strips occurring at higher frequencies are designated as complementary strips. Whatever
behavior of H( j ) obtains in the primary strip, this behavior is merely repeated in each
succeeding complementary strip. It is seen from (A.5) that for 2n +1 taps in the tapped-
delay line, there will be up to 2n roots of the resulting polynomial in z
1
that describes
H(z). It follows that there will be up to 2n zeros in the transfer function corresponding to
the 2n delay elements in the tapped-delay line.
We have seen how the frequency response H( j ) is periodic with period determined
by the signal bandwidth 1/ and that the number of zeros that can occur across the signal
bandwidth is equal to the number of delay elements in the tapped-delay line. It remains
Monzingo-7200014 book ISBN: XXXXXXXXXX November 24, 2010 20:1 509
Appendix A: Frequency Response Characteristics of Tapped-Delay Lines 509
Complementary strip
Complex s plane
Complementary strip
Complementary strip
Complementary strip
Primary strip
s
1
+ j
4p

s
1
+ j
2p

s
1
j
2p

s
1
j
4p

s
1
0
0
0
0
0
jw
s
5p

5p

3p

3p

FIGURE A-3
Periodic structure of
H(s) as seen in the
complex s-plane.
to show that the resolution associated with each of the zeros of H( j ) is approximately
1/N, where N =number of taps in the tapped-delay line. Consider the impulse response
of a transversal lter having N taps and all weights set equal to unity so that
H( j ) =
N1

i =0
e
j i
=
1 e
j N
1 e
j
(A.7)
Factoring e
j (/2)N
from the numerator and e
j (/2)
from the denominator of (A.7)
then yields
H( j ) = exp
_
j

2
(1 N)
_
sin [(/2)N]
sin [(/2)]
(A.8)
= N exp
_
j

2
(1 N)
_
_
sin [(/2)N]
[(/2)N]
_
_
sin[(/2)]
[(/2)]
_ (A.9)
The denominator of (A.8) has its rst zerooccurringat f = 1/, whichis outside the range
of periodicity of H( j ) for which
1
2
BW = 1/2. The rst zero of the numerator of (A.8),
however, occurs at f = 1/N so the total frequency range of the principal lobe is just
2/N; it follows that the 3 dB frequency range of the principal lobe is very nearly 1/N
so the resolution (in frequency) of any root of H( j ) may be said to be approximately
the inverse of the total delay in the tapped-delay line. In the event that unequal weighting
is employed in the tapped-delay line, the width of the principal lobe merely broadens, so
the above result gives the best frequency resolution that can be achieved.
The discussion so far has assumed that the frequency range of interest is centered
about f = 0. In most practical systems, the actual signals of interest are transmitted with
a carrier frequency component f
0
as shown in Figure A-4. By mixing the actual transmitted
signal with a reference oscillator having the carrier frequency, the transmitted signal can
be reduced to baseband by removal of the carrier frequency component, thereby centering
the spectrum of the information carrying signal component about f = 0. By writing all
Monzingo-7200014 book ISBN: XXXXXXXXXX November 24, 2010 20:1 510
510 Appendix A: Frequency Response Characteristics of Tapped-Delay Lines
FIGURE A-4
Signal bandwidth
BW centered about
carrier frequency f
0
.
f
0
Spectrum of baseband
reduced signal
f
0

BW
2
f
0
+
BW
2
f
0
BW
signals as though they had been reduced to baseband, no loss of generality results since this
merely assumes that the signal spectrum is centered about f = 0; the baseband reduced
information-carrying component of any transmitted signal is referred to as the complex
envelope, and complex envelope notation is discussed in Appendix B.
A.1 REFERENCES
[1] R. M. Oliver, J. R. Pierce, and C. E. Shannon, The Philosophy of Pulse Code Modulation,
Proc. IRE, Vol. 36, No. 11, November 1948, pp. 13241331.
[2] B. C. Kuo, Discrete-Data Control System, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1970, Ch. 2.