Chapter 6

The Z-Transform
Contents

 Introduction
 Definition of Z-Transform
 Z-Transform of basic signals
 Properties of Z-Transform
 Transformation from S-Plane to Z-Plane
 Zero Pole Representation
 Inverse Z-Transform
 Solution of difference equations using Z-
Transform
Introduction

 Need of Discrete-time signals and systems

 Counterpart of Laplace Transform
 Defines transfer functions
 Stability of the system
Definition
Given a sequence x(n)
Then its Z-Transform is defined as:


X ( z)   x (
n  
n ) z n


X ( z)   x
n 0
( n ) z n
One sided Z-Transform

and
Two sided Z-Transform
One sided (Unilateral) Z-Transform
 It is for causal systems hence it does not contain any
information about the signal x(n) for negative values of
time.
 The one-sided Z-Transform can be used to solve
differential equations with initial conditions.
 This property makes it useful for use in practical
systems
 It is represented by the equation where Z is a complex
variable :

X ( z )   x ( n) z
 n

n 0
Two Sided Z-Transform

 Two sided Z-transform requires that the signal be

specified for the entire range :
   

 This prevents its use for a very useful family of
practical systems i.e. the evaluation on the output of
Non relaxed systems.
 It represented by the equation :

X ( z)   x ( n) z
n  
n
Z-Transform of basic signals
1. Unit Impulse Function

x ( n)   ( n)


 n    n  n

n0

X ( z)  1
 2. Unit Step Function

 1, 0 n
U n  
0, n0


un   u[ n ] n

n 0

 0  1  2  .......

 1  1  2  .......
 1 1 2 3
1
 1  x  x  x  ....
1 x

u[n] 
1
1
,  1  1
1 

u[n] 
z
z 1
3. Exponential Function

x(n)  a u (n) n

1
X ( z) 
1  az 1
Unit Ramp Function

nT , 0  n
x[n]  
 0, n  0

x[n]   (nT )   n
n 0


 T  n  n
n 0

 T [0(  0 )  1(  1 )  2( 2 )  ....]

 T [  1  2 2  3 3  ..]

 T 1[1  2 1  3 2  ....]
 1
 1  2 x  3 x 2
 ...
(1  x) 2

1 1
 T .
(1   1 ) 2

2
1
 T .
(   1) 2


Z{x[n]}  T
(   1) 2
Properties of the Z-transform
 Linearity:
x1n  X 1Z 
 If
x 2n  X 2Z 

xn  a1 x1 n  a2 x2 n  X Z   a1 x1 z   a2 x2 z 

 Example
    
xn  3 2  4 3 U n
n n
Solution

x1 n   2 n U n 
x 2 n   3 n U n 

X [ z ]  x1 [ n ]  x 2 [ n ]

 X Z   3 x1 n   4 x 2 n 

X Z 
3 4
 1

1  2z 1  3 z 1
 Time Reversal

xn  X Z 
 Then

x n  X (Z ) 1

 Example

xn  U  n
Solution

U n 
1

1  Z 1

U  n 
1
1 Z
 Scaling Property :

x[n]  X ( z)
1
a x[n]  X (a z)
n

 Time Reversal Property :

x[n]  X ( z )
1
x(n)  X (Z )
Differentiation in Z-Transform
 If

xn  X Z 

dX Z 
nxn   Z
dZ
 Convolution of two Sequences
 If

xn  x1n* x2 n  X Z   X1 Z X 2 Z 

 Example

 = {1,-2,1}

 = {0<=n<=5}
Solution
 = 1-2Z-1 +Z-2

 =1+ Z-1 +Z-2 +Z-3 + Z-4 +Z-5

xn  x1n* x2 n  X Z   X1 Z X 2 Z 

 = 1+ Z-1 +Z-6 +Z-7

Transformation from S-Plane to
Z-Plane
 The relationship between Z-transform and Laplace
Transform can be Illustrated as follows :

Let z  e (s    j )
sT

(  j ) T jT
then z  e  e .e
T 2f 2
thus z  e and  z  T  
Fs s
 Since Z is in polar form so (  j ) T jT
one factor is its magnitude ze  e .e
and other is phase.
z  eT
 Here the phase will form a
unit circle with maximum
radius of one.
(  j ) jT
ze e
 Magnitude of the circle is
dependent on the value of
sigma.
σ<0  Will yield magnitude
less than one so pole
will lie inside unit circle

 Will yield magnitude

σ>0
greater than one so
poles will lie inside the
unit circle

σ=0  Will yield magnitude

equal to one so pole will
be on the unit circle.
Graphical Representation
 Pole Zero Description Of Discrete
Time Systems

 The Zeros of a Z-Transform X(z) are the values of z for

which X(z) = 0

 The Poles of a Z-Transform X(z) are the values of z for

which X(z) =

A z-transform can always be expressed in the form X(z)= N(z)
D(z)
Allowing for a gain factor, the transform can therefore completely be
represented by the roots of N(z) and D(z), so…

N(z) K(z- z1 )(z- z2 )(z- z3 )....

X(z)= =
D(z) (z- p1 )(z- p2 )(z- p3 )...
The zi are called the ZEROS of X(z) and the zp are called the POLES.

If the time function is real, then the poles and zeros are either also
real, or occur in complex conjugate pairs.
Can be represented using an Argand diagram – called the z-plane.


 z2 -1  z3 +1
X(z)=    

 z-0.6   z-0.5+0.6j   z-0.5 -0.6j 

   
Poles give important information about STABILITY of a system

A system is only stable if all the poles lie inside the unit circle

Since the radius of the complex number representing poles is therefore

important, it helps to represent poles in polar form z=r exp(j)

For a single complex pole …

H(z)= Y(z) = 1 = 1
X(z) (z-re jθ )(z-re-jθ ) z2 -2rzcosθ+ r 2

No restrictions on zero locations.

Zeros at the origin introduce a time advance.

A minimum delay system can be obtained by ensuring an equal

number of poles and zeros
– i.e. that the order of the numerator = that of the denominator.
Inverse Z-Transform

 A method of recovering the Original sequence

x(n) from the Z-Transform, X(z), is Known as
Inverse Z-Transform.

Mathematically,

1
x(n)  Z [ X ( z)]
Methods of Inverse Z-Transform

 Direct Division (Power Series Method)

 Partial fraction expansion
 Direct evaluation by contour integration.
 Residue Method.
 Direct Division Method
Example: Determine the inverse Z-Transform by direct
division method:
1 1 1
X (Z )  (1  1 / 3z ) /(1  z )(1  2 z )

 (1  1 / 3 z 1 ) /(1  z 1  2 z 2 )

1  4 / 3 z 1  10 / 3 z  2
1  z 1  2 z  2 1  1 / 3z 1
 3
1 2
X ( z)  1  4 / 3z  10 / 3z  6 z
x(0)  1, x(1)  4 / 3, x(2)  10 / 3, x(3)  6
Partial Fraction Method
Example: Find the inverse Z-Transform of

X ( z)  (1  1/ 3z  1) /(1  z  1)(1  2z  1)
 1-(1/3)z-1 = A(1+2z-1) + B(1-z-1)

Assuming z-1=1

We find that A=2/9

And by putting z-1=-1/2 we have B=7/9

X(z) = 2/9(1-z-1) + 7/9 (1+2z-1)

Now we can write
x(n)  x1( n)  x 2(n)
2
x1(n)   u ( n)
z

9
  2  u (n)
7
x 2( n)  z n

9
 x(n)  u (n)   2 u (n)
2 7 n

9 9

And by putting the values we find that

x(0)=1, x(1)=-4/3,x(2)=10/3, x(3)=-6

Solution of Difference Equations

 Solution of difference equations

 Transfer function of a system
 :

Difference Equations:
Discrete systems are often represented in the form of a
difference equation. This gives the output in terms of
past and present input, as well as previous output, with
respect to the time index, n. For example:

y(n)  2 y(n  1)  3x(n)

Considering the generalized difference equation

N M

 a y ( n  k )   b x( n  k )
k 0
k
k 0
k

By taking the Z-Transform on both sides

N M

a
k 0
k z Y ( Z )   bk z X ( Z )
k

k 0
k
 M

Y ( z) b k z k

 k 0
N
1  ak z
X ( z) k

k 1

 k
b z k

H (Z )  k 0
N
1  ak z k

k 1
Example 1: Determine the system function and the
impulse response of the system described by the
difference equation

1
y (n)  y (n  1)  4 x(n)
4
Example 2: Compute the system function and the
unit sample response of the discrete-time system.

y(n)  2x(n)  x(n 1)  3 y(n 1)

Example 3: A discrete-time system is described by
the difference equation with the applied input x(n)

1 3 2
y(n)  x(n)  x(n  1)  x(n  2)
2 4 3

x(n)  1,0.5,1
 Solution:

1 2 3 4
Y ( z)  0.5  z  0.535z  0.42 z  0.66 z

y(n)  0.5,1,0.535,0.42,.66
 Summary :
 The Z-Transform plays the same role in Discrete-Time Signals and
Systems as the Laplace Transform does in Continuous-Time
Signals and Systems.
 One sided Z-Transform is more useful for Evaluating Practical
Systems.
 Representation of Signals in S-Plane can be Directly mapped to Z-
Plane.
 Evaluating the Z-Transform gives us information about poles and
Zeros of the System.
 Poles and Zero Representation give information about the Stability
of the System.
 Inverse Z-transform is a method of Recovering the Original
Sequence x(n) from the Z-Transform Spectrum X(z).
 Differential equations can be solved using the
Z-Transform.