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Meet the Fourier Coefficients

Module by: Richard Baraniuk. E-mail the author

Summary: An introduction to the Fourier coefficients.

ft=nZ c n ei ω 0 nt f t n n c n ω 0 n t
(1)
c n =1T0Tfte(i ω 0 nt)d t =ft,ei ω 0 nt c n 1 T t T 0 f t ω 0 n t f t ω 0 n t
(2)
Equation 2 is equal to "the strength of ft f t along the ei ω 0 nt ω 0 n t direction" as well as "the similarity between ft f t and ei ω 0 nt ω 0 n t ."

Multiply and integrate (Reference) and (Reference) (real and imaginary parts) to get c 2 c 2 , which is a complex number.

Figure 1
Figure 1 (nono.png)

Signal ft f t : Figure 2.

Figure 2
Figure 2 (fig2.png)

Fourier Coefficients

Also known as c n c n . In Figure 3, c 0 =1T0Tftd t c 0 1 T t 0 T f t and is the average value of ft f t and c 3 =1T0Tfte(i ω 0 3t)d t c 3 1 T t 0 T f t ω 0 3 t , where e(i ω 0 3t) ω 0 3 t is the real part (Figure 4).

Figure 3
Figure 3 (fig3.png)
Figure 4: The frequency is 3 ω 0 3 ω 0 .
Figure 4 (fig4.png)

Note:

We can plot c n c n and c n c n as well.

Example 1: FS of Square Pulse I

Figure 5.

Figure 5: ω 0 =2πT ω 0 2 T .
Figure 5 (fig5.png)
c n =1T0Tfte(i ω 0 nt)d t =1T0T4e(i ω 0 nt)d t +1T3TTTe(i ω 0 nt)d t =1(i ω 0 Tn)(e(i ω 0 T4n)1)+1(i ω 0 Tn)(e(i ω 0 Tn)e(i ω 0 T34n))=1(i2πn)(e(i2π4n)1)+1(i2πn)(e(i2πn)e(i2π34n))=1(i2πn)(e(iπ2n)1)+1(i2πn)(1e(i3π2n))=1i2πn(e(i3π2n)e(iπ2n))=1i2πn(eiπ2ne(iπ2n))=1πneiπ2ne(iπ2n)2i=1πnsinπ2n=12sinπ2nπ2n=sincπ2n2 c n 1 T t 0 T f t ω 0 n t 1 T t 0 T 4 ω 0 n t 1 T t 3 T T T ω 0 n t 1 ω 0 T n ω 0 T 4 n 1 1 ω 0 T n ω 0 T n ω 0 T 3 4 n 1 2 n 2 4 n 1 1 2 n 2 n 2 3 4 n 1 2 n 2 n 1 1 2 n 1 3 2 n 1 2 n 3 2 n 2 n 1 2 n 2 n 2 n 1 n 2 n 2 n 2 1 n 2 n 1 2 2 n 2 n sinc 2 n 2
(3)
where e(i3π2n)=eiπ2n 3 2 n 2 n by the periodicity of complex exponentials. To check Equation 3, we see that c 0 =12 c 0 1 2 . This is correct since it is the average value of ft f t . Figure 6 is a plot of c n c n .
Figure 6: sincπ2n2 sinc 2 n 2 .
Figure 6 (fig6.png)

Square Pulse

  1. Only odd harmonics (average value of c 0 c 0 doesn't count as even).
  2. sinc sinc envelope on harmonics.

Notice

sinπ2n={0  if   n even 1  if  n159-1  if  n3711 2 n 0 n even 1 n 1 5 9 -1 n 3 7 11
(4)
Therefore,
c n ={12  if  n=01πn  if  n±1±5±91πn  if  n±3±7±110  if   n even c n 1 2 n 0 1 n n ± 1 ± 5 ± 9 1 n n ± 3 ± 7 ± 11 0 n even
(5)

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