Discrete-time signal

Discrete sampled signal

"Discrete signal" redirects here and is not to be confused with Digital signal (electronics).

A discrete signal or discrete-time signal is a time series consisting of a sequence of quantities.

Unlike a continuous-time signal, a discrete-time signal is not a function of a continuous argument; however, it may have been obtained by sampling from a continuous-time signal. When a discrete-time signal is obtained by sampli a sequence at uniformly spaced times, it has an associated sampling rate.

Acquisition

Discrete-time signals may have several origins, but can usually be classified into one of two groups:

• By acquiring values of an analog signal at constant or variable rate. This process is called sampling.
• By observing an inherently discrete-time process, such as the weekly peak value of a particular economic indicator.

See also

• Aliasing
• Bernoulli process
• Digital data
• Discrete system
• Discrete time and continuous time
• Normalized frequency

References

• Gershenfeld, Neil A. (1999). The Nature of mathematical Modeling. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57095-6.

• Wagner, Thomas Charles Gordon (1959). Analytical transients. Wiley.