Z-transform

Definition
The Z-transform, like many other integral transforms, can be defined as either a onesided or two-sided transform.

Bilateral Z-transform
The bilateral or two-sided Z-transform of a discrete-time signal x[n] is the function X(z)
defined as

where n is an integer and z is, in general, a complex number:

z = Aejf (OR)
z = A(cosf + jsinf )
where A is the magnitude of z, and f is the complex argument (also referred to as
angle or phase) in radians.

Unilateral Z-transform
Alternatively, in cases where x[n] is defined only for n = 0, the single-sided or unilateral
Z-transform is defined as

In signal processing, this definition is used when the signal is causal.

An important example of the unilateral Z-transform is the probability-generating
function, where the component x[n] is the probability that a discrete random variable
takes the value n, and the function X(z) is usually written as X(s), in terms of s = z - 1. The
properties of Z-transforms (below) have useful interpretations in the context of
probability theory.

Inverse Z-transform
The inverse Z-transform is

where

is a counterclockwise closed path encircling the origin and entirely in the region

of convergence (ROC). The contour or path,

, must encircle all of the poles of

A special case of this contour integral occurs when is the unit circle (and can be used
when the ROC includes the unit circle). The inverse Z-transform simplifies to the inverse
discrete-time Fourier transform:

.
The Z-transform with a finite range of n and a finite number of uniformly-spaced z values
can be computed efficiently via Bluestein's FFT algorithm. The discrete-time Fourier
transform (DTFT) (not to be confused with the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)) is a
special case of such a Z-transform obtained by restricting z to lie on the unit circle.

Region of convergence
The region of convergence (ROC) is the set of points in the complex plane for which the
Z-transform summation converges.

Example 1 (No ROC)

Let

. Expanding

on the interval

it becomes

Looking at the sum

Therefore, there are no such values of that satisfy this condition.

Example 2 (causal ROC)

ROC shown in blue, the unit circle as a dotted grey circle and the circle
shown as a dashed black circle
Let
interval

(where u is the Heaviside step function). Expanding

is

on the

it becomes

Looking at the sum

The last equality arises from the infinite geometric series and the equality only holds if
which can be rewritten in terms of as
. Thus, the ROC is
. In this case the ROC is the complex plane with a disc of radius 0.5 at the
origin "punched out".

Example 3 (anticausal ROC)

ROC shown in blue, the unit circle as a dotted grey circle and the circle
shown as a dashed black circle
Let

is

(where u is the Heaviside step function). Expanding

on the interval

it becomes

Looking at the sum

Using the infinite geometric series, again, the equality only holds if
can be rewritten in terms of as
. Thus, the ROC is
ROC is a disc centered at the origin and of radius 0.5.

which
. In this case the

What differentiates this example from the previous example is only the ROC. This is
intentional to demonstrate that the transform result alone is insufficient.

Examples conclusion
Examples 2 & 3 clearly show that the Z-transform
of
is unique when and only
when specifying the ROC. Creating the pole-zero plot for the causal and anticausal case

show that the ROC for either case does not include the pole that is at 0.5. This extends to
cases with multiple poles: the ROC will never contain poles.
In example 2, the causal system yields an ROC that includes
anticausal system in example 3 yields an ROC that includes

while the
.

ROC shown as a blue ring

In systems with multiple poles it is possible to have an ROC that includes neither
nor

. The ROC creates a circular band. For example,

has poles at 0.5 and 0.75. The ROC will be
, which includes neither the origin nor infinity. Such a system is

called a mixed-causality system as it contains a causal term

term

and an anticausal

The stability of a system can also be determined by knowing the ROC alone. If the ROC
contains the unit circle (i.e.,
) then the system is stable. In the above systems the
causal system (Example 2) is stable because
contains the unit circle.
If you are provided a Z-transform of a system without an ROC (i.e., an ambiguous
you can determine a unique
provided you desire the following:
?
?

Stability
Causality

If you need stability then the ROC must contain the unit circle. If you need a causal
system then the ROC must contain infinity and the system function will be a right-sided

sequence. If you need an anticausal system then the ROC must contain the origin and the
system function will be a left-sided sequence. If you need both, stability and causality, all
the poles of the system function must be inside the unit circle.
The unique

can then be found.

Properties
Properties of the z-transform

Time domain

Notati
on

Linear
ity

Time
shiftin
g

Scalin
g in
the zdomai
n

Z-domain

Proof

ROC

ROC:

At least
the
intersectio
n of ROC1
and ROC2

ROC,
except
if
and
if

Time
revers
al

Compl
ex
conjug
ation

ROC

Real
part

ROC

Imagi
nary
part

ROC

Differe
ntiatio
n

ROC

Convo
lution

At least
the
intersectio
n of ROC1
and ROC2

Correl
ation

At least
the
intersectio
n of ROC

of X1(z)
and X2(z 1
)

First
Differe
nce

At least
the
intersectio
n of ROC
of X1(z)
and | z | >
0

Accum
ulatio
n

At least
the
intersectio
n of ROC
of X1(z)
and | z | >
1

Multip
licatio
n

Parsev
al's
relatio
n

Initial value theorem

, If

causal

Final value theorem

, Only if poles of
the unit circle

Table of common Z-transform pairs

are inside

Here:
?
?

u[n]=1 for n>=0, u[n]=0 for n<0

d[n] = 1 for n=0, d[n] = 0 otherwise

Signal, x[n]

Z-transform, X(z)

ROC

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

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