Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.
In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph of the varying quantity against time or distance. An instrument called an oscilloscope can be used to pictorially represent a wave as a repeating image on a screen. By extension, the term 'waveform' also describes the shape of the graph of any varying quantity against time.
Contents |
Common periodic waveforms include (t is time):
Other waveforms are often called composite waveforms and can often be described as a combination of a number of sinusoidal waves or other basis functions added together.
The Fourier series describes the decomposition of periodic waveforms, such that any periodic waveform can be formed by the sum of a (possibly infinite) set of fundamental and harmonic components. Finite-energy non-periodic waveforms can be analyzed into sinusoids by the Fourier transform.