EE313 Linear Systems and Signals - Midterm #2
Midterm #1 will be on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, during lecture time (11:00am to 12:15pm).
Each midterm exam will be an open book, open notes, open laptop exam
that is scheduled to last the entire lecture period (11:00am-12:15pm).
The laptop must have all external networking connections disabled.
Because each midterm is an open book, notes and laptop exam, you'll
likely need to move quickly through the exam but also need to think
deeply about possible ways to solve the problems.
To this end, having a week of regular sleep, eating, and exercise will
be very helpful.
Please download in advance of the midterm exam a
zip archive of the course Canvas site (1.3 GB)
which includes the lecture slides, marker board pictures, handouts,
homework assignments and solutions, and previous tests and their solutions.
By placing the files on your laptop in advance, you can search the files
for keywords when taking practice tests and the actual midterm exam.
Midterm #2 for the Fall 2025 semester will be on Thursday, Nov. 14th,
during lecture time (11:00am to 12:15pm) in EER 1.516 and EER 1.810.
There should be an empty seat or an aisle on either side of you.
The extra space will help you be more comfortable to arrange your books,
notes, and laptop for the midterm exam.
You might consider bringing pens or pencils of different colors
to help you in drawing different cases in graphical "flip-and-slide"
convolution.
Coverage
For midterm #2 in EE 313, you will be responsible for the
following sections of Signal Processing First book
by McClellan, Schafer and Yoder:
- Chapter 5: FIR Filters
- Chapter 6: Frequency Response of FIR Filters
- Chapter 7: z-Transforms (except Section 7-8)
- Chapter 8: IIR Filters (first-order IIR filters only)
You will also be responsible for the material in
There will likely be four questions on midterm #2.
There will be no questions about Matlab.
A review of midterm #2 material
is available from a previous offering of the course.
We haven't yet covered continuous-time convolution or the Laplace transform yet.
Worked Problems from Signal Processing First
The companion Web site
for the Signal Processing First book has dozens of worked
problems on FIR filters, z-transforms and IIR filters.
Here is the correspondence between chapters in the two books:
- Signal Processsing First chapter 5 on FIR Filters is DSP First chapter 5.
- Signal Processsing First chapter 6 on FIR Filters is DSP First chapter 6.
- Signal Processsing First chapter 7 on z-transforms is DSP First chapter 9.
- Signal Processsing First chapter 8 on IIR filters is DSP First chapter 10.
Previous Tests
Here are several example midterm #2 exams:
Here are the questions from the previous exams that are related to the
material to be covered on midterm #2 this semester.
- Midterm #1 Questions
- Midterm #1, Summer 2016, Problem 4. Continuous-Time Convolution.
"Zero state" means that the system state is zero; i.e., the initial
conditions are zero.
So, the systems in this problem are linear and time-invariant.
In problem 4(b), please note that δ(t) is the Dirac delta even
though the plot of h(t) seems to imply otherwise.
- Midterm #1, Summer 2016, Problem 5. Discrete-Time Convolution.
"Zero state" means that the system state is zero; i.e., the initial
conditions are zero.
So, the systems in this problem are linear and time-invariant.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2010, Problem 1.2. Convolution.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2010, Problem 1.3. Continuous-Time System Properties.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2010, Problem 1.4. Discrete-Time Convolution.
This problem asks us to design an equalizer.
In part (b), one obtains
g[n] = b0 delta[n] + a1 g[n-1].
This is in the form of a first-order difference equation with input
signal delta[n] and output signal g[n].
That is, g[n] is the impulse response of the LTI system.
A characteristic root is the same as a pole in the transfer function
in the z-domain for an LTI system.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2010, Problem 1.5. Discrete-time systems part only.
We haven’t covered most of the continuous-time systems mentioned in the answer.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2009, Problem 1.2. Continuous-Time Convolution.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2009, Problem 1.3. Continuous-Time Tapped Delay Line.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2009, Problem 1.4. Potpourri. Signal Properties, System Properties.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2005, Problem 1.3. Continuous-Time Tapped Delay Line.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2005, Problem 1.4. Continuous-Time System Properties.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2005, Problem 1.5. Potpourri. We haven’t covered 1.5(b) part ii yet.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2003, Problem 1.2. Discrete-Time System Response (Convolution).
This problems asks us to convolve an exponential signal in discrete time
with itself
Please see Case #2 in
Handout E Convolution of Exponential Sequences.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2003, Problem 1.3. Continuous-Time Tapped Delay Line.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2003, Problem 1.4. Differentiator.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2003, Problem 1.5. Potpourri. Convolution, resonators, and oscillators.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2001, Problem 1.2. Continuous-Time Convolution.
- Midterm #1, Fall 2001, Problem 1.3. Continuous-Time System Properties.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2001, Problem 1.2. Continuous-Time Convolution.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2001, Problem 1.3. Discrete-Time Tapped Delay Line.
- Midterm #1, Spring 2001, Problem 1.4. Step Response.
- Midterm #1, Fall 1999, Problem 1.2. Continuous-Time Convolution.
- Midterm #2 Questions
- Midterm #2, Summer 2016, Problem 2.3, Z-Transforms
- Midterm #2, Summer 2016, Problem 2.4, Discrete-Time LTI Oscillator with Infinite Impulse Response
- Midterm #2, Spring 2009, Problem 2.1, Difference Equation
- Midterm #2, Spring 2009, Problem 2.2, Discrete-Time Convolution
- Midterm #2, Spring 2009, Problem 2.3, Discrete-Time Tapped Delay Line
- Midterm #2, Spring 2009, Problem 2.5a, Discrete-Time Convolution
- Midterm #2, Fall 2003, Problem 2.2, Z-Transforms
- Midterm #2, Fall 2003, Problem 2.4, Transfer Functions and Frequency Responses for a Discrete-Time LTI System
- Midterm #2, Spring 2001, Problem 2.1, Solving a Difference Equation
- Midterm #2, Spring 2001, Problem 2.2, Discrete-Time Impulse and Step Responses
- Midterm #2, Spring 2001, Problem 2.5(a) and (b), Discrete-Time Filter Design
- Midterm #2, Fall 1999, Problem 2.3, Discrete-Time Tapped Delay Line
- Midterm #2, Fall 1999, Problem 2.4, Discrete-Time Transfer Functions
- Final Exam Questions
- Final Exam, Summer 2016, Problem 3, Discrete-Time Fourier Transform
- Final Exam, Summer 2016, Problem 4, Discrete-Time Frequency Response
- Final Exam, Summer 2016, Problem 5, Discrete-Time Filter Design
- Final Exam, Summer 2016, Problem 7, Continuous-Time Convolution
- Final Exam, Summer 2016, Problem 8, Discrete-Time Averaging Filters
- Final Exam, Fall 2010, Problem 4, Discrete-Time Stability
- Final Exam, Fall 2010, Problem 6, Discrete-Time Filter Analysis
- Final Exam, Fall 2010, Problem 7, Discrete-Time Filter Design
- Final Exam, Spring 2009, Problem 3, Discrete-Time Convolution and Continuous-Time Convolution
- Final Exam, Spring 2009, Problem 6, Discrete-Time Filter Analysis
- Final Exam, Spring 2009, Problem 7, Discrete-Time Filter Design
- Final Exam, Fall 2005, Problem 4a, Discrete-Time Convolution
- Final Exam, Fall 2005, Problem 6, Discrete-Time Filter Analysis
- Final Exam, Fall 2005, Problem 7, Discrete-Time Filter Design
- Final Exam, Fall 2003, Problem 4, Z-Transforms
- Final Exam, Fall 1999, Problem 1, Difference Equations
- Final Exam, Fall 1999, Problem 2, Discrete-Time Convolution
- Final Exam, Fall 1999, Problem 8e, Discrete-Time Filter Design
Last updated 11/11/25.
Send comments to
bevans@ece.utexas.edu.