Causal & Non-casual Systems

Casual System

Casual system is a system where the output $ y(t) $ at some specific instant $ t_0 $ only depends on the input $ x(t) $ for value of $ t $ less than or equal to $ t_0 $.

Example

Memoryless system

$ y \left( t \right) = 1 + x \left( t \right) \cos \left( \omega t \right) $

Non-casual System

Non-casual system is a system that has some dependence on input values from the future (in addition to possible dependence on past or current input values).

Example

$ y(t)=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty } \sin (t+\tau) x(\tau)\,d\tau $

Alumni Liaison

Questions/answers with a recent ECE grad

Ryne Rayburn