This tool computes the signal bandwidth from its frequency.
- Enter the fundamental frequency
- Pick the signal type (sine, square, triangle or sawtooth)
The units of the signal bandwidth are the same as that of the signal frequency.
Examples
A sine wave with a fundamental frequency of 1 GHz has a bandwidth of 1 GHz, while a square wave with the same frequency has a bandwidth of 5 GHz.
Background
The term Frequency is defined as the number of cycles or repetitions per unit of time. The SI unit of frequency is Hertz or Hz. One Hertz is equivalent to one cycle per second.
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous band of frequencies. Units for bandwidth are also Hertz. The picture below illustrates the concept of bandwidth.
A Fourier analysis of a time domain sine, square, triangle or sawtooth waveform gives the frequency domain representation. For instance in the picture below we can see the Discrete Fourier Transform of a sum of sine waves.
The difference between the maximum and minimum frequency components gives the bandwidth.
The calculator on this page gives the bandwidth corresponding to any of four different waveform types. In the case of an any time domain waveform, a Fourier transform analysis can provide the same result.
Example Applications
- Rise Time Calculator – use bandwidth to find the rise time of the signal
- Nyquist Rate Calculator – what’s the sampling rate to avoid aliasing? Once you calculate the bandwidth, use this tool to pick an appropriate oscilloscope or analog-to-digital converter.
- Nyquist Frequency Calculator gives the maximum frequency of the input signal to avoid aliasing.
Wikipedia References
[1] Frequency
[2] Bandwidth