A periodic signal can be described by a Fourier decomposition as a Fourier series, i. e. as a sum of sinusoidal and cosinusoidal oscillations. By reversing this procedure a periodic signal can be generated by superimposing sinusoidal and cosinusoidal waves. The general function is:
The Fourier series of a square wave is
or
The Fourier series of a saw-toothed wave is
The approximation improves as more oscillations are added.
This applet uses the sun.audio package. HotJava users should set Class access to Unrestricted.
The source code (version 96/07/15) is available according to the GNU Public License.
Tom Huber, huber@gac.edu has written an enhanced version.