A time-invariantsystem has a time-dependent system function that is not a direct function of time. Such systems are regarded as a class of systems in the field of system analysis. The time-dependent system function is a function of the time-dependent input function. If this function depends only indirectly on the time-domain, then that is a system that would be considered time-invariant. Conversely, any direct dependence on the time-domain of the system function could be considered as a "time-varying system". Mathematically speaking, "time-invariance" of a system is the following property: In the language of signal processing, this property can be satisfied if the transfer function of the system is not a direct function of time except as expressed by the input and output. In the context of a system schematic, this property can also be stated as follows: If a time-invariant system is also linear, it is the subject of linear time-invariant theory with direct applications in NMR spectroscopy, seismology, circuits, signal processing, control theory, and other technical areas. Nonlinear time-invariant systems lack a comprehensive, governing theory. Discrete time-invariant systems are known as shift-invariant systems. Systems which lack the time-invariant property are studied as time-variant systems.
Simple example
To demonstrate how to determine if a system is time-invariant, consider the two systems:
Since the System Function for system A explicitly depends on t outside of, it is not time-invariant because the time-dependence is not explicitly a function of the input function. In contrast, system B's time-dependence is only a function of the time-varying input. This makes system B time-invariant. The Formal Example below shows in more detail that while System B is a Shift-Invariant System as a function of time, t, while System A is not.
Formal example
A more formal proof of why systems A and B above differ is now presented. To perform this proof, the second definition will be used. More generally, the relationship between the input and output is and its variation with time is For time-invariant systems, the system properties remain constant with time, Applied to Systems A and B above:
Abstract example
We can denote the shift operator by where is the amount by which a vector's index set should be shifted. For example, the "advance-by-1" system can be represented in this abstract notation by where is a function given by with the system yielding the shifted output So is an operator that advances the input vector by 1. Suppose we represent a system by an operator. This system is time-invariant if it commutes with the shift operator, i.e., If our system equation is given by then it is time-invariant if we can apply the system operator on followed by the shift operator, or we can apply the shift operator followed by the system operator, with the two computations yielding equivalent results. Applying the system operator first gives Applying the shift operator first gives If the system is time-invariant, then
