A discrete-time unit impulse, also known as the Kronecker delta function, is a discrete-time signal that has a value of 1 at time n=0, and 0 everywhere else. It is denoted as:
$\delta(n) =
\begin{cases}
0, & n \neq 0.\\
1, & n = 0.
\end{cases}
$
![[impulse.svg|500]]
Any discrete-time signal can be expressed as a sum of scaled and time-shifted unit impulses:
$
x(n) = \sum_{k = -\infty}^{+\infty} x(k) \delta(n-k)
$
It can be used, for example, to express a [[discrete-time unit-step]] function:
$
u(n) = \sum_{k = 0}^{+\infty} \delta(n-k)
$