In
signal processing, the
impulse response, or
impulse response function (IRF), of a
dynamic system is its output when presented with a brief input signal, called an
impulse. More generally, an impulse response refers to the reaction of any dynamic system in response to some external change. In both cases, the impulse response describes the reaction of the system as a
function of time (or possibly as a function of some other
independent variable that parameterizes the dynamic behavior of the system).