What are the DTFTs of the following two signals?
$$x[n] = e^{j \pi n}\left\{u[n] - u[n-8]\right\}\quad\text{and}\quad h[n] = (-1)^n\left\{u[n] - u[n-4]\right\}$$
I am trying to find $X(\omega)$ and $H(\omega)$ and the scalar $(-1)^{n}$ is throwing me off.
First note that $e^{j\pi n}=(-1)^n$. Furthermore, note that $u[n]-u[n-N]$ is a rectangular impulse of width $N$.
Now, you can calculate $$ \textrm{DTFT}\left\{u[n]-u[n-N])\right\} = \sum_{n=0}^{N-1}e^{-j2\pi nf}=\frac{1-e^{-j2\pi Nf}}{1-e^{-j2\pi f}} $$ which is the rule for the geometric sum. Furthermore, you will find
$$ \textrm{DTFT}\left\{\exp{(j\pi n)}\right\}=\delta\left(f-\frac{1}{2}\right) $$
Finally, the result follows from the convolution theorem, i.e. multiplication in time becomes convolution in frequency:
$$ \textrm{DTFT}\left\{\exp({j\pi n})(u[n]-u[n-N])\right\}=\delta\left(f-\frac{1}{2}\right)\star\frac{1-e^{-j2\pi Nf}}{1-e^{-j2\pi f}}=\frac{1-e^{-j2\pi N(f-\frac{1}{2})}}{1-e^{-j2\pi (f-\frac{1}{2})}} $$
