MATLAB: Single-Sided Amplitude Spectrum Plot

signal processing

 Hello,

I have a question regarding the fourier spectrum of a signal. Below I've posted code in which I generated a sinusoidal signal with a frequency of 5 kHz. Then I plotted the single-sided amplitude spectrum as recommended in the MathWorks documentation. The plot however does not show a peak of height 1 at 5 kHz, but a slightly lower one plus more frequencies in the vicinity. What happened there? Since my sampling rate is 20 kHz I dont suppose to violate the Nyquist theorem. Thanks for any hints!

   if true
      delta = 50E-6;
  fs = 1/delta;
  time = 0:delta:1;
  f = 5E3;
  signal = sin(2*pi*f*time);
  figure;
  plot(time,signal);
x = signal;
y = fft(x);
L = length(x);
P2 = abs(y/L);
P1 = P2(1:L/2+1);
P1(2:end-1) = 2*P1(2:end-1);
freq = fs*(0:(L/2))/L;
figure;
%loglog(freq,P1);
%semilogy(freq,P1);
plot(freq,P1);
  end

Best Answer

‘The plot however does not show a peak of height 1 at 5 kHz, but a slightly lower one plus more frequencies in the vicinity. What happened there?’

In ‘sampling’ your signal, you are actually ‘heterodying’ it with (modulating it with) the sampling frequency. Like all amplitude-modulation processes, this creates sidebands, so you end up with a transmitted-carrier double-sideband signal. The discrete Fourier transform is by definition a nonlinear process as well, so the result displays the fundamental frequency and sidebands, with the energy distributed amongst them.

Related Solutions

MATLAB: 50 Hz interference and noise reduction from ECG.

hello

If you want only to remove the 50 Hz tone , use a notch filter as shown in example below. I used your data and guessed the sampling frequency from the fact that the peak was at 50 Hz.

So sampling at 10 kHz is pretty high for an ECG signal, you could easily go down by factor 10.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



% load signal
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% data
signal = importdata('Sinal1.txt');
dt = 1e-4; % 0.1 milli seconds
samples = length(signal);
Fs = 1/dt; % sampling frequency (Hz)
%% decimate (if needed)
% NB : decim = 1 will do nothing (output = input)
decim = 1;
if decim>1
    signal = decimate(signal,decim);
    Fs = Fs/decim;
end
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% FFT parameters
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
NFFT = Fs;    % 
Overlap = 0.75;
w = hanning(NFFT);     % Hanning window / Use the HANN function to get a Hanning window which has the first and last zero-weighted samples.
%% notch filter section %%%%%%
% H(s) = (s^2 + 1) / (s^2 + s/Q + 1)
fc = 50;       % notch freq
wc = 2*pi*fc;
Q = 7;         % adjust Q factor for wider (low Q) / narrower (high Q) notch
                % at f = fc the filter has gain = 0
w0 = 2*pi*fc/Fs;
alpha = sin(w0)/(2*Q);
            b0 =   1;
            b1 =  -2*cos(w0);
            b2 =   1;
            a0 =   1 + alpha;
            a1 =  -2*cos(w0);
            a2 =   1 - alpha;
            
% analog notch (for info)
num1=[1/wc^2 0 1];
den1=[1/wc^2 1/(wc*Q) 1];
% digital notch (for info)
num1z=[b0 b1 b2];
den1z=[a0 a1 a2];
freq = linspace(fc-1,fc+1,200);
[g1,p1] = bode(num1,den1,2*pi*freq);
g1db = 20*log10(g1);
[gd1,pd1] = dbode(num1z,den1z,1/Fs,2*pi*freq);
gd1db = 20*log10(gd1);
figure(1);
plot(freq,g1db,'b',freq,gd1db,'+r');
title(' Notch: H(s) = (s^2 + 1) / (s^2 + s/Q + 1)');
legend('analog','digital');
xlabel('Fréquence (Hz)');
ylabel(' dB')
 
% now let's filter the signal 
signal_filtered = filtfilt(num1z,den1z,signal);
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% display : averaged FFT spectrum before / after notch filter
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
[freq,fft_spectrum] = myfft_peak(signal, Fs, NFFT, Overlap);
sensor_spectrum_dB = 20*log10(fft_spectrum);% convert to dB scale (ref = 1)

[freq,fft_spectrum_filtered] = myfft_peak(signal_filtered, Fs, NFFT, Overlap);
sensor_spectrum_filtered_dB = 20*log10(fft_spectrum_filtered);% convert to dB scale (ref = 1)
figure(2),semilogx(freq,sensor_spectrum_dB,'b',freq,sensor_spectrum_filtered_dB,'r');grid on
title(['Averaged FFT Spectrum  / Fs = ' num2str(Fs) ' Hz / Delta f = ' num2str(freq(2)-freq(1)) ' Hz ']);
legend('before notch filter','after notch filter');
xlabel('Frequency (Hz)');ylabel(' dB')
function  [freq_vector,fft_spectrum] = myfft_peak(signal, Fs, nfft, Overlap)
% FFT peak spectrum of signal  (example sinus amplitude 1   = 0 dB after fft).
% Linear averaging
%   signal - input signal, 
%   Fs - Sampling frequency (Hz).
%   nfft - FFT window size
%   Overlap - buffer overlap % (between 0 and 0.95)
signal = signal(:);
samples = length(signal);
% fill signal with zeros if its length is lower than nfft
if samples<nfft
    s_tmp = zeros(nfft,1);
    s_tmp((1:samples)) = signal;
    signal = s_tmp;
    samples = nfft;
end
% window : hanning
window = hanning(nfft);
window = window(:);
%    compute fft with overlap 
 offset = fix((1-Overlap)*nfft);
 spectnum = 1+ fix((samples-nfft)/offset); % Number of windows
%     % for info is equivalent to : 
%     noverlap = Overlap*nfft;
%     spectnum = fix((samples-noverlap)/(nfft-noverlap));	% Number of windows
    % main loop
    fft_spectrum = 0;
    for i=1:spectnum
        start = (i-1)*offset;
        sw = signal((1+start):(start+nfft)).*window;
        fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum + (abs(fft(sw))*4/nfft);     % X=fft(x.*hanning(N))*4/N; % hanning only 
    end
    fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum/spectnum; % to do linear averaging scaling
% one sidded fft spectrum  % Select first half 
    if rem(nfft,2)    % nfft odd
        select = (1:(nfft+1)/2)';
    else
        select = (1:nfft/2+1)';
    end
fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum(select);
freq_vector = (select - 1)*Fs/nfft;
end

MATLAB: How to compare two frequency time graphs

hello

see below , we are generating a signal with 2 frequencies , then do fft for showing their frequencies.

the time plot will not be very useful but I let it for your info

you can easily adapt it to your own needs

the notch filter is a bonus , to show how filter out one disturbing frequency

hope it helps

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



% load signal
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% dummy data
Fs = 1000;
samples = 25000;
t = (0:samples-1)'*1/Fs;
signal = cos(2*pi*50*t)+cos(2*pi*100*t)+1e-3*rand(samples,1); % two sine + some noise
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% FFT parameters
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
NFFT = 1000;    % 
Overlap = 0.75;
w = hanning(NFFT);     % Hanning window / Use the HANN function to get a Hanning window which has the first and last zero-weighted samples.
%% notch filter section %%%%%%
% H(s) = (s^2 + 1) / (s^2 + s/Q + 1)
fc = 50;       % notch freq
wc = 2*pi*fc;
Q = 5;         % adjust Q factor for wider (low Q) / narrower (high Q) notch
                % at f = fc the filter has gain = 0
w0 = 2*pi*fc/Fs;
alpha = sin(w0)/(2*Q);
            b0 =   1;
            b1 =  -2*cos(w0);
            b2 =   1;
            a0 =   1 + alpha;
            a1 =  -2*cos(w0);
            a2 =   1 - alpha;
            
% analog notch (for info)
num1=[1/wc^2 0 1];
den1=[1/wc^2 1/(wc*Q) 1];
% digital notch (for info)
num1z=[b0 b1 b2];
den1z=[a0 a1 a2];
freq = linspace(fc-1,fc+1,200);
[g1,p1] = bode(num1,den1,2*pi*freq);
g1db = 20*log10(g1);
[gd1,pd1] = dbode(num1z,den1z,1/Fs,2*pi*freq);
gd1db = 20*log10(gd1);
figure(1);
plot(freq,g1db,'b',freq,gd1db,'+r');
title(' Notch: H(s) = (s^2 + 1) / (s^2 + s/Q + 1)');
legend('analog','digital');
xlabel('Fréquence (Hz)');
ylabel(' dB')
 
% now let's filter the signal 
signal_filtered = filtfilt(num1z,den1z,signal);
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% display : averaged FFT spectrum before / after notch filter
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
[freq,fft_spectrum] = myfft_peak(signal, Fs, NFFT, Overlap);
sensor_spectrum_dB = 20*log10(fft_spectrum);% convert to dB scale (ref = 1)

% demo findpeaks
df = mean(diff(freq));
[pks,locs]= findpeaks(sensor_spectrum_dB,'SortStr','descend','NPeaks',2);
[freq,fft_spectrum_filtered] = myfft_peak(signal_filtered, Fs, NFFT, Overlap);
sensor_spectrum_filtered_dB = 20*log10(fft_spectrum_filtered);% convert to dB scale (ref = 1)
figure(2),semilogx(freq,sensor_spectrum_dB,'b',freq,sensor_spectrum_filtered_dB,'r');grid
title(['Averaged FFT Spectrum  / Fs = ' num2str(Fs) ' Hz / Delta f = ' num2str(freq(2)-freq(1)) ' Hz ']);
legend('before notch filter','after notch filter');
xlabel('Frequency (Hz)');ylabel(' dB')
text(locs+.02,pks,num2str(freq(locs)))
function  [freq_vector,fft_spectrum] = myfft_peak(signal, Fs, nfft, Overlap)
% FFT peak spectrum of signal  (example sinus amplitude 1   = 0 dB after fft).
% Linear averaging
%   signal - input signal, 
%   Fs - Sampling frequency (Hz).
%   nfft - FFT window size
%   Overlap - buffer overlap % (between 0 and 0.95)
signal = signal(:);
samples = length(signal);
% fill signal with zeros if its length is lower than nfft
if samples<nfft
    s_tmp = zeros(nfft,1);
    s_tmp((1:samples)) = signal;
    signal = s_tmp;
    samples = nfft;
end
% window : hanning
window = hanning(nfft);
window = window(:);
%    compute fft with overlap 
 offset = fix((1-Overlap)*nfft);
 spectnum = 1+ fix((samples-nfft)/offset); % Number of windows
%     % for info is equivalent to : 
%     noverlap = Overlap*nfft;
%     spectnum = fix((samples-noverlap)/(nfft-noverlap));	% Number of windows
    % main loop
    fft_spectrum = 0;
    for i=1:spectnum
        start = (i-1)*offset;
        sw = signal((1+start):(start+nfft)).*window;
        fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum + (abs(fft(sw))*4/nfft);     % X=fft(x.*hanning(N))*4/N; % hanning only 
    end
    fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum/spectnum; % to do linear averaging scaling
% one sidded fft spectrum  % Select first half 
    if rem(nfft,2)    % nfft odd
        select = (1:(nfft+1)/2)';
    else
        select = (1:nfft/2+1)';
    end
fft_spectrum = fft_spectrum(select);
freq_vector = (select - 1)*Fs/nfft;
end

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: 50 Hz interference and noise reduction from ECG.

MATLAB: How to compare two frequency time graphs

Related Question