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Representing Signals

Numeric Arrays

The central data construct in the MATLAB® environment is the numeric array, an ordered collection of real or complex numeric data with two or more dimensions. The basic data objects of signal processing (one-dimensional signals or sequences, multichannel signals, and two-dimensional signals) are all naturally suited to array representation.

Vector Representation

MATLAB represents ordinary one-dimensional sampled data signals, or sequences, as vectors. Vectors are 1-by-n or n-by-1 arrays, where n is the number of samples in the sequence. One way to introduce a sequence is to enter it as a list of elements at the command prompt. The statement

x = [4 3 7 -9 1];

creates a simple five-element real sequence in a row vector. Transposition turns the sequence into a column vector

x = x';
x =
    4
    3
    7
   -9
    1

Column orientation is preferable for single channel signals because it extends naturally to the multichannel case. For multichannel data, each column of a matrix represents one channel. Each row of such a matrix then corresponds to a sample point. A three-channel signal that consists of x, 2x, and x/π is

y = [x 2*x x/pi]
y =
    4.0000    8.0000    1.2732
    3.0000    6.0000    0.9549
    7.0000   14.0000    2.2282
   -9.0000  -18.0000   -2.8648
    1.0000    2.0000    0.3183

If the sequence has complex-valued elements, the transpose operator takes the conjugate of the sequence elements. To transform a complex-valued row vector into a column vector without taking conjugates, use the .' or non-conjugate transpose:

x = [1-i 3+i 2+3*i 4-2*i]; % 1-by-4 vector
x = x.';                   % 4-by-1 vector