DSPRelated.com

A poor man's Simulink

Markus Nentwig January 24, 20153 comments

Glue between Octave and NGSPICE for discrete- and continuous time cosimulation (download) Keywords: Octave, SPICE, Simulink

Introduction

Many DSP problems have close ties with the analog world. For example, a switched-mode audio power amplifier uses a digital control loop to open and close power transistors driving an analog filter. There are commercial tools for digital-analog cosimulation: Simulink comes to mind, and mainstream EDA vendors support VHDL-AMS or Verilog-A in their...


Spline interpolation

Markus Nentwig May 11, 20147 comments

A cookbook recipe for segmented y=f(x) 3rd-order polynomial interpolation based on arbitrary input data. Includes Octave/Matlab design script and Verilog implementation example. Keywords: Spline, interpolation, function modeling, fixed point approximation, data fitting, Matlab, RTL, Verilog

Introduction

Splines describe a smooth function with a small number of parameters. They are well-known for example from vector drawing programs, or to define a "natural" movement path through given...


Signed serial-/parallel multiplication

Markus Nentwig February 16, 2014

Keywords: Binary signed multiplication implementation, RTL, Verilog, algorithm

Summary
  • A detailed discussion of bit-level trickstery in signed-signed multiplication
  • Algorithm based on Wikipedia example
  • Includes a Verilog implementation with parametrized bit width
Signed serial-/parallel multiplication

A straightforward method to multiply two binary numbers is to repeatedly shift the first argument a, and add to a register if the corresponding bit in the other argument b is set. The...


Shared-multiplier polyphase FIR filter

Markus Nentwig July 31, 20136 comments

Keywords: FPGA, interpolating decimating FIR filter, sample rate conversion, shared multiplexed pipelined multiplier

Discussion, working code (parametrized Verilog) and Matlab reference design for a FIR polyphase resampler with arbitrary interpolation and decimation ratio, mapped to one multiplier and RAM.

Introduction

A polyphase filter can be as straightforward as multirate DSP ever gets, if it doesn't turn into a semi-deterministic, three-legged little dance between input, output and...


Noise shaping

Markus Nentwig December 9, 20123 comments

eywords: Quantization noise; noise shaping

A brief introduction to noise shaping, with firm resolve not to miss the forest for the trees. We may still stumble over some assorted roots. Matlab example code is included.

Quantization

Fig. 1 shows a digital signal that is reduced to a lower bit width, for example a 16 bit signal being sent to a 12 bit digital-to-analog converter. Rounding to the nearest output value is obviously the best that can be done to minimize the error of each...


'z' as in 'Zorro': Frequency Masking FIR

Markus Nentwig October 2, 2012

An efficient way to implement FIR filters. Matlab / Octave example included. Keywords: Frequency masking FIR filter implementation

Introduction

An "upsampled" FIR filter uses multiple-sample delays between the taps, compared to the unity delays in a conventional FIR filter. The resulting frequency response has steeper edges, but contains periodic images along the frequency axis (Fig. 1). Due to the latter, it is typically not too useful on its own.

Figure 1: Conventional and 'upsampled'...

FIR sideways (interpolator polyphase decomposition)

Markus Nentwig September 12, 20129 comments

An efficient implementation of a symmetric-FIR polyphase 1:3 interpolator that doesn't follow the usual tapped delay line-paradigm. The example exploits the impulse response symmetry and avoids four multiplications out of 10. keywords: symmetric polyphase FIR filter implementation ASIC Matlab / Octave implementation

Introduction

An interpolating FIR filter can be implemented with a single tapped delay line, possibly going forwards and backwards for a symmetric impulse response. To...


Design of an anti-aliasing filter for a DAC

Markus Nentwig August 18, 2012
Overview
  • Octaveforge / Matlab design script. Download: here
  • weighted numerical optimization of Laplace-domain transfer function
  • linear-phase design, optimizes vector error (magnitude and phase)
  • design process calculates and corrects group delay internally
  • includes sinc() response of the sample-and-hold stage in the ADC
  • optionally includes multiplierless FIR filter
Problem Figure 1: Typical FIR-DAC-analog lowpass line-up

Digital-to-analog conversion connects digital...


TCP/IP interface (Matlab/Octave)

Markus Nentwig June 17, 201210 comments

Communicate with measurement instruments via Ethernet (no-toolbox-Matlab or Octave)

Purpose

Measurement automation is digital signal processing in a wider sense: Getting a digital signal from an analog world usually involves some measurement instruments, for example a spectrum analyzer. Modern instruments, and also many off-the-shelf prototyping boards such as FPGA cards [1] or microcontrollers [2] are able to communicate via Ethernet. Here, I provide some basic mex-functions (compiled C...


Weighted least-squares FIR with shared coefficients

Markus Nentwig May 23, 2012

FIR design with arbitrary routing between delay line and coefficient multipliers.

Includes a commented implementation of a generic IRLS FIR design algorithm.

Introduction: Reverse Engineering

While looking for numerical IIR filter optimization, a Matlab program in [1] for the design of FIR filters caught my attention. The equations looked familiar, sort of, but on closer examination the pieces refused to fit together. Without the references, it took about two evenings to sort out how it...


Delay estimation by FFT

Markus Nentwig September 22, 200750 comments
Given x=sig(t) and y=ref(t), returns [c, ref(t+delta), delta)] = fitSignal(y, x);:Estimates and corrects delay and scaling factor between two signals Code snippet

This article relates to the Matlab / Octave code snippet: Delay estimation with subsample resolution It explains the algorithm and the design decisions behind it.

Introduction

There are many DSP-related problems, where an unknown timing between two signals needs to be determined and corrected, for example, radar, sonar,...


Polyphase filter / Farrows interpolation

Markus Nentwig September 18, 200714 comments

Hello,

this article is meant to give a quick overview over polyphase filtering and Farrows interpolation.

A good reference with more depth is for example Fred Harris' paper: http://www.signumconcepts.com/IP_center/paper018.pdf

The task is as follows: Interpolate a band-limited discrete-time signal at a variable offset between samples.In other words:Delay the signal by a given amount with sub-sample accuracy.Both mean the same.

The picture below shows samples (black) representing...


Noise shaping

Markus Nentwig December 9, 20123 comments

eywords: Quantization noise; noise shaping

A brief introduction to noise shaping, with firm resolve not to miss the forest for the trees. We may still stumble over some assorted roots. Matlab example code is included.

Quantization

Fig. 1 shows a digital signal that is reduced to a lower bit width, for example a 16 bit signal being sent to a 12 bit digital-to-analog converter. Rounding to the nearest output value is obviously the best that can be done to minimize the error of each...


A poor man's Simulink

Markus Nentwig January 24, 20153 comments

Glue between Octave and NGSPICE for discrete- and continuous time cosimulation (download) Keywords: Octave, SPICE, Simulink

Introduction

Many DSP problems have close ties with the analog world. For example, a switched-mode audio power amplifier uses a digital control loop to open and close power transistors driving an analog filter. There are commercial tools for digital-analog cosimulation: Simulink comes to mind, and mainstream EDA vendors support VHDL-AMS or Verilog-A in their...


TCP/IP interface (Matlab/Octave)

Markus Nentwig June 17, 201210 comments

Communicate with measurement instruments via Ethernet (no-toolbox-Matlab or Octave)

Purpose

Measurement automation is digital signal processing in a wider sense: Getting a digital signal from an analog world usually involves some measurement instruments, for example a spectrum analyzer. Modern instruments, and also many off-the-shelf prototyping boards such as FPGA cards [1] or microcontrollers [2] are able to communicate via Ethernet. Here, I provide some basic mex-functions (compiled C...


Signed serial-/parallel multiplication

Markus Nentwig February 16, 2014

Keywords: Binary signed multiplication implementation, RTL, Verilog, algorithm

Summary
  • A detailed discussion of bit-level trickstery in signed-signed multiplication
  • Algorithm based on Wikipedia example
  • Includes a Verilog implementation with parametrized bit width
Signed serial-/parallel multiplication

A straightforward method to multiply two binary numbers is to repeatedly shift the first argument a, and add to a register if the corresponding bit in the other argument b is set. The...


Understanding Radio Frequency Distortion

Markus Nentwig September 26, 20102 comments
Overview

The topic of this article are the effects of radio frequency distortions on a baseband signal, and how to model them at baseband. Typical applications are use as a simulation model or in digital predistortion algorithms.

Introduction

Transmitting and receiving wireless signals usually involves analog radio frequency circuits, such as power amplifiers in a transmitter or low-noise amplifiers in a receiver.Signal distortion in those circuits deteriorates the link quality. When...


Shared-multiplier polyphase FIR filter

Markus Nentwig July 31, 20136 comments

Keywords: FPGA, interpolating decimating FIR filter, sample rate conversion, shared multiplexed pipelined multiplier

Discussion, working code (parametrized Verilog) and Matlab reference design for a FIR polyphase resampler with arbitrary interpolation and decimation ratio, mapped to one multiplier and RAM.

Introduction

A polyphase filter can be as straightforward as multirate DSP ever gets, if it doesn't turn into a semi-deterministic, three-legged little dance between input, output and...


Design of an anti-aliasing filter for a DAC

Markus Nentwig August 18, 2012
Overview
  • Octaveforge / Matlab design script. Download: here
  • weighted numerical optimization of Laplace-domain transfer function
  • linear-phase design, optimizes vector error (magnitude and phase)
  • design process calculates and corrects group delay internally
  • includes sinc() response of the sample-and-hold stage in the ADC
  • optionally includes multiplierless FIR filter
Problem Figure 1: Typical FIR-DAC-analog lowpass line-up

Digital-to-analog conversion connects digital...


Spline interpolation

Markus Nentwig May 11, 20147 comments

A cookbook recipe for segmented y=f(x) 3rd-order polynomial interpolation based on arbitrary input data. Includes Octave/Matlab design script and Verilog implementation example. Keywords: Spline, interpolation, function modeling, fixed point approximation, data fitting, Matlab, RTL, Verilog

Introduction

Splines describe a smooth function with a small number of parameters. They are well-known for example from vector drawing programs, or to define a "natural" movement path through given...