## Candan's Tweaks of Jacobsen's Frequency Approximation

November 11, 2022
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by explaining how a tweak to a well known frequency approximation formula makes it better, and another tweak makes it exact. The first tweak is shown to be the first of a pattern and a novel approximation formula is made from the second. It only requires a few extra calculations beyond the original approximation to come up with an approximation suitable for most...

## A Recipe for a Basic Trigonometry Table

October 4, 2022
Introduction

This is an article that is give a better understanding to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by showing how to build a Sine and Cosine table from scratch. Along the way a recursive method is developed as a tone generator for a pure tone complex signal with an amplitude of one. Then a simpler multiplicative one. Each with drift correction factors. By setting the initial values to zero and one degrees and letting it run to build 45 values, the entire set of values needed...

## Off-Topic: A Fluidic Model of the Universe

Introduction

This article is a followup to my previous article "Off Topic: Refraction in a Varying Medium"[1]. Many of the concepts should be quite familiar and of interest to the readership of this site. In the "Speculations" section of my previous article, I mention the goal of finding a similar differential equation as (18) of [1] for light traveling in gravity. It turns out it is the right equation, but a wrong understanding. As a consequence of trying to solve this puzzle, a new...

## The Zeroing Sine Family of Window Functions

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by introducing a class of well behaved window functions that the author believes to be previously unrecognized. The definition and some characteristics are displayed. The heavy math will come in later articles. This is an introduction to the family, and a very special member of it.

This is one of my longer articles. The bulk of the material is in the front half. The...

## A Two Bin Solution

July 12, 2019
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by showing an implementation of how the parameters of a real pure tone can be calculated from just two DFT bin values. The equations from previous articles are used in tandem to first calculate the frequency, and then calculate the amplitude and phase of the tone. The approach works best when the tone is between the two DFT bins in terms of frequency.

The Coding...

## Angle Addition Formulas from Euler's Formula

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), but only indirectly. The main intent is to get someone who is uncomfortable with complex numbers a little more used to them and relate them back to already known Trigonometric relationships done in Real values. It is essentially a followup to my first blog article "The Exponential Nature of the Complex Unit Circle".

Polar Coordinates

The more common way of...

July 11, 2018
Introduction

## Phase and Amplitude Calculation for a Pure Complex Tone in a DFT using Multiple Bins

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving exact formulas to calculate the phase and amplitude of a pure complex tone from several DFT bin values and knowing the frequency. This article is functionally an extension of my prior article "Phase and Amplitude Calculation for a Pure Complex Tone in a DFT"[1] which used only one bin for a complex tone, but it is actually much more similar to my approach for real...

## Phase and Amplitude Calculation for a Pure Complex Tone in a DFT

January 6, 2018
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving exact formulas to calculate the phase and amplitude of a pure complex tone from a DFT bin value and knowing the frequency. This is a much simpler problem to solve than the corresponding case for a pure real tone which I covered in an earlier blog article[1]. In the noiseless single tone case, these equations will be exact. In the presence of noise or other tones...

## An Alternative Form of the Pure Real Tone DFT Bin Value Formula

December 17, 2017
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving alternative exact formulas for the bin values of a real tone in a DFT. The derivation of the source equations can be found in my earlier blog article titled "DFT Bin Value Formulas for Pure Real Tones"[1]. The new form is slighty more complicated and calculation intensive, but it is more computationally accurate in the vicinity of near integer frequencies. This...

## The Exponential Nature of the Complex Unit Circle

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give an understanding to Euler's magnificent equation:

$$e^{i\theta} = cos( \theta ) + i \cdot sin( \theta )$$

This equation is usually proved using the Taylor series expansion for the given functions, but this approach fails to give an understanding to the equation and the ramification for the behavior of complex numbers. Instead an intuitive approach is taken that culminates in a graphical understanding of the equation.

Complex...

## Phase and Amplitude Calculation for a Pure Real Tone in a DFT: Method 1

May 21, 20151 comment
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving exact formulas for the phase and amplitude of a non-integer frequency real tone in a DFT. The linearity of the Fourier Transform is exploited to reframe the problem as the equivalent of finding a set of coordinates in a specific vector space. The found coordinates are then used to calculate the phase and amplitude of the pure real tone in the DFT. This article...

## Angle Addition Formulas from Euler's Formula

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), but only indirectly. The main intent is to get someone who is uncomfortable with complex numbers a little more used to them and relate them back to already known Trigonometric relationships done in Real values. It is essentially a followup to my first blog article "The Exponential Nature of the Complex Unit Circle".

Polar Coordinates

The more common way of...

## A Recipe for a Common Logarithm Table

April 29, 2017
Introduction

This is an article that is a digression from trying to give a better understanding to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT).

A method for building a table of Base 10 Logarithms, also known as Common Logarithms, is featured using math that can be done with paper and pencil. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with logarithm functions. This material has no dependency on the material in my previous blog articles.

If you were ever curious about how...

## DFT Graphical Interpretation: Centroids of Weighted Roots of Unity

April 10, 2015
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by framing it in a graphical interpretation. The bin calculation formula is shown to be the equivalent of finding the center of mass, or centroid, of a set of points. Various examples are graphed to illustrate the well known properties of DFT bin values. This treatment will only consider real valued signals. Complex valued signals can be analyzed in a similar manner with...

## DFT Bin Value Formulas for Pure Real Tones

April 17, 20151 comment
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving an analytical formula for the DFT of pure real tones. The formula is used to explain the well known properties of the DFT. A sample program is included, with its output, to numerically demonstrate the veracity of the formula. This article builds on the ideas developed in my previous two blog articles:

## Exact Frequency Formula for a Pure Real Tone in a DFT

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving an exact formula for the frequency of a real tone in a DFT. According to current teaching, this is not possible, so this article should be considered a major theoretical advance in the discipline. The formula is presented in a few different formats. Some sample calculations are provided to give a numerical demonstration of the formula in use. This article is...

## Exponential Smoothing with a Wrinkle

Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by providing a set of preprocessing filters to improve the resolution of the DFT. Because of the exponential nature of sinusoidal functions, they have special mathematical properties when exponential smoothing is applied to them. These properties are derived and explained in this blog article.

Basic Exponential Smoothing

Exponential smoothing is also known as...

## Phase and Amplitude Calculation for a Pure Complex Tone in a DFT

January 6, 2018
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by deriving exact formulas to calculate the phase and amplitude of a pure complex tone from a DFT bin value and knowing the frequency. This is a much simpler problem to solve than the corresponding case for a pure real tone which I covered in an earlier blog article[1]. In the noiseless single tone case, these equations will be exact. In the presence of noise or other tones...

## A Two Bin Solution

July 12, 2019
Introduction

This is an article to hopefully give a better understanding of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) by showing an implementation of how the parameters of a real pure tone can be calculated from just two DFT bin values. The equations from previous articles are used in tandem to first calculate the frequency, and then calculate the amplitude and phase of the tone. The approach works best when the tone is between the two DFT bins in terms of frequency.

The Coding...