Frequency Estimate using FFT

In response to a code snippet request, this code is a very simple version of a Frequency Estimator using the FFT method in matlab. Only single tones can be estimated with this code, and the resolution is dependent upon the sampling rate and the length of the fft.

Simply copy the code into an .m file and run with matlab.

%For a real-valued, single tone sine or cosine wave, estimate the frequency 
%using an fft. Resolution will be limited by the sampling rate of the tone
%and the number of points in the fft.

%Procedure:
%1. Generate the test tone with a given Fs and N
%2. Take the fft and keep the first half
%3. Detect the maximum peak and its index
%4. Equate this index to a frequency

%Error Estimate:
% (Fs/N)= Hz/bin

%Things to keep in mind:
%Adding noise to the input will skew the results
%windowing will help with the fft

%% Clear and close everything
clc;
close all;
clear all; %remove this line if you are trying to use breakpoints

%% Just copy into m file, save and run
Fs = 1e6; %1MHz
fi = 1.333e3; %1kHz
t = 0:1/Fs:.5;
y = sin(2*pi*fi*t);

%Plot the time and frequency domain. Be sure to zoom in to see the waveform
%and spectrum
figure;
subplot(2,1,1);
temp = (2/fi)*Fs;
plot(y);
xlabel('time (s)');
subplot(2,1,2);
sX=fft(y);
N=length(sX);
sXM = abs(sX(1:floor(end/2))).^2; %take the magnitude and only keep 0:Fs/2
plot(0:Fs/N:(Fs/2)-1,sXM);
xlabel('Frequency')
ylabel('Magnitude')

[vv, ii]=max(sXM); %find the index of the largest value in the spectrum

freqEst = (ii-1)*Fs/N; %units are Hz
resMin = Fs/N; %units are Hz

display(freqEst);%display to the command window the results
display(resMin);