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MATLAB - Transfer Functions - PrattWiki

This document discusses how to create and analyze transfer functions in MATLAB. It begins by explaining how to define transfer functions using the 'tf' command and the 'feedback' command. It then provides examples of using transfer functions to model very basic analytical systems, more advanced analytical systems, and estimates from time series data using the 'tfestimate' command.

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Said Elias
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100 views

MATLAB - Transfer Functions - PrattWiki

This document discusses how to create and analyze transfer functions in MATLAB. It begins by explaining how to define transfer functions using the 'tf' command and the 'feedback' command. It then provides examples of using transfer functions to model very basic analytical systems, more advanced analytical systems, and estimates from time series data using the 'tfestimate' command.

Uploaded by

Said Elias
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1/13/2018 MATLAB:Transfer Functions - PrattWiki

MATLAB:Transfer Functions
From PrattWiki

Contents
1 Creation
1.1 Basics
1.2 Advanced
2 Examples
2.1 Very Basic Analytical
2.2 More Advanced Analytical
2.3 Estimates from Time Series Data

Creation
Basics

An easy way to create a transfer function in MATLAB involves using the command

s=tf('s')

to create s as a variable and then use s in a line of code to make a transfer function.

Advanced

The feedback command in MATLAB takes plant and output sensor transfer functions (G and H in the Nise book's
paradigm) and produces the overall transfer function assuming negative feedback. Specifically, if G and H are
defined as variables,

T=feedback(G, H)

is functionally the same as:

T = G / (1 + G*H)

The difference is, in the former case, MATLAB automatically checks for pole-zero cancellation. To make sure that
MATLAB always checks for pole-zero cancellation, use the minreal command:

T = minreal(G / (1 + G*H))

Examples

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Very Basic Analytical

Assume you have a transfer function for a high-pass circuit where you have a function for the ratio of
the Laplace transform of the voltage across the resistor to the voltage across the series combination of a capacitor
and a resistor:

There are a few different ways to examine the magnitude and phase content of the Fourier version of this transfer
function:

over a range of frequencies. This example will show how to use MATLAB's tf function to set up and analyze the
magnitude and phase of the transfer function of circuit. It will allow the bode command to generate the plot -
including the choice of frequencies over which to plot.

%% Circuit constants
R = 10000;
C = 22e-9;

%% Set up transfer function


% Create "s" as a transfer function for use later
s = tf('s');
% Use s to generate transfer function for circuit
H = (s * R * C) / (s * R * C + 1);
% Use bode command to analyze transfer function
bode(H);
title('Bode plots for System H');

More Advanced Analytical

The next example will show how to use MATLAB's tf function to set up and analyze the magnitude and phase of
the transfer function of circuit. It will also show the code to modify how the information is plotted, including
changing the frequency domain over which the information is plotted..

%% Circuit constants
R = 10000;
C = 22e-9;

%% Set up transfer function


% Create "s" as a transfer function for use later
s = tf('s');
% Use s to generate transfer function for circuit
H = (s * R * C) / (s * R * C + 1);
% Generate list of frequencies; must use angular frequencies in bode command
F = logspace(1, 5, 1000);
Omega = 2 * pi * F;
% Use bode command to analyze transfer function
[HMag, HPhase, HOmega] = bode(H, Omega);
HMag = squeeze(HMag);
HPhase = squeeze(HPhase);

%% Make plot
figure(1); clf
% Magnitude plot on top
subplot(2,1,1)

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semilogx(HOmega, 20*log10(HMag), 'k-')
xlabel('\omega, rad/s')
ylabel('|H|, dB')
% Phase plot on bottom
subplot(2,1,2)
semilogx(HOmega, HPhase, 'k-')
xlabel('\omega, rad/s')
ylabel('\angle H, rad')

Estimates from Time Series Data

If you have a data set and want to find an estimated experimental transfer function between two variables in the set,
you can have MATLAB come up with a transfer function estimate using the tfestimate command. In the example
below, assume you are trying to find an estimate for the transfer function:

to generate a magnitude plot and a phase plot of an experimentally determined transfer function. MATLAB's
tfestimate will produce a numerical estimate of the magnitude and phase of a transfer function given an input
signal, an output signal, and possibly other information. The specific form of this command is:

[EstH, EstF] = tfestimate(Vin, Vout, [], [], [], Fs)


EstMag = abs(EstH);
EstPhase = angle(EstH);
EstOmega = EstF*2*pi;

where:

Vin - vector containing the input voltage values


Vout - vector containing the output voltage values
Fs - the sampling frequency for the voltage values, in Hz
EstH - vector containing complex numbers that contain the amplitudes and phases of the estimate of the
transfer function
EstF - vector containing the corresponding frequencies, in Hz, for the magnitudes and phases stored in EstH
EstMag - magnitude of the transfer function estimate
EstPhase - phase of the transfer function estimate
EstOmega - corresponding angular frequencies for the estimate values

The square brackets in the third through fifth arguments are placeholders for parameters whose default values are
fine for this experiment. Essentially, this command will determine the frequency content of the input and of the
output using subsections of the data; it will then compute the magnitude ratio and phase difference between the
input and the output and provide an approximation of the transfer function at particular frequencies contained in
EstF.

One issue that comes into play is you must make sure the input signal has energy at as many frequencies as
possible to give tfestimate values to work with. Using a single-frequency cosine as an input, for example, might
lead to a disaster - if that frequency happens to exactly hit one of the frequencies tfestimate is using - since there
would only be one input frequency on which to base an estimate for the response to all frequencies. This would be
similar to estimating the acoustics of a concert hall by hitting a single tuning fork.

It is important to note, however, that what MATLAB is really doing is assuming that your input is one period's
worth of some periodic input - meaning is and . Furthermore, the tfestimate
command breaks the signal up into several windows, further reducing the possibility that a problem of this nature
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will occur. If, however, the input signal does not have any energy in the higher frequency ranges, the tfestimate
program will not be able to compensate. You should therefore make sure that whatever signal gets used contains a
wide range of frequencies. Ideally, the input signal would be an impulse function since that contains all frequencies
at equal amounts. Barring that - and the Laws of Nature do a pretty nice job of barring that - generating a noise
signal or a sweeping frequency signal with energy in the bands of interest works well.

To make a plot, you can use code similar to:

%% Make plot
figure(1); clf
% Magnitude plot on top
subplot(2, 1, 1)
semilogx(EstOmega, 20*log10(EstMag), 'k-')
xlabel('\omega, rad/s')
ylabel('|H|, dB')
% Phase plot on bottom
subplot(2,1,2)
semilogx(EstOmega, EstPhase, 'k-')
xlabel('\omega, rad/s')
ylabel('\angle H, rad')

Retrieved from "http://pundit.pratt.duke.edu/piki/index.php?title=MATLAB:Transfer_Functions&oldid=21034"

This page was last edited on 21 March 2017, at 12:38.

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