Department of Electrical Engineering

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Course/Section:____________________ Semester: __________________

EE-232 Signals and Systems

Lab #3 Introduction to Complex Exponentials

Name Reg. no. Report Marks / Viva Marks / Total/15

10 5

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Lab3: Introduction to Complex Exponentials

Objectives
The goal of this laboratory is to gain familiarity with complex numbers and their use in representing sinusoidal
signals such as as complex exponentials . The key is to use the
appropriate complex amplitude together with the real part operator as follows:

 How to work with Complex Numbers in MATLAB

 Familiarization with Matalb Function and commands for Complex Exponentials
 Sinusoid Addition Using Complex Exponentials

Lab Instructions
 This lab activity comprises of three parts: Pre-lab, Lab Exercises, and Post-Lab Viva session.
 The Pre-lab tasks should be completed before coming to the lab. The reports can be submitted in
PDF format on LMS.
 The students should perform and demonstrate each lab task separately for step-wise evaluation
 Only those tasks that completed during the allocated lab time will be credited to the students.
Students are however encouraged to practice on their own in spare time for enhancing their
skills.
Lab Report Instructions
All questions should be answered precisely to get maximum credit. Lab report must ensure following
items:
 Lab objectives
 MATLAB codes
 Results (graphs/tables) duly commented and discussed
 Conclusion

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3 Introduction to Complex Exponentials
3.1 Pre-Lab
3.1.1 Introduction
Manipulating sinusoidal functions using complex exponentials turns trigonometric problems into simple
arithmetic and algebra. In this lab, we first review the complex exponential signal and the phasor addition
property needed for adding cosine waves. Then we will use MATLAB to make plots of phasor diagrams
that show the vector addition needed when adding sinusoids.

3.1.2 Complex Numbers in MATLAB

MATLAB can be used to compute complex-valued formulas and also to display the results as vector or
“phasor” diagrams. For this purpose several new MATLAB functions have been written and are available
on the SP First CD-ROM. Look for the “MATLAB Files” link just below the link for this lab. Make sure
this toolbox has been installed by using help on the new M-files: zvect, zcat, ucplot, zcoords and zprint.
Each of these functions can plot (or print) several complex numbers at once, when the input is formed
into a vector of complex numbers. For example, the following function call will plot five vectors all on
one graph:

Here are some of MATLAB’s built-in complex number operators:

conj Complex conjugate
abs Magnitude
angle Angle (or phase) in radians
real Real part
imag Imaginary part
i,j pre-defined as
x = 3 + 4i i suffix defines imaginary constant (same for j suffix)
exp(j*theta) Function for the complex exponential

Each of these functions takes a vector (or matrix) as its input argument and operates on each element of
the vector. Notice that the function names mag() and phase() do not exist in MATLAB.

3.1.3 Sinusoid Addition Using Complex Exponentials

Recall that sinusoids may be expressed as the real part of a complex exponential:

The Phasor Addition Rule shows how to add several sinusoids:

Assuming that each sinusoid in the sum has the same frequency, f0. This sum is difficult to simplify using
trigonometric identities, but it reduces to an algebraic sum of complex numbers when solved using
complex exponentials. If we represent each sinusoid with its complex amplitude

Then the complex amplitude of the sum is

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Based on this complex number manipulation, the Phasor Addition Rule implies that the amplitude and
phase of x(t) in equation (2) are As and ɸs, so

We see that the sum signal x(t) in (2) and (5) is a single sinusoid that still has the same frequency, f0, and
it is periodic with period T0 = 1/f0.

3.1.4 Harmonic Sinusoids

There is an important extension where x(t) is the sum of N cosine waves whose frequencies (fk) are
different. If we concentrate on the case where the fk are all multiples of one basic frequency f0.

fk = k f0 (HARMONIC FREQUENCIES),

Then the sum of N cosine waves given by (2) becomes:

This particular signal xh(t) has the property that it is also periodic with period T0 = 1/f0, because each of
the cosines in the sum repeats with period T0. The frequency f0 is called the fundamental frequency, and
T0 is called the fundamental period. (Unlike the single frequency case, there is no phasor addition
theorem here to combine the harmonic sinusoids). Do all the exercises in this section before attending the
regularly scheduled lab section.

3.1.5 Complex Numbers

This section will test your understanding of complex numbers. Use for
all parts of this section.
(a) Enter the complex numbers z1 and z2 in MATLAB. Plot them with zvect() and print them with
zprint(). When unsure about a command, use help. Whenever you make a plot with zvect() or zcat(), it is
helpful to provide axes for reference. An x-y axis and the unit circle can be superimposed on your zvect()
plot by doing the following:
hold on, zcoords, ucplot, hold off

(b) The function zcat() can be used to plot vectors in a “head-to-tail” format. Execute the statement
zcat([j,-1,-2j,1]); to see how zcat() works when its input is a vector of complex numbers.

(c) Compute z1 + z2 and plot the sum using zvect(). Then use zcat() to plot z1 and z2 as 2 vectors head-
to-tail, thus illustrating the vector sum. Use hold on to put all 3 vectors on the same plot. If you want to
see the numerical value of the sum, use zprint()to display it.

(d) Compute z1z2 and plot the answer using zvect() to show how the angles of z1 and z2 determine the
angle of the product. Use zprint() to display the result numerically.

(e) Compute z2/z1 and plot the answers using zvect() to show how the angles of z1 and z2 determine the
angle of the quotient. Use zprint() to display the result numerically.

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(f) Compute the conjugate z* for both z1 and z2 and plot the results. In MATLAB, see help conj. Display
the results numerically with zprint.

(g) Compute the inverse 1/z for both z1 and z2 and plot the results. Display the results numerically with
zprint.

(h) Make a 2 × 2 subplot that displays the following four plots in one figure window: (i) z1 and z2 (ii) z1*
and z2* on the same plot; (iii) 1/z1 and 1/z2 on the same plot; and (iv) z1z2.

3.1.6 ZDrill
There is a complex numbers drill program called:
zdrill
This uses a GUI to generate complex number problems and check your answers. Go to Appendix A
demos to download and run. Please spend some time with this drill since it is very useful in helping you to
get a feel for complex arithmetic.

3.1.7 Vectorization
The power of MATLAB comes from its matrix-vector syntax. In most cases, loops can be replaced with
vector operations because functions such as exp() and cos() are defined for vector inputs, e.g.
cos(vv) = [cos(vv(1)), cos(vv(2)), cos(vv(3)), ... cos(vv(N))]
Where vv is an N-element row vector.Vectorization can be used to simplify your code. If you have the
following code that plots a certain signal,

M = 200;
for k=1:M
x(k) = k;
y(k) = cos(0.001*pi*x(k)*x(k) );
end
plot( x, y, ‘ro-‘)

then you can replace the for loop and get the same result with 3 lines of code:
M = 200;
y = cos(0.001*pi*(1:M).*(1:M) );
plot(1:M, y, ‘ro-‘)

Use this vectorization idea to write 2 or 3 lines of code that will perform the same task as the following
MATLAB script without using a for loop. (Note: there is a difference between the two operations xx*xx
and xx.*xx when xx is a vector.)
%--- make a plot of a weird signal
N = 200;
for k=1:N
xk(k) = k/50;
rk(k) = sqrt( xk(k)*xk(k) + 2.25 );
sig(k) = exp(j*2*pi*rk(k));
end
plot( xk, real(sig), ’mo-’)

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3.1.8 Functions
Functions are a special type of M-file that can accept inputs (matrices and vectors) and also return
outputs. The keyword function must appear as the first word in the ASCII file that defines the function,
and the first line of the M-file defines how the function will pass input and output arguments. The file
extension must be lower case “m” as in my func.m. The following function has a few mistakes. Before
looking at the correct one below, try to find these mistakes (there are at least three):

Matlab mfile [xx,tt] = badcos(ff,dur)

%BADCOS Function to generate a cosine wave
% xx = badcos(ff,dur)
% ff = desired frequency in Hz
% dur = duration of the waveform in seconds
tt = 0:1/(100*ff):dur; %-- gives 100 samples per period
badcos = cos(2*pi*freeq*tt);

The corrected function should look something like:

function [xx,tt] = goodcos(ff,dur)
tt = 0:1/(100*ff):dur; %-- gives 100 samples per period
xx = cos(2*pi*ff*tt);

Notice the word “function” in the first line. Also, “freeq” has not been defined before being used. Finally,
the function has “xx” as an output and hence “xx” should appear in the left-hand side of at least one
assignment line within the function body. The function name is not used to hold values produced in the
function.

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3.2 Lab Tasks
3.2.1 Complex Exponentials
In the Pre-Lab part of this lab, you learned how to write M-files. In this section, you will write two
functions that can generate sinusoids or sums of sinusoids.

3.2.2 Lab Task 1:

3.2.2.1 M-file to generate a Sinusoid

Write a function that will generate a single sinusoid, , by using four input arguments:
amplitude (A), frequency (ω), phase (ɸ) and duration (dur). The function should return two outputs: the
values of the sinusoidal signal (x) and corresponding times (t) at which the sinusoid values are known.
Make sure that the function generates 20 values of the sinusoid per period. Call this function one cos().
Hint: use goodcos() from par (a) as a starting point. Demonstrate that your one_cos()function works by
plotting the output for the following parameters: A = 95, ω = 200 ɸ rad/sec, ɸ = π/5 radians, and
dur=0.025 seconds. Be prepared to explain to the lab instructor features on the plot that indicate how the
plot has the correct period and phase. What is the expected period in millisec?

3.2.2.2 Sinusoidal Synthesis with an M-file: Different Frequencies

Since we will generate many functions that are a “sum of sinusoids,” it will be convenient to have a
function for this operation. To be general, we will allow the frequency of each component (fk) to be
different. The following expressions are equivalent if we define the complex amplitudes:
.

3.2.3 Lab task 2:

3.2.3.1 Write the Function M-file

Write an M-file called syn_sin.m that will synthesize a waveform in the form of (7). Although ‘for’ loops
are rather inefficient in MATLAB but you must write the function with one loop in this lab. The first few
statements of the M-file are the comment lines—they should look like:
function [xx,tt] = syn_sin(fk, Xk, fs, dur, tstart)
%SYN_SIN Function to synthesize a sum of cosine waves
% usage:
% [xx,tt] = syn_sin(fk, Xk, fs, dur, tstart)
% fk = vector of frequencies
% (these could be negative or positive)
% Xk = vector of complex amplitudes: Amp*eˆ(j*phase)

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% fs = the number of samples per second for the time axis
% dur = total time duration of the signal
% tstart = starting time (default is zero, if you make this input optional)
% xx = vector of sinusoidal values
% tt = vector of times, for the time axis
% Note: fk and Xk must be the same length.
% Xk(1) corresponds to frequency fk(1),
% Xk(2) corresponds to frequency fk(2), etc.

The MATLAB syntax length(fk) returns the number of elements in the vector fk, so we do not need a
separate input argument for the number of frequencies. On the other hand, the programmer (that’s you)
should provide error checking to make sure that the lengths of fk and Xk are the same. See help error.
Finally, notice that the input fs define the number of samples per second for the cosine generation; in
other words, we are no longer constrained to using 20 samples per period. Include a copy of the
MATLAB code with your lab report.

3.2.3.2 Default Inputs

You can make the last input argument(s) take on default values if you use the nargin operator in
MATLAB. For example, tstart can be made optional by including the following line of code:
if nargin<5, tstart=0, end %--default value is zero

3.2.3.3 Testing
In order to use this M-file to synthesize harmonic waveforms, you must choose the entries in the
frequency vector tobbe integer multiples of some desired fundamental frequency. Try the following test
and plot the result.
[xx0,tt0] = syn_sin([0,100,250],[10,14*exp(-j*pi/3),8*j],10000,0.1,0);
%-Period = ?

Measure the period of xx0 by hand. Then compare the period of xx0 to the periods of the three sinusoids
that make up xx0, and write an explanation on the verification sheet of why the period of xx0 is longer.

3.2.4 Lab Task 3:

3.2.4.1 Representation of Sinusoids with Complex Exponentials

In MATLAB consult help on exp, real and imag.

(a) Generate the signal and

make a plot versus t. Use the syn sin function and take a range for t that will cover three periods starting
at t = −0.5 secs. Include the MATLAB code with your report.

http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mcclella/SPFirst/Updates/SPFirstMATLAB.html

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