Departamento de Eletrónica, Telecomunicações e Informática Universidade de Aveiro

the function to automatically detect the system

frequency range regardless of a minimum window
Identificação de Sistemas range:
System Identification
2018/2019

Work Assignment No. 02

Student Report

Prof. Telmo Reis Cunha

Diogo Martins – 59401

Nonlinear Dynamic system's non

parametric analysis.

Identifying the problem at hand

The problem dwells on creating a set of

graphical information, that characterizes the
system's behaviour. The system at hand's nature is
unknown, so a few initial tests will be required to
determine its appropriate operation point
frequencies and amplitudes. Considering the pre
known system's nonlinear and dynamic behaviour,
multi tone input signals will be used thoroughly, in
order to expose the system's nonlinearity, and
dynamicity. This work will also consist on creating
a single matlab script, which will use a few
auxiliary functions in order to create all the
graphical data in a single run.
Defining the system's operating point
The first graphical test consisted in
applying various unitary amplitude single tone
signals, with random frequencies, to identify the
range of frequencies, the system works at.
Fig.2- System's response to unitary amplitude single
tone input.
{Also function ouputs:
Estimated noise level: 0.273(Peak to peak Amp.).
Estimated cutoff frequency: 343 Hz.
Optimal frequency range: [0.6 – 122.344]Hz.
The system is estimated to have a low pass behaviour
within the frequency spectrum analyzed.
Estimated attenuation slope: -45.6 dB/dec.}
A random value inside the optimal frequency
range was automatically chosen, to apply different
amplitude single tone signals, in order to identify
the system's output saturation values.

Fig.3- System's response to different amplitude

single tone signals, at a random frequency within
optimal range.

Fig.1-System response to unitary amplitude {Also

function outputs:
,random frequency single tone sinusoids. Estimated peak to peak saturation value: 10.88.
Max.input amplitude signal before saturation: 2.78.
The function that identifies the system's Average signal value: 0.018 (DC component, electric
operating frequency range, was set to a minimum
circuit analogy).}
width(frequency horizontal axis) of 100KHz. However,
it is still a very large frequency range, setting

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Departamento de Eletrónica, Telecomunicações e Informática Universidade de Aveiro

The system's overall operating point has now been

determined. The following step consists in analysing Input/Output dynamic response analysis
its dinamicity. All the data generated from now on,
has been automatically generated considering the
system's results up until now.

A dynamic system
Unlike static systems, dynamic systems'
outputs, depend on past input values
(causality),also, due to the system's capability to
store energy, this results in an output's phase
delay when compared to the input signal, and, more
than one possible “path” to reach the same output
(as will be seen on the input/output graphics).

Fig.6- Various XY graphics for different dual tone

frequency signals, the input signal's amplitudes are
the same for all four images.

Top left: cos(~1Hz)+cos(~2Hz) input, for these very

Fig.4- Phase delay test for single tone inputs. low frequencies, the system behaviour is very close
to a static's one. The system's dynamic components
As observable in Fig.4, the system's output are fast enough to store and deliver the energy
has a nonlinear phase delay when compared to the stored, within the input's signal period very
input. For the multi-tone case (group delay), each easily.
component will have a different “weight” to the
phase shift, however, the fundamental frequency Top right: cos(~12Hz)+cos(~24Hz) input, for these
component is the most influential as it dictates the low frequencies, the system already displays a
input signal's period, for example, in the next dynamic response, although it can easily keep up
graph, it will be represented the delay caused by with the input, the output will already show some
the system on a dual tone signal, composed by a delay when compared to the input.
sinusoid with 2 times the axis frequency plus
another sinusoid with 4 times the axis frequency. Bottom left: cos(56Hz)+cos(112Hz) input, there is
already a strong dynamic behaviour, but the system
<for clycle> is still fast enough to achieve maximum output
in=cos(2*pi*2*f*t)+cos(2*pi*4*f*t); signal excursion(however, this is due to the fact
out= SystemWA02(in,t,NumMec); that the input signal amplitude was high enough to
phase_difference_vector(k)=phase_diff(in,out); saturate the system for low frequencies).
freq_vector(k)=f;
<end for cycle> Bottom right: cos(343Hz)+cos(686Hz) input, with two
plot(freq_vector,phase_diff) components at cutoff frequency and twice that value,
the system cannot keep up with the input signal's
frequency, thus, its gain is inferior when compared
to the previous cases.

A nonlinear system
The nonlinear analysis function will perform
a few different tests considering the operation
point of the system.

FFT analysis for a low amplitude signal at

optimal operation frequency range(frequency range
Fig.5- Output phase delay, for a dual tone input(2x that related to no attenuation):
axis frequency + 4x axis frequency).

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Departamento de Eletrónica, Telecomunicações e Informática Universidade de Aveiro

Fig.10- Distortion analysis for high amplitude

input, at frequencies close and higher than the
cutoff frequency.
Fig.7- Distortion analysis for low amplitude input
at optimal operation frequency range. Most of the high frequency distortion
components have been filtered out, which means that
the signal has less high frequency distortion
As expected, the time domain signal doesn't components, however, due to the heavy filtering of
display any shape distortion. the 2nd tone (@400Hz), the signal shape was very
damaged.

Fig.8- Distortion analysis for medium amplitude

input at optimal operation frequency range.
The output signal displays now some frequency.
distortion, its shape is no longer conserved. Most
the distortion components are second and third
order, however, higher order distortion might
already be present.
Fig.11- Distortion analysis for extremly high
amplitude input, at frequencies far past cuttoff
The system's low pass behaviour filters most
of the distortion components, however it also filter
the 2nd tone (@1.7k Hz) which results in heavy shape
deformation. This mode of operation requires a very
high amplitude input signal to force the system's
slow time constants to keep up, in a real scenario,
a normal system could have burned or break to such
input values.

Conclusions
Overall, the system's behaviour is coherent
to a possible real system, there were some issues
when applying low amplitude signals on the matlab
function, however, it is assumed that the system
does not accept or work for those values.
Fig.9- Distortion analysis for high amplitude input, Things that could have been better: maybe the
at optimal operation frequency range. phase analysis in the dynamic part, some results
were not very conclusive and the phase delay graphic
kept showing many discontinuities, which i could not
The output signal is now considerably explain, thus didn't include.
distorted, the input signal amplitude is higher than About the system's nature, it is unlikely to
the minimum needed to achieve output saturation. belong to an electrical system due to its very low
operating frequencies. Maybe a washing machine.

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