CHAPTER 2
MATLAB FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING
2.1 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
On completion of this chapter, the reader should be able to:
1. use the MATLAB interactive window command line, and enter MATLAB scripts.
2. use MATLAB function files.
3. be able to display image data from a matrix.
4. be able to play back audio data from a vector.
5. understand the concepts of signal data file storage and data formats.
2.2 INTRODUCTION
MATLAB® is used extensively throughout this text to illustrate practical signal processing concepts. This tutorial chapter introduces some of the features which are useful in this regard. Note that the introductory nature of the tutorial means that it is by no means exhaustive in its examination of MATLAB’s capabilities.
2.3 WHAT IS MATLAB?
MATLAB is a commercial software product available from The Mathworks.1 It consists of a main “engine” to perform computations, and several (optional) extended-function libraries (called “toolboxes”) for special-purpose applications. The main MATLAB engine has many robust mathematical functions built-in. It is an interpreted language—meaning that each line of source is parsed (analyzed and converted) in text form, without being converted into a native machine code executable. This means that it may be slower to execute the given code in many circumstances than equivalent code written for a specific processor.
It is worth noting that DSP systems are often developed in MATLAB, and implemented on the target hardware using the C language. ...
