Signal Processing

REU talk 14jun11

Phil Perillat

REU TALK June 14,2011

Talk Outline

Signals and Noise

Sampling

Nyquist theorem

Time and frequency domain

FFT

Averaging
Example:

Properties: Bandwidth, mean value, rms

Sine and cosine functions.

Observing a galaxy and reducing the data.

Summary

Online: http://www.naic.edu/~phil/talks/talks.html jun11 signal procsessing ;reu11

REU TALK June 14,2011

Signals and noise

Signals are generated by some physical process:
Transitions between energy levels of an atom. Emits energy at a
particular frequency.
Electrons spiraling in a magnetic field: emit energy at a range of
frequencies.

One persons signal is the other persons noise:

Hot crab nebula with crab pulsar embedded in it.
For pulsar observer, nebula is noise to overcome
For someone studying continuum from the nebula, the pulsar is noise.

The goal is to maximize the ratio of:

(signal strength)/(noise strength)

REU TALK June 14,2011

Noise
Noise is a random signal
Knowing the value of the signal at time T tells you nothing about the
value at time T+1.
Example from nature: incoherent emission between energy levels:
If the emission from 1 atom does not affect the emission from an
adjacent atom, then the sum will be noise like even though they may all
be making the same transition.

Sources of noise in experiments at AO:

Thermal noise (electrons bouncing around):
properties depend on temperature (blackbody spectrum)
The physical temperature of our receivers adds thermal noise to the
signal coming in from the sky. This is why we try to cool our
amplifiers.
The microwave background radiation (from the big bang) is present
where ever we look in the sky and has a temp of 2.7K.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Properties: bandwidth
How often a signal can change in 1 second.
The bandwidth is a measure of how much independent
information can be stored in a signal.
Example:
Suppose you want to flash the lights in a room and your signals
had bandwidths of 1 and 10 Hz.
The 1 Hz signal would let you do it once a second
The 10 Hz signal path would allow you do to it up to 10 times in a
second.

The bandwidth of a signal we measure is often limited by

filters we place in the signal path.
Needed to satisfy Nyquists sampling theorem (..coming up).

REU TALK June 14,2011

Properties: mean,rms
Mean value. Sum N values then divide by N.
Zero mean: e.g. E field, voltage.
Non zero mean: e.g. Intensity: E*E always positive

Sigma or rms:
Measures the spread of the values about the mean value.
Sigma=sqrt( ((xi xavg)^2)/(n-1) )
Also called rms (Root Mean Square)

When computing the rms, you need to make sure that the
noise is sitting on a flat mean. Later we will see how the
bandpass and ripples can make it hard to compute the
true rms of the noise.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Cosines and sines

Periodic functions with properties:
Amplitude, frequency, phase, period
A*cos(w*t ph) or A*sin(w*t-ph)
Cos, sin take radians where 2pi radians=1 cycle.
Instead of f(Hz) use angular frequency w(rad/sec)
w(rad/sec)=2*pi*f(Hz)

Period: time between peaks = 1/freq.

Phase: (ph) can also be written as a sum of cos,sin:
Acos(wt-ph)=Acos(ph)cos(wt) + Asin(ph)sin(wt)
So B=Acos(ph), C=.Asin(ph) then ph=arctan(C/B)
Why bother?
fitting for A,ph at fixed w: Acos(wt-ph) is a non linear fit where
Acos(ph)*cos(wt) + Asin(ph)sin(wt) is a linear fit.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Why cosines and sines??

Cosine and sine functions form a complete basis set.
That means:
We can express most functions as a sum of cosines and
sines (using the fourier transform .. coming)
Example: approximate square wave using 20 sine waves.

If we show something is true for sines and cosines (like

the sampling theorem) we are assured that it will work
for general functions.
We can do our analysis using sines and cosines and then
transform back to our original function.

Cos and sines are solutions to the wave equation

which models many physical processes.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Sampling: AtoD
Analog to Digital converter (AtoD)
Has a max and min allowable voltage input range.
e.g.:RI: +/- 2.5 volts, mock Spectrometer +/- .76 volts,

Breaks this range up into N levels and then converts it

to digital.
8 bit AtoD has 2^8 or 256 levels
12 bit AtoD has 2^12 or 4096 levels

You adjust the input voltage so that the noise input

level takes up about 4 bits. The rest of the range is used
whenever strong rfi (or signals) occur.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Sampling: Nyquist
Nyquist theorem:
You need at least two samples at the highest frequency
of your signal to reconstruct your analog signal without
aliasing.
Since the bandwidth tells you the highest freq., sample at
twice the bandwidth (or a little more)

Example:
Sample a 1 Hz signal at 2 samples/second.
Incorrectly sample a 4 Hz signal at 2 samples/sec.
Then connect the sampled points. what do you get

REU TALK June 14,2011

Real versus complex sampling

Nyquist sampling needs 2 samples at highest freq.
Period of highest freq=1/bandwidth

Real sampling uses 1 AtoD converter

Take 2 samples spaced by .5/bandwidth seconds

Complex sampling uses 2 AtoD converters.

Analog signal is split and the two signals are delayed
relative to each other by 90 degrees. A single complex
sample of the pair samples the signal at two different
places in time. Sample rate is equal to the bandwidth
but you need more hardware (twice as many AtoD
converters).
REU TALK June 14,2011

Sampling: summary
Use analog filter to band limit the signal
Adjust AtoD input levels to give 3-4 bits on
the noise.
Make sure AtoD has enough bits for any
large signals that may occur (rfi).
Run the sampler at twice the bandwidth if
real sampling or at the bandwidth if
complex sampling.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Time domain to Freq domain

The Fourier transform converts signals in the time
domain to signals in the frequency domain.
The FFT (Fast Fourier transform) does this on
discretely sampled finite duration data sets.
The FFT assumes that finite duration data sets repeat
themselves.

The FFT is defined as:

X(k)= x(n)e2ikn/N n=0..N-1

Where to these different parts come from..

REU TALK June 14,2011

FFT

Sample time=dt with N samples gives Total time=N*dt

Smallest freq has 1 cycle over total time

f0 =1/(N*dt)

Let x(n*dt) n=0..N-1 be the N time samples

Let X(k*f0) be the k=0..N-1 frequency channels

X(k*f0)=n=0,N-1x(n*dt)*(cos(2*k*f0*n*dt)+isin(2*k*f0*n*dt))
2*k*f0 is one of our angular frequencies
n*dt runs through the n time samples spaced by dt.
But f0*dt =dt/(N*dt)=1/N so the dts cancel out.

REU TALK June 14,2011

FFT

Canceling the dts gives:

X(k*f0)=n=0,N-1x(n*dt)*(cos(2*k*n/N)+isin(2*k*n/N))

You can use complex notation:

ei =cos() + isin()

Giving:
X(k*f0)=n=0,N-1x(n*dt)*e2ikn/N

REU TALK June 14,2011

Why the FFT works

If you multiply 2 cosines with different
frequencies and then average over complete cycles,
they average to 0.
Earlier we said that any function could be
constructed from a sum of cosines of different
frequencies.
When each freq of the FFT multplies x(t) and then
sums over time, only components of x(t) that equal
this frequency will be non zero. All other frequency
components will average to 0.
REU TALK June 14,2011

The spectral density function

The spectral density function (or spectrum) tells how much
energy there in each frequency channel..
If N channels S(1..N) then
S(n)=energy in channel n
Total power S(n) over the N frequency channels

Radio astronomy receivers measure the E & B fields.

Energy is the square of the E & B fields.
When we FFT our voltage (E&B field) samples we have
frequency channels that are still in voltage units.
You need to square the output of the FFT to get energy.
Since the FFT gives a complex result you take the FFT
output times its complex conjugate.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Averaging and sigma

Adding a constant number A to itself N times
gives N*A.
Adding noise signals together increases the rms
value by sqrt(N).
Sometimes you add numbers together of opposite sign.

To average numbers you sum N times and then

divide by N.
Constant: (1..NA )/ N = A no change
Noise : (1,,Nxi)/N = Sqrt(N)/N = 1/sqrt(N)
averaging N noise samples decreases rms by 1/sqrt(N)
REU TALK June 14,2011

The radiometer equation

Suppose we have a single spectrum with:
Nchan frequency channels.
bwTot total bandwidth,
chnBw=bwTot/Nchan bandwidth of each channel

How many independent samples are in each chan of 1 spectra (spc)?

chnBw=bwTot/Nchan. This can change chnBw times per sec.

Each spectra lasts for Nchan * 1/bwTot secs so
# IndSamples=chnBw*timeSpc=(bwTot/Nchan)*(Nchan/bwTot)=1
Each spectra has 1 independent sample per channel

If we average a spectra for 1 second we get:

Time 1spec=1/chnBw
Spectra in 1 second= 1/timespec= chnBw

Averaging a spectra for 1 second has chnBw independent sample

in each channel.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Radiometer equation
The relative error in our spectrum S is then:
S/S=1/sqrt(# of independent samples)
S/S=1/sqrt(chnBw *Integrationtime)
S/S=1/sqrt((totBw/Nchan)*time)

Properties:
Increasing the integration time:
decreases error by 1/sqrt(time)

Increasing the channel width (smoothing)

decreases the error by 1/sqrt(channelWidth)
REU TALK June 14,2011

Observing the galaxy U5852

One second spectral average
1420.4058 is the hydrogen spin flip transition
You can see our galaxy sticking up.

1406 Mhz: Dc spike from complex sampling

1381 Mhz: GPS L3 satellite rfi. Looking for nuclear
explosions.
Bandpass shape origin:
filters in our if/lo system.
small ripples caused by signals bouncing between the platform
and the dish (standing waves).

Y axis units are arbitrary counts from the mock

spectrometer. They are linear in power.
REU TALK June 14,2011

Position switching
Averaging the On for 300 seconds decreases the noise.
We still need to remove the band pass shape.
need to divide by a band pass correction (bpc) that does not include the
galaxy.
The noise in the bpc must be small enough to not increase the noise of the
result (integration times for on, off should be similar).

On, Off position switching:

On: track galaxy for 300 secs
Off:go back and track the same part of the dish.
sky has moved, you are no longer looking at the galaxy.
Removes bandpass shape from our system (IF/LO) as well as a large fraction
of the standing waves.

Picture: 300 sec on,off. Galaxy missing from off, off lower than on.

REU TALK June 14,2011

Converting to Kelvins with the cal

We need to convert to physical energy units to do science.
Spectra measured in spectrometer counts (spcCnts).

The cal diode injects a known amount of noise into the

receiver.

The lbw cal at 1400 Mhz = 8.8 Kelvins

KperSpcCnt=CalDefl(inDegK)/calDefl(inSpcCnt)
Spc(spcCnts)*KperSpcCnt= spc(K)
We only integrated the cal for 10 seconds. Why not 150 seconds??
Adds noise to the system..
Need to average over frequency so we dont increase the noise on
our 300 second integrated spectra

REU TALK June 14,2011

(On-off)/off in DegK
Note: (On-Off)/Off = (On/Off 1)
Subtract (on off)
We can see the galaxy, but still has bandpass shape.
Units are spectrometer units (spcU).

Divide by off.
Removes band pass, but changes units to off (or Tsys)

To use cal conversation, we must put the

spectrometer units back in:
Compute mean of off spectra and multiply into (onoff)/off
REU TALK June 14,2011

U5852 in Jy vs vel
Plot using Janskys and velocity
Jansky = 10-26 watts/m2/hz measures power received
Velocity km/sec measures the doppler shift from
expansion of the universe and the rotation velocity of
the galaxy.

What we learn of the astronomy:

Distance, lookback time, mass, rotational velocity, morphology
(double or single peaked).
Galaxy is also generating continuum radiation (offset from 0)

REU TALK June 14,2011

Summary
Noise comes from our equip (thermal) and the sky.
Cos and sines can represent arbitrary functions
Nyquist sampling requires a sample rate of at least 2*bw
The FFT lets you convert from the time to the freq. domain.
Averaging N samples decreases noise by 1/sqrt(N)
Radiometer equation: T/T=1/sqrt(chanBw*time)
Position switching removes band pass and standing waves.
Cals convert from spectrometer units to degK
The spectral density function lets us measure physical
quantities of interest.
REU TALK June 14,2011