Skip to main content

How to normalize a highly distorted signal


 

Signal normalization is a common practice in signal processing, especially after a signal has undergone filtering. For example, when using an FIR low-pass filter during the demodulation process of a modulated signal—such as AM or DSB-SC demodulation—you may observe that the first few samples of the demodulated signal exhibit significant transients due to the filtering effect. This occurs because the filter requires approximately N past input samples to produce a steady-state or valid output. To correct for amplitude attenuation, the filtered signal can be normalized to a standard range, such as -1 to 1

 

MATLAB Script

% Parameters for the sine wave
fs = 1000; % Sampling frequency
t = 0:1/fs:1; % Time vector
f = 15; % Frequency of the sine wave

% Example signal: Noisy sine wave
filtered_signal = 0.03*sin(2 * pi * f * t) + 0.05*sin(2 * pi * f * t);
% Step 2: Normalize the filterd signal to the range [-1, +1]
normalized_signal = (filtered_signal - min(filtered_signal)) / (max(filtered_signal) - min(filtered_signal));
normalized_signal = normalized_signal * 2 - 1; % Scale to [-1, +1]


% Original Signal
figure();
plot(t, filtered_signal, 'b', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
title('Filtered Signal');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
ylim([-0.1 0.1]);
grid on;

% Normalized Signal
figure();
plot(t, normalized_signal, 'g', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
title('Normalized Signal [-1, +1]');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
grid on;

Output








 

 

Copy the MATLAB Code from here 

 


 

Normalize a Highly distorted filtered signal

When normalizing a filtered signal, you may observe that the initial data points are often highly distorted, while the remainder of the signal appears stable. Therefore, it's recommended to discard the first N points (where N is the filter order) before performing normalization.

 

MATLAB script for normalizing a highly distorted filtered signal, where the first few samples are highly transient due to filtering effects

 
 % Parameters for the sine wave
fs = 1000; % Sampling frequency
t = 0:1/fs:1; % Time vector
t1 = N/fs:1/fs:1;
f = 15; % Frequency of the sine wave

% Example signal: Noisy sine wave
filtered_signal = 0.03*sin(2 * pi * f * t) + 0.05*sin(2 * pi * f * t);

N = 10; % N = Filter order
signal1 = filtered_signal(1:N) * 15;
signal2 = filtered_signal(N+1:end);

filtered_signal = [signal1 signal2];


% Normalize the filterd signal to the range [-1, +1] without discarding
% first N-points (N = order of filter)
normalized_signal = (filtered_signal - min(filtered_signal)) / (max(filtered_signal) ...
- min(filtered_signal));
normalized_signal = normalized_signal * 2 - 1; % Scale to [-1, +1]

% Normalize the filterd signal to the range [-1, +1]
normalized_signal1 = (filtered_signal(N+1:end) - min(filtered_signal(N+1:end))) / (max(filtered_signal(N+1:end)) ...
- min(filtered_signal(N+1:end)));
normalized_signal1 = normalized_signal1 * 2 - 1; % Scale to [-1, +1]


% Original Signal
figure();
plot(t, filtered_signal, 'b', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
title('Highly Distorted Filtered Signal');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
ylim([-1 1]);
grid on;

% Normalized Signal
figure();
plot(t, normalized_signal, 'g', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
title('Normalized Signal [-1, +1] without discarding first N-points');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
grid on;

% Normalized Signal
figure();
plot(t1, normalized_signal1, 'g', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
title('Normalized Signal [-1, +1]');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
grid on;

Output 

 
















 Suppose we are using a filter of order N (e.g., 200), which uses N+1 taps (for FIR). The filter requires approximately N past input samples to produce a steady-state or valid output. Therefore, the first N or so samples are based on incomplete data, leading to startup transients. Discarding the first N samples is thus a conservative and practical way to avoid these artifacts.

Further Reading



Contact Us

Name

Email *

Message *

Popular Posts

Hybrid Beamforming | Page 1

Beamforming Techniques Hybrid Beamforming... Page 1 | Page 2 | Hybrid Beamforming: Hybrid beam formation was developed to address some of the limitations of digital pre-coding approaches. Every antenna element is connected to an RF chain in digital pre-coding (beam forming) method. We also know that each RF chain is in charge of providing a separate data stream between the transmitter and the receiver. We know that a larger number of independent data streams leads to higher data rates. It has a spatial multiplexing feature for MIMO. As a result, we may assume that switching from MIMO to massive MIMO will benefit us more in terms of spatial multiplexing in massive MIMO, where each antenna is coupled to a single RF chain. We'll proceed with a definition of hybrid beam forming. Overview of hybrid beam forming with example: Unlike digital beam forming, more than one antenna element is connected to a single RF chain in hybr...

MATLAB Code for 8-PSK, 16-PSK, ...

📘 Overview & Theory 🧮 MATLAB Code for BPSK, QPSK, 8-PSK, 16-PSK, 32-PSK 🧮 Simulator for m-ary PSK 📚 Further Reading   MATLAB Code for BPSK, QPSK, 8-PSK, 16-PSK, 32-PSK clc; clear all; close all; rng(10) M = 8; % M = 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. N_Bits = 2520; Phase = 0; data_info_bit = randi([0,1],N_Bits,1); data_temp = bi2de(reshape(data_info_bit,N_Bits/log2(M),log2(M))); modData = pskmod(data_temp,M,Phase); figure(1); scatterplot(modData); channelAWGN = 15; rxData2 = awgn(modData, channelAWGN); figure(2); scatterplot(rxData2); demodData = pskdemod(rxData2,M,Phase);   for BPSK, Constellation Size, M = 2 for QPSK, M = 4 for 8-PSK, M = 8, and so on    Output Figure: 8-PSK Modulation Figure: 8-PSK Demodulation after adding AWGN Noise Using the above MATLAB code you'll able be to modulate and demodulate 2-PSK, 4-PSK, 8-PSK, 16-PSK, 32-PSK and so on.  16-PSK   Fig: 16-PSK In this above code ' M ' is the number of the conste...

UGC NET Electronic Science Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions

Home / Engineering & Other Exams / UGC NET 2026 PYQ ⬇️ Download Papers and Solutions 📋 Exam Pattern 💡 Preparation Tips ❓ FAQs 📊 Exam Highlights: Electronic Science (88) Feature Details Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) ₹37,000 + HRA per month Eligibility M.Sc/M.Tech in Electronics (55%) Validity of Certificate JRF (3 Years) | Lectureship (Lifetime) 📥 Download UGC NET Electronics PDFs Complete collection of previous year question papers, answer keys and explanations for Subject Code 88. Start Downloading 📂 View All Question Papers June 2025 - Question Paper Download PDF June 2025 - Solved Paper + Explanation ...

How Windowing Affects Your Periodogram

The windowed periodogram is a widely used technique for estimating the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of a signal. It enhances the classical periodogram by mitigating spectral leakage through the application of a windowing function. This technique is essential in signal processing for accurate frequency-domain analysis.   Power Spectral Density (PSD) The PSD characterizes how the power of a signal is distributed across different frequency components. For a discrete-time signal, the PSD is defined as the Fourier Transform of the signal’s autocorrelation function: S x (f) = FT{R x (Ï„)} Here, R x (Ï„)}is the autocorrelation function. FT : Fourier Transform   Classical Periodogram The periodogram is a non-parametric PSD estimation method based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT): P x (f) = \(\frac{1}{N}\) X(f) 2 Here: X(f): DFT of the signal x(n) N: Signal length However, the classical periodogram suffers from spectral leakage due to abrupt truncation of the ...

OFDM Symbols and Subcarriers Explained

This article explains how OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols and subcarriers work. It covers modulation, mapping symbols to subcarriers, subcarrier frequency spacing, IFFT synthesis, cyclic prefix, and transmission. Step 1: Modulation First, modulate the input bitstream. For example, with 16-QAM , each group of 4 bits maps to one QAM symbol. Suppose we generate a sequence of QAM symbols: s0, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, …, s63 Step 2: Mapping Symbols to Subcarriers Assume N sub = 8 subcarriers. Each OFDM symbol in the frequency domain contains 8 QAM symbols (one per subcarrier): Mapping (example) OFDM symbol 1 → s0, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7 OFDM symbol 2 → s8, s9, s10, s11, s12, s13, s14, s15 … OFDM sym...

Advanced M-ary Modulation Simulator: Constellation, min dist, Efficiency, SER, EVM (RMS)

Advanced M-ary Communication Lab Analytical & Statistical Performance of Digital Modulation Theoretical Probability of Error (\(P_s\)) \[ P_s = Q\left(\sqrt{\frac{2 E_b}{N_0}}\right) \] Modulation (M-ary) BPSK (M=2) QPSK (M=4) 8-PSK (M=8) 16-QAM (M=16) 64-QAM (M=64) 256-QAM (M=256) SNR (\(E_b/N_0\)): 12 dB Efficiency 2 bps/Hz Min Dist (\(d_{min}\)) 1.41 Symbol Error 1.2e-5 EVM (RMS) 0.0% Constellation Diagram Noise PDF & Decision Tail 1. Geometric Mapping ...

Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) Modulation & Demodulation (with Simulation)

Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) Theoretical Foundations: Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) is a discrete frequency modulation scheme wherein the digital information is encoded via instantaneous shifts in the carrier signal's frequency. The fundamental implementation is Binary FSK (BFSK), which maps binary data onto two distinct, discrete spectral states. A binary '1' (the "mark" state) is represented by a carrier frequency \( f_1 \), while a binary '0' (the "space" state) corresponds to frequency \( f_2 \). Each symbol is sustained for a bit interval denoted by \( T_b \). FSK Transmitter Characterization: The mathematical model for the modulated BFSK output \( s(t) \) is defined as: \[ s(t) = \begin{cases} A_c \cos(2\pi f_1 t), & \text{for } m = 1 \\ A_c \cos(2\pi f_2 t), & \text{for } m = 0 \end{cases} \] ...