Generate Arbitrary Periodic Waveforms Using Digilent Analog Discovery

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Use function generator channels to generate an arbitrary 1kHz waveform function, and record data at the same time, using an analog input channel.

Discover Digilent Devices

Discover Digilent devices connected to your system using daqlist.

daqlist("digilent")
dq = daq("digilent")

ans =

  1×4 table

    DeviceID                     Description                            Model                  DeviceInfo       
    ________    _____________________________________________    ____________________    _______________________

     "AD1"      "Digilent Inc. Analog Discovery 2 Kit Rev. C"    "Analog Discovery 2"    [1×1 daq.di.DeviceInfo]


dq = 

DataAcquisition using Digilent Inc. hardware:

                     Running: 0
                        Rate: 10000
           NumScansAvailable: 0
            NumScansAcquired: 0
              NumScansQueued: 0
    NumScansOutputByHardware: 0
                   RateLimit: []

Show channels
Show properties and methods

Add a Function Generator Channel

Add a function generator channel with device ID AD1 and channel ID 1. Set the waveform type to Arbitrary. The voltage range of the output signal is -5.0 to +5.0 volts.

ch_fgen = addoutput(dq, "AD1", "1", "Arbitrary");
ch_fgen.Name = "AD1_1_fgen"

ch_fgen = 

    Index     Type     Device    Channel    Measurement Type           Range                Name    
    _____    ______    ______    _______    ________________    ____________________    ____________

      1      "fgen"    "AD1"       "1"        "Arbitrary"       "-5.0 to +5.0 Volts"    "AD1_1_fgen"

Define a Sum of Sinusoids as the Output Waveform

The function generator produces periodic outputs by repeatedly generating the contents of its buffer (4096 points). A waveform is constructed to fill this buffer without repetition.

buffersize = 4096;
len = buffersize + 1;

f0 = 1;
f1 = 1 * f0;
f2 = 2 * f0;
f3 = 3 * f0;

waveform  = sin(linspace(0, 2*pi*f1, len)) + ...
            sin(linspace(0, 2*pi*f2, len)) + ...
            sin(linspace(0, 2*pi*f3, len));

waveform(end) = [];

Assign the Waveform Data and Set Waveform Frequency

frequency = 1000;
ch_fgen.WaveformData = waveform;
ch_fgen.Frequency = frequency;

Add an Analog Input Channel

Add an analog input channel with device ID AD1 and channel ID 1. Set the measurement type to Voltage.

ch_in = addinput(dq, "AD1", "1", "Voltage");
ch_in.Name = "AD1_1_in"

ch_in = 

    Index    Type    Device    Channel    Measurement Type          Range              Name   
    _____    ____    ______    _______    ________________    __________________    __________

      1      "ai"    "AD1"       "1"      "Voltage (Diff)"    "-25 to +25 Volts"    "AD1_1_in"

Define the Acquisition Scan Rate

Acquire data at a higher scan rate than the highest frequency in the generated waveform (oversampling).

oversamplingratio = 50;
Fn = 2 * frequency;
Fs = oversamplingratio * Fn;
dq.Rate = Fs;

Generate a Periodic Waveform and Record Input

data = read(dq, seconds(3));

Define Plot Parameters

k = 5;
width = 750;
height = 750;
period = 1/frequency;
numperiods = k * period;
maxamplitude = 3*ch_fgen.Gain;

wavedesired = repmat(waveform', k, 1);
tsamples = linspace(0, numperiods, k * buffersize)';

Define FFT Parameters

L = 2 * oversamplingratio * buffersize;
NFFT = 2^nextpow2(L);
Y = fft(data.AD1_1_in, NFFT)/L;
f0 = (Fs/2) * linspace(0, 1, NFFT/2 + 1);

Plot Waveforms

plotScaleFactor = 12;
plotRange = NFFT/2; % Plot is symmetric about NFFT
plotRange = floor(plotRange / plotScaleFactor);

Yplot = Y(1:plotRange);
fplot = f0(1:plotRange);

fig = figure;

% Plot Desired Waveform
subplot(311)
plot(tsamples, wavedesired);
xlabel('Time (seconds)');
ylabel('Voltage (Volts)');
title('Desired Waveform: sin(2\pi*1000t) + sin(2\pi*2000t) + sin(2\pi*3000t)');
xlim([0 numperiods]);
ylim([-maxamplitude maxamplitude]);

% Plot Acquired Waveform
subplot(312)
plot(data.Time, data.AD1_1_in);
xlabel('Time (seconds)');
ylabel('Voltage (Volts)');
title('Acquired Waveform');
xlim([seconds(0) seconds(numperiods)]);
ylim([-maxamplitude maxamplitude]);

% Plot Single-Sided Amplitude Spectrum
subplot(313)
stem(fplot, 2*abs(Yplot));
title('Single-Sided Amplitude Spectrum of Waveform')
xlabel('Frequency (Hz)')
ylabel('|Y(f)|')
axis tight

% Make Graph Larger
outpos = get(fig, 'OuterPosition');
set(fig, 'OuterPosition', [outpos(1)-125 outpos(2)-375 width height]);