Signals and Systems Labs for Emona SIGEx Add-on Board

by Emona Tims

The complete lab manual is designed to teach signals and systems concepts with LabVIEW graphical programming and the NI ELVIS platform, including spectrum analysis, time domain analysis, sampling and aliasing, analog-digital conversion, and discrete-time filters. The manual enables students to patch together continuous time and discrete-time systems in real hardware for circuit theory, digital signal processing and signals and system courses. It can be used to teach topics such as convolution, integration, and perform time domain analysis, sampling and aliasing as well as explore poles and zeros with Infinite impulse response (IIR) systems. The EMONA SIGEx board and comprehensive Lab Manual closely follow the typical curriculum encountered by engineering students and is based on leading textbooks on this topic. Access to the complete volume of the Emona SIGEx add-on board lab manual is provided upon purchase of the product.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students develop a comprehensive understanding of abstract signals and systems principles
Students utilize a suite of LabVIEW VIs to generate, view, and record signals from the SIGEx add-on board
Students use NI ELVIS technology to experiment with scaled models of real world systems, allowing students to get a tangible feel for complex systems they will encounter in commercial environnments later on

COURSE ALIGNMENT

Level	University
Topic	Signal Processing
Style	Laboratory
Prerequisite Skills	Basic knowledge of signal processing

Included Course Labs

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NI ELVIS II/+ TEST EQUIPMENT

Students are introduced to the SIGEx soft front panel and ELVISmx instruments used in the experiments.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SIGEX EXPERIMENTAL ADD-ON BOARD

For this experiment students will familiarize themselves with the various instruments available on the SIGEx board and how they are used.

SPECIAL SIGNALS – CHARACTERISTICS AND APPLICATIONS

Students investigate how signals are distorted when a system's response is affected by inertia, and discover signals that are useful for probing a system's behavior. The lab also introduces how these systems respond to sine wave inputs. Finally, students are guided in creating clipped signals.

SYSTEMS: LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR

Students discover the special role of sinusoids in linear systems and apply linearity tests to various systems.

UNRAVELING CONVOLUTION

Students carry out a step-by-step dissection of the convolution process in a discrete-time system.

INTEGRATION, CORRELATION & MATCHED FILTERS

Students investigate the processes of integration, convolution, correlation, and "matched filters". Students see these processes in action with real signals in the time domain and learn their use in practical applications.

EXPLORING COMPLEX NUMBERS AND EXPONENTIALS

Students learn the fundamentals of complex numbers and the exponential and their significance in signals analysis.

BUILD A FOURIER SERIES ANALYZER

Students compose arbitrary periodic signals from a series of sine and cosine waves, confirm the Fourier series equation, compute Fourier coefficients of a waveform, and build a Fourier Series analyzer.

SPECTRUM ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS SIGNAL TYPES

Students use a spectrum analyzer to observe real signals in the frequency domain, and discover important relationships between time and frequency domain characteristics of various classes of signals.

TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS OF AN RC CIRCUIT

Students will analyze the RC circuit using steps, impulses, exponential pulses, and sinusoids to compare theory and practical results. Students then will synthesize and test an RC network using a 1st order feedback structure.

POLES AND ZEROS IN THE LAPLACE DOMAIN

Students discover how poles and zeros can be used to visualize frequency responses graphically at a glance, in a minimal-math zone. Students will be able to use this knowledge to intuitively design low order continuous-time responses.

SAMPLING AND ALIASING

Students explore the relationship between sampling rates and aliasing to gain an intuitive understanding of sampling theorems and best practices for minimum sampling rates.

GETTING STARTED WITH ANALOG-DIGITAL CONVERSION

Students experiment with the analog to digital conversion using pulse code modulation, learning the decoding process, quantization issues, and reconstruction of the output signal.

DISCRETE-TIME FILTERS WITH FIR SYSTEMS

Students relate the response of a discrete-time FIR filter to its transfer function, and use the zeros of the transfer function to visualize frequency responses graphically. Students use this knowledge to intuitively design low order discrete-time responses.

POLES AND ZEROS IN THE Z PLANE WITH IIR SYSTEMS

Students design recursive/IIR discrete-time responses.

DISCRETE-TIME FILTERS – PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Students gain an understanding of the importance of sensitivity and dynamic range issues that arise in the practical implementation of discrete-time filters, as well as explore the issues relating to optimal sampling rate selection.

Requirements

NI ELVIS II/II+

The NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS) is a versatile laboratory platform that enables educators to teach over 20 different courses across science and engineering departments. The NI ELVIS integrates 12 common lab instruments including an oscilloscope, function... Learn more

LabVIEW

LabVIEW is systems engineering software for applications that require test, measurement, and control with rapid access to hardware and data insights. Learn more

Emona SIGEx Add-on Board

The Emona SIGEx Add-on Board is a plug and play board designed for the NI ELVIS platform that enables students to learn signals and systems in a hands-on approach. Learn more

DETAILED REQUIREMENTS

Required Software

Download Academic Software, Learn About Software Licensing

NI LabVIEW (Requires license)
NI LabVIEW Modulation Toolkit Download (Requires license)
NI LabVIEW MathScript RT Module Download (Requires license)
NI ELVISmx 14.0 or later Download Download

Required Hardware

Purchase Engineering Education Products

NI ELVIS II / II+ - View Specifications
Emona SIGEx Add-on Board

Resources

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