Intro.

to Signal Processing:Convolution

Convolution
Convolution is an operation performed on two signals which involves multiplying one signal by a delayed or shifted version of another signal, integrating or averaging the product, and repeating the process for different delays. Convolution is a useful process because it accurately describes some effects that occur widely in scientific measurements, such as the influence of a low-pass filter on an electrical signal or of the spectral bandpass of a spectrometer on the shape of a spectrum.

Figure 11. Convolution is used here to determine how the atomic line spectrum in Window 1 (top left) will appear when scanned with a spectrometer whose slit function (spectral resolution) is described by the Gaussian function in Window 2 (top right). The Gaussian function has already been rotated so that its maximum falls at x=0. The resulting convoluted spectrum (bottom center) shows that the two lines near x=110 and 120 will not be resolved but the line at x=40 will be partly resolved. In practice the calculation is usually performed by multiplication of the two signals in the Fourier domain. First, the Fourier transform of each signal is obtained. Then the two Fourier transforms are multiplied by the rules for complex multiplication* and the result is then inverse Fourier transformed. Although this seems to be a round-about method, it turns out to be faster then the shift-and-multiply algorithm when the number of points in the signal is large. Convolution can be used as a powerful and general algorithm for smoothing and differentiation. The example of Figure 11 shows how it can be used to predict the broadening effect of a spectrometer on an atomic line spectrum. In the Tfit method for absorption spectroscopy (TFit.html), Fourier convolution is used to correct the analytical curve non-linearity caused by spectrometer resolution. * Fourier transforms are usually expressed in terms of complex numbers, with real and imaginary parts. If the Fourier transform of the first signal is a + ib,
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Intro. to Signal Processing:Convolution

and the Fourier transform of the second signal is c + id, then the product of the two Fourier transforms is (a + ib)(c + id) = (ac - bd) + i(bc + ad). SPECTRUM, the freeware signal-processing application that accompanies this tutorial, includes convolution and auto-corellation (self-convolution) functions. Matlab and Octave have a built-in function for convolution of two vectors: conv. This function can be used to create very general type of filters and smoothing functions, such as sliding-average and triangular smooths. For example, ysmoothed=conv(y,[1 1 1 1 1],'same'); smooths the vector y with a 5-point unweighted sliding average (boxcar) smooth, and ysmoothed=conv(y,[1 2 3 2 1],'same'); smooths the vector y with a 5-point triangular smooth. The optional argument 'same' returns the central part of the convolution that is the same size as y.

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