Ghazal Hnr asked . 2022-05-10

Finding inflection points of a noisy signal

Hi, I'd like to find the inflection points of this noisy signal. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this?

 

fs = 100; %Hz
dt = 1 / fs;
t = 0:dt:2;
x = sin(3 * pi * t) - (3 * cos(11 * pi * t));
x_noise = x + (1.5 * rand(size(x)));

 

inflection , signal , AI, Data Science, and Statistics , Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox

Expert Answer

Prashant Kumar answered . 2024-04-18 21:34:54

Differentiation is a noise amplification process. Why does that matter here? And what do I mean by that claim, anyway?
 
First, the claim. Computing a derivative goes back to a finite difference, thus deltay/deltax, taken as a limit as deltax goes to zero. If your data is noisy, then the noise in y is divided by a tiny number, thus amplifying the noise.
 
Another way to look at it if you prefer, you can view estimation of the derivative from data as trying to solve a first kind integral equation, something known to be ill-posed. ill-posed means here that the solution amplifies any noise in the data heavily.
 
Worse, higher order derivatives are larger amplifiers of noise in the data. So computing the second derivative (in the presence of noise) is a more difficult problem than computing the first derivative.
 
Why is any of this relevant to the question at hand? Because an inflection point is a point where the second derivative changes sign! So, you want to infer where that second derivative changes sign, therefore you need to estimate that second derivative function in the presence of significant noise.
 
Don't expect magic to happen here. It won't. That noise will cause all sorts of nasty stuff to happen to you.
 
 
x = linspace(0,2*pi,100);
y = sin(x) + randn(size(x))/5;
plot(x,y,'o')
grid on
Yes. We all know the inflection point happens at x == pi. But this noise is pretty nasty. Any kind of local smoothing you do will be overwhelmed by that noise. Even visually, I can conclude the inflection point is somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5, but I'm not sure I would have much more confidence than that.
 
The simplest trick may be to use some sort of smoothing spline. I'll use my SLM toolbox here.
 
slm = slmengine(x,y,'knots',10,'reg','cross','plot','on');
A credibly decent curve fit there, given the amount of noise. Less data or more noise might have been problematic though.
Look at the second derivative function. (This is available as a menu choice form the plot from my SLM toolbox .)
So it appears the inflection point happens just a bit beyond x==3. Although we should also find zero crossings near 0 and 2*pi.
 
We can find those second derivative crossings using slmsolve, another tool from that toolbox.
 
 
slmsolve(slm,0,2)
ans =
     0.099671       3.0826       6.2232
As expected, there were three of them.
 
While it might seem pretty decent as an estimate. I'll bet if you tried to compute confidence intervals on that estimate based on tools such as a jackknife or bootstrap, they might be moderately wide. Again, fewer data points or more noise would result in a great deal more uncertainty.
 
Note that I added some capability to slmsolve just to enable this computation. 


Not satisfied with the answer ?? ASK NOW

Frequently Asked Questions

MATLAB offers tools for real-time AI applications, including Simulink for modeling and simulation. It can be used for developing algorithms and control systems for autonomous vehicles, robots, and other real-time AI systems.

MATLAB Online™ provides access to MATLAB® from your web browser. With MATLAB Online, your files are stored on MATLAB Drive™ and are available wherever you go. MATLAB Drive Connector synchronizes your files between your computers and MATLAB Online, providing offline access and eliminating the need to manually upload or download files. You can also run your files from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet by connecting to MathWorks® Cloud through the MATLAB Mobile™ app.

Yes, MATLAB provides tools and frameworks for deep learning, including the Deep Learning Toolbox. You can use MATLAB for tasks like building and training neural networks, image classification, and natural language processing.

MATLAB and Python are both popular choices for AI development. MATLAB is known for its ease of use in mathematical computations and its extensive toolbox for AI and machine learning. Python, on the other hand, has a vast ecosystem of libraries like TensorFlow and PyTorch. The choice depends on your preferences and project requirements.

You can find support, discussion forums, and a community of MATLAB users on the MATLAB website, Matlansolutions forums, and other AI-related online communities. Remember that MATLAB's capabilities in AI and machine learning continue to evolve, so staying updated with the latest features and resources is essential for effective AI development using MATLAB.

Without any hesitation the answer to this question is NO. The service we offer is 100% legal, legitimate and won't make you a cheater. Read and discover exactly what an essay writing service is and how when used correctly, is a valuable teaching aid and no more akin to cheating than a tutor's 'model essay' or the many published essay guides available from your local book shop. You should use the work as a reference and should not hand over the exact copy of it.

Matlabsolutions.com provides guaranteed satisfaction with a commitment to complete the work within time. Combined with our meticulous work ethics and extensive domain experience, We are the ideal partner for all your homework/assignment needs. We pledge to provide 24*7 support to dissolve all your academic doubts. We are composed of 300+ esteemed Matlab and other experts who have been empanelled after extensive research and quality check.

Matlabsolutions.com provides undivided attention to each Matlab assignment order with a methodical approach to solution. Our network span is not restricted to US, UK and Australia rather extends to countries like Singapore, Canada and UAE. Our Matlab assignment help services include Image Processing Assignments, Electrical Engineering Assignments, Matlab homework help, Matlab Research Paper help, Matlab Simulink help. Get your work done at the best price in industry.