Array Plot

Display vectors or arrays

• Library:

• DSP System Toolbox / Sinks

• 

Description

The Array Plot block plots vectors or arrays of data.

The Array Plot is a vector plot where data is uniformly spaced along the x-axis. To modify the spacing, change the Sample Increment property.

Measurements available:

• Data Cursors — Measure signal values using vertical and horizontal cursors.

• Signal Statistics — Display the maximum, minimum, peak-to-peak difference, mean, median, and RMS values of a selected signal.

• Peak Finder — Find maxima, showing the x-axis values at which they occur.

Ports

Input

Port_1 — Signal or signals to visualize

scalar | vector | matrix | array

Connect the signals you want to visualize. You can have up to 96 input ports. Input signals must have these characteristics:

• Fixed number of channels, but size can be variable

• Discrete, continuous, or constant sample time

• Real or complex values

• Floating- or fixed-point data type

• 2-D and nonscalar

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | Boolean | fixed point | enumerated
Complex Number Support: Yes

Properties

These properties are available from the Property Inspector, see Set Block Parameter Values (Simulink) for more details. For information about using the Array Plot toolstrip, see Configure Array Plot.

Number of input ports — Number of input ports

1 (default) | integer between 1 and 96

The number of input ports to the block, specified as an integer between 1 and 96.

UI Use

To change the number of input ports:

• Drag a new input signal line to the block and the block will auto-create new ports.

• Right-click the block and select Signals & Ports > Number of Input Ports.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: NumInputPorts

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: scalar between 1 and 96

Open at start of simulation — Automatically open scope at start

on (default) | off

Select this parameter to automatically open the Array Plot window when you run the simulation.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: OpenAtSimulationStart

Type: logical

X-Data Mode — Type of x-axis spacing

Sample increment and X-offset (default) | Custom

Select the type of spacing to use between x-axis data values.

• Sample increment and X-offset — Use the Sample Increment and X-Offset values to specify x-axis data.

• Custom — Specify a custom spacing between data values using the Custom X-data property.

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set X-Data Mode.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: XDataMode

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: 'Sample increment and X-offset' | 'Custom'

Sample Increment — x-axis spacing

1 (default) | finite scalar

Specify the spacing between samples along the x-axis as a finite numeric scalar. The input signal is only y-axis data. x-axis data is set automatically based on both the Sample Increment and X-Offset values.

Example: When X-Offset is 0 and Sample Increment is 1, the x-axis values are set to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, … .

Example: When X-Offset is -1 and Sample Increment is 0.25, the x-axis values are set to -1, -0.75, -0.5, -0.25, 0, … .

Tunable: Yes

Dependency

To use this property, set X-Data Mode to Sample increment and X-offset.

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set X-Data Mode to Increment and Offset and set the Sample Increment setting.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: SampleIncrement

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: scalar

See SampleIncrement.

X-Offset — x-axis offset

0 (default) | scalar

Specify the offset to apply to the x-axis, as a numeric scalar. x-axis data is set automatically based on both the Sample Increment and X-Offset values. The x-offset represents the first value on the x-axis.

Example: When X-Offset is 0 and Sample Increment is 1, the x-axis values are set to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, … .

Example: When X-Offset is -1 and Sample Increment is 0.25, the x-axis values are set to -1, -0.75, -0.5, -0.25, 0, … .

Tunable: Yes

Dependency

To use this property, set X-Data Mode to Sample increment and X-offset.

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set X-Data Mode to Increment and Offset and set the Sample Increment setting.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: XOffset

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: scalar

Custom X-data — x-axis data values

empty vector (default) | vector with length equal to the input frame length

Specify the x-axis data values as a vector equal in length to the frame length of the inputs. If you use the default (empty vector) value, the x-axis data is uniformly spaced over the interval (0:L-1), where L is the frame length.

Example: A custom logarithmic x-axis data scaling is [0:log10(44100/2):1024]

Tunable: Yes

Dependency

To use this property, set X-Data Mode to Custom

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set X-Data Mode to Custom.

3. Enter a Custom X-Data value and select apply .

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: CustomXData

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: scalar

Default: '[]'

X-Axis Scale — x-axis scale

Linear (default) | Log

Select Linear or Log as the x-axis scale.

Tunable: Yes

Dependency

If X-Offset is a negative value, you cannot set this parameter to Log.

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set XScale.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: XScale

Type: character vector or string scalar

Y-Axis Scale — y-axis scale

Linear (default) | Log

Select Linear or Log as the y-axis scale.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set YScale.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: YScale

Type: character vector or string scalar

Plot Type — Type of plot

Stem (default) | Stairs | Line

• Stem — Stem graph displayed as circles at the input value with vertical lines to the x-axis.

• Line — Line graph

• Stairs — Stair-step graph. A stair-step graph is made up of only horizontal and vertical lines. Each horizontal line represents the signal value for a discrete sample period and is connected to two vertical lines. Each vertical line represents the change in the signal value occurring at a specific sample time.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

1. On the Plot tab, select Settings.

2. In Settings, set Plot Type.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: PlotType

Type: character vector or string scalar

Axes scaling — Y-axis scaling mode

OnceAtStop (default) | Manual | Auto | AfterNUpdates

• OnceAtStop — Scale y-axis after the simulation is finished.

• Manual — Manually scale y-axis range with the Scale Y-axis Limits toolbar button.

• Auto — Scale y-axis range during and after simulation.

• AfterNUpdates — Scale y-axis after the number of time steps specified in the Number of updates text box (100 by default). Scaling occurs only once during each run.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Hover over the array plot to see the zoom , pan , and autoscale buttons. You can also zoom and pan using your mouse.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: AxesScaling

Type: character vector or string scalar

Number of updates — Number of updates before scaling

10 (default) | integer

Set this property to delay auto scaling the y-axis.

Tunable: Yes

Dependency

To enable this property, set Axes scaling to AfterNUpdates.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: AxesScalingNumUpdates

Type: character vector or string scalar

Values: scalar

Maximize axes — Maximize size of plots

Auto (default) | Off | On

• Auto — If Title and Y-label properties are not specified, maximize all plots.

• On — Maximize all plots. Values in Title and Y-label are hidden.

• Off — Do not maximize plots.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Hover over the array plot to see the maximize axes button .

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: MaximizeAxes

Type: character vector or string scalar

Plot as Magnitude and Phase — Split display into magnitude and phase plots

off (default) | on

• On — Display magnitude and phase plots. If the signal is real, the scope plots the absolute value of the signal for the magnitude. The phase is 0 degrees for positive values and 180 degrees for negative values. This feature is useful for complex-valued input signals. If the input is a real-valued signal, selecting this check box returns the absolute value of the signal for the magnitude.

• Off — Display signal plot. If the signal is complex, the scope plots the real and imaginary parts on the same y-axis.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

On the Plot tab, select the Magnitude Phase button.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: PlotAsMagnitudePhase

Type: logical

Title — Display name

none (default) | string

Specify a title for display. To use the input signal name for the title, enter %<SignalLabel>.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Open the Plot tab, click Settings, and set Title.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: Title

Type: character vector or string scalar

Default: ''

X-label — x-axis label

none (default) | string

Specify the text for the scope to display below the x-axis.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Open the Plot tab, click Settings, and set XLabel.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: XLabel

Type: character vector or string scalar

Default: ''

Y-label — Y-axis label

none (default) | string

Specify the text to display on the y-axis. To display signal units, add (%<SignalUnits>) to the label. At the beginning of a simulation, Simulink^® replaces (%<SignalUnits>) with the units associated with the signals.

Example: For a velocity signal with units of m/s, enter Velocity (%<SignalUnits>).

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Open the Plot tab, click Settings, and set YLabel.

Dependency

If you select Plot as Magnitude and Phase, this property does not apply. The y-axes are labeled Magnitude and Phase.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: YLabel

Type: character vector or string scalar

Default: ''

Y-limits — y-axis limits

[-10,10] (default) | [ymin, ymax]

Specify the y-axis limits as a two-element numeric vector, [ymin, ymax].

If Plot as Magnitude and Phase is off, the default is [-10,10]. If the magnitude/phase plot is on, the default is [0,10].

Tunable: Yes

Dependencies

When PlotAsMagnitudePhase is true, this property specifies the y-axis limits of only the magnitude plot. The y-axis limits of the phase plot are always [-180,180].

UI Use

Open the Plot tab, click Settings, and set Y-Axis Limits as a two-element numeric vector.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: YLimits

Type: character vector or string scalar

Value: two-element numeric vector

Show Grid — Show internal grid lines

on (default) | off

Select this option to show grid lines on the plot.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

Open the Plot tab, click Settings, and select Grid.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: ShowGrid

Type: logical

Show legend — Display signal legend

off (default) | on

Select this option to show the legend on the plot. The names listed in the legend are taken from the Channel Names property.

From the legend, you can control which signals are visible. This control is equivalent to changing the visibility in the Style properties. In the scope legend, click a signal name to hide the signal in the scope. To show the signal, click the signal name again. To show only one signal, right-click the signal name, which hides all other signals. To show all signals, press Esc.

Note

The legend only shows the first 20 signals. Any additional signals cannot be controlled from the legend.

Tunable: Yes

UI Use

On the Plot tab, click Legend.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: ShowLegend

Type: logical

Channel Names — Input channel names

[] (default) | character vector | string | array of strings or character vectors.

Input channel names, specified as a character vector, string, or array of either. The names appear in the legend, Settings, and Measurements panels. If you do not specify names, the channels are labeled as Channel 1, Channel 2, etc

Example: ["A","B"]

Dependency

To see channel names, set Show legend to true.

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: ChannelNames

Type: cell array of character vectors or string array

Model Examples

Group Delay Estimation in Simulink

Estimate the group delay of a filter in Simulink™.

Analyze a Subband of Input Frequencies Using Zoom FFT

Compute the zoom FFT of a sine wave in Simulink.

Filtered-X LMS Adaptive Noise Control Filter

Use a Filtered-X LMS algorithm in Adaptive Noise Control (ANC).

Streaming Power Spectrum Estimation Using Welch's Method

Use Welch's method of averaged modified periodogram to estimate power spectrum.

Configure Array Plot From the Command-Line

Change Array Plot block behavior and appearance from the command line.

Block Characteristics

Data Types	Boolean | double | enumerated | fixed point | integer | single
Direct Feedthrough	no
Multidimensional Signals	yes
Variable-Size Signals	yes
Zero-Crossing Detection	no

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using Simulink® Coder™.

This block can be used for simulation visibility in systems that generate code, but is not included in the generated code.

PLC Code Generation

Generate Structured Text code using Simulink® PLC Coder™.

This block can be used for simulation visibility in systems that generate code, but is not included in the generated code.

Fixed-Point Conversion

Design and simulate fixed-point systems using Fixed-Point Designer™.

This block accepts fixed-point input, but converts it to double for display.