pow2db

Convert power to decibels

Syntax

ydb = pow2db(y)

Description

ydb = pow2db(y) expresses in decibels (dB) the power measurements specified in y. The relationship between power and decibels is ydb = 10 log₁₀(y).

Examples

Power Spectrum of a Noisy Sinusoid

Generate 1024 samples of a noisy sinusoid having a normalized frequency of $$2\pi /3$$ rad/sample. Estimate the power spectrum of the signal using pwelch. Express the estimate in decibels and plot it.

n = 0:1024-1;
x = cos(2*pi*n/3) + randn(size(n));

[pxx,w] = pwelch(x,'power');

dB = pow2db(pxx);

plot(w/pi,dB)
xlabel('\omega / \pi')
ylabel('Power (dB)')

Repeat the computation using pwelch without output arguments.

pwelch(x,'power')

Input Arguments

y — Input array

scalar | vector | matrix | N-D array

Input array, specified as a scalar, vector, matrix, or N-D array. When y is nonscalar, pow2db is an element-wise operation.

Data Types: single | double

Output Arguments

ydb — Power measurements in decibels

scalar | vector | matrix | N-D array

Power measurements in decibels, returned as a scalar, vector, matrix, or N-D array of the same size as y.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

GPU Arrays

Accelerate code by running on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

This function fully supports GPU arrays. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions on a GPU (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Version History

Introduced in R2007b