Simulink^®

Dead Zone - Provide region of zero output

Library

Discontinuities

Description

The Dead Zone block generates zero output within a specified region, called its dead zone. The lower and upper limits of the dead zone are specified as the Start of dead zone and End of dead zone parameters. The block output depends on the input and dead zone:

If the input is within the dead zone (greater than the lower limit and less than the upper limit), the output is zero.
If the input is greater than or equal to the upper limit, the output is the input minus the upper limit.
If the input is less than or equal to the lower limit, the output is the input minus the lower limit.

This sample model uses lower and upper limits of -0.5 and +0.5, with a sine wave as input.

This plot shows the effect of the Dead Zone block on the sine wave. While the input (the sine wave) is between -0.5 and 0.5, the output is zero.

Data Type Support

The Dead Zone block accepts and outputs a real signal of any numeric data type supported by Simulink software, except Boolean. The Dead Zone block supports fixed-point data types.

For a discussion on the data types supported by Simulink software, see Data Types Supported by Simulink.

Parameters and Dialog Box

Start of dead zone

Specify the lower limit of the dead zone. The default is -0.5.

End of dead zone

Specify the upper limit of the dead zone. The default is 0.5.

Saturate on integer overflow

Select to have overflows saturate.

When you select this check box, saturation applies to every internal operation on the block, not just the output or result. In general, the code generation process can detect when overflow is not possible, in which case, no saturation code is generated.

Treat as gain when linearizing

The linearization commands in Simulink software treat this block as a gain in state space. Select this option to cause the commands to treat the gain as 1; otherwise, the commands treat the gain as 0.

Enable zero-crossing detection

Select to enable zero-crossing detection to detect when the limits are reached. For more information, see How Blocks Work with Zero-Crossing Detection.

Sample time (-1 for inherited)

Specify the time interval between samples. To inherit the sample time, set this parameter to -1. See Specifying Sample Time.

Characteristics

Direct Feedthrough	Yes
Sample Time	Specified in the Sample time parameter
Scalar Expansion	Yes, of parameters
Dimensionalized	Yes
Zero-Crossing Detection	Yes, if enabled