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# xcorr

Cross-correlation

## Syntax

``r = xcorr(x,y)``
``r = xcorr(x)``
``r = xcorr(___,maxlag)``
``r = xcorr(___,scaleopt)``
``````[r,lags] = xcorr(___)``````

## Description

example

````r = xcorr(x,y)` returns the cross-correlation of two discrete-time sequences, `x` and `y`. Cross-correlation measures the similarity between `x` and shifted (lagged) copies of `y` as a function of the lag. If `x` and `y` have different lengths, the function appends zeros at the end of the shorter vector so it has the same length, N, as the other.```

example

````r = xcorr(x)` returns the autocorrelation sequence of `x`. If `x` is a matrix, then `r` is a matrix whose columns contain the autocorrelation and cross-correlation sequences for all combinations of the columns of `x`.```

example

````r = xcorr(___,maxlag)` limits the lag range from –`maxlag` to `maxlag`. This syntax accepts one or two input sequences. `maxlag` defaults to N – 1.```

example

````r = xcorr(___,scaleopt)` additionally specifies a normalization option for the cross-correlation or autocorrelation. Any option other than `'none'` (the default) requires `x` and `y` to have the same length.```

example

``````[r,lags] = xcorr(___)``` also returns a vector with the lags at which the correlations are computed.```

## Examples

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Two sensors at different locations measure vibrations caused by a car as it crosses a bridge.

Load the signals and the sample rate, . Create time vectors and plot the signals. The signal from Sensor 2 arrives at an earlier time than the signal from Sensor 1.

```load sensorData t1 = (0:length(s1)-1)/Fs; t2 = (0:length(s2)-1)/Fs; subplot(2,1,1) plot(t1,s1) title('s_1') subplot(2,1,2) plot(t2,s2) title('s_2') xlabel('Time (s)')```

The cross-correlation of the two measurements is maximum at a lag equal to the delay.

Plot the cross-correlation. Express the delay as a number of samples and in seconds.

```[acor,lag] = xcorr(s2,s1); [~,I] = max(abs(acor)); lagDiff = lag(I)```
```lagDiff = -350 ```
`timeDiff = lagDiff/Fs`
```timeDiff = -0.0317 ```
```figure plot(lag,acor) a3 = gca; a3.XTick = sort([-3000:1000:3000 lagDiff]);```

Align the two signals and replot them. Add 1 to the lag difference to account for the one-based indexing used by MATLAB®.

```s1al = s1(-lagDiff+1:end); t1al = (0:length(s1al)-1)/Fs; subplot(2,1,1) plot(t1al,s1al) title('s_1, aligned') subplot(2,1,2) plot(t2,s2) title('s_2') xlabel('Time (s)')```

A speech recording includes an echo caused by reflection off a wall. Use autocorrelation to filter it out.

In the recording, a person says the word MATLAB®. Load the data and the sample rate, .

```load mtlb % To hear, type soundsc(mtlb,Fs)```

Model the echo by adding to the recording a copy of the signal delayed by samples and attenuated by a known factor : . Specify a time lag of 0.23 s and an attenuation factor of 0.5.

```timelag = 0.23; delta = round(Fs*timelag); alpha = 0.5; orig = [mtlb;zeros(delta,1)]; echo = [zeros(delta,1);mtlb]*alpha; mtEcho = orig + echo;```

Plot the original, the echo, and the resulting signal.

```t = (0:length(mtEcho)-1)/Fs; subplot(2,1,1) plot(t,[orig echo]) legend('Original','Echo') subplot(2,1,2) plot(t,mtEcho) legend('Total') xlabel('Time (s)')```

`% To hear, type soundsc(mtEcho,Fs)`

Compute an unbiased estimate of the signal autocorrelation. Select and plot the section that corresponds to lags greater than zero.

```[Rmm,lags] = xcorr(mtEcho,'unbiased'); Rmm = Rmm(lags>0); lags = lags(lags>0); figure plot(lags/Fs,Rmm) xlabel('Lag (s)')```

The autocorrelation has a sharp peak at the lag at which the echo arrives. Cancel the echo by filtering the signal through an IIR system whose output, , obeys .

```[~,dl] = findpeaks(Rmm,lags,'MinPeakHeight',0.22); mtNew = filter(1,[1 zeros(1,dl-1) alpha],mtEcho);```

Plot the filtered signal and compare to the original.

```subplot(2,1,1) plot(t,orig) legend('Original') subplot(2,1,2) plot(t,mtNew) legend('Filtered') xlabel('Time (s)')```

`% To hear, type soundsc(mtNew,Fs)`

Generate three 11-sample exponential sequences given by , , and , with . Use `stem3` to plot the sequences side by side.

```N = 11; n = (0:N-1)'; a = 0.4; b = 0.7; c = 0.999; xabc = [a.^n b.^n c.^n]; stem3(n,1:3,xabc','filled') ax = gca; ax.YTick = 1:3; view(37.5,30)```

Compute the autocorrelations and mutual cross-correlations of the sequences. Output the lags so you do not have to keep track of them. Normalize the result so the autocorrelations have unit value at zero lag.

```[cr,lgs] = xcorr(xabc,'coeff'); for row = 1:3 for col = 1:3 nm = 3*(row-1)+col; subplot(3,3,nm) stem(lgs,cr(:,nm),'.') title(sprintf('c_{%d%d}',row,col)) ylim([0 1]) end end```

Restrict the calculation to lags between and .

```[cr,lgs] = xcorr(xabc,5,'coeff'); for row = 1:3 for col = 1:3 nm = 3*(row-1)+col; subplot(3,3,nm) stem(lgs,cr(:,nm),'.') title(sprintf('c_{%d%d}',row,col)) ylim([0 1]) end end```

Compute unbiased estimates of the autocorrelations and mutual cross-correlations. By default, the lags run between and .

```cu = xcorr(xabc,'unbiased'); for row = 1:3 for col = 1:3 nm = 3*(row-1)+col; subplot(3,3,nm) stem(-(N-1):(N-1),cu(:,nm),'.') title(sprintf('c_{%d%d}',row,col)) end end```

Compute the autocorrelation function of a 28-sample exponential sequence, for .

```a = 0.95; N = 28; n = 0:N-1; lags = -(N-1):(N-1); x = a.^n; c = xcorr(x);```

Determine analytically to check the correctness of the result. Use a larger sample rate to simulate a continuous situation. The autocorrelation function of the sequence for , with , is

```fs = 10; nn = -(N-1):1/fs:(N-1); dd = (1-a.^(2*(N-abs(nn))))/(1-a^2).*a.^abs(nn);```

Plot the sequences on the same figure.

```stem(lags,c); hold on plot(nn,dd) xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr','Analytic') hold off```

Repeat the calculation, but now find an unbiased estimate of the autocorrelation. Verify that the unbiased estimate is given by .

```cu = xcorr(x,'unbiased'); du = dd./(N-abs(nn)); stem(lags,cu); hold on plot(nn,du) xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr','Analytic') hold off```

Repeat the calculation, but now find a biased estimate of the autocorrelation. Verify that the biased estimate is given by .

```cb = xcorr(x,'biased'); db = dd/N; stem(lags,cb); hold on plot(nn,db) xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr','Analytic') hold off```

Find an estimate of the autocorrelation whose value at zero lag is unity.

```cz = xcorr(x,'coeff'); dz = dd/max(dd); stem(lags,cz); hold on plot(nn,dz) xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr','Analytic') hold off```

Compute and plot the cross-correlation of two 16-sample exponential sequences, and , with .

```N = 16; n = 0:N-1; a = 0.84; b = 0.92; xa = a.^n; xb = b.^n; r = xcorr(xa,xb); stem(-(N-1):(N-1),r)```

Determine analytically to check the correctness of the result. Use a larger sample rate to simulate a continuous situation. The cross-correlation function of the sequences and for , with , is

```fs = 10; nn = -(N-1):1/fs:(N-1); cn = (1 - (a*b).^(N-abs(nn)))/(1 - a*b) .* ... (a.^nn.*(nn>0) + (nn==0) + b.^-(nn).*(nn<0));```

Plot the sequences on the same figure.

```hold on plot(nn,cn) xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr','Analytic')```

Verify that switching the order of the operands reverses the sequence.

```figure stem(-(N-1):(N-1),xcorr(xb,xa)) hold on stem(-(N-1):(N-1),fliplr(r),'--*') xlabel('Lag') legend('xcorr(x_b,x_a)','fliplr(xcorr(x_a,x_b))')```

Generate the 20-sample exponential sequence . Compute and plot its cross-correlations with and . Output the lags to make the plotting easier. `xcorr` appends zeros at the end of the shorter sequence to match the length of the longer one.

```xc = 0.77.^(0:20-1); [xca,la] = xcorr(xa,xc); [xcb,lb] = xcorr(xb,xc); figure subplot(2,1,1) stem(la,xca) subplot(2,1,2) stem(lb,xcb) xlabel('Lag')```

This example requires Parallel Computing Toolbox™ software and a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU with compute capability 1.3 or above. See GPU System Requirements for details.

Create a signal consisting of a 10 Hz sine wave in additive noise, sampled at 1 kHz. Use `gpuArray` to create a `gpuArray` object stored on your computer’s GPU.

```t = 0:0.001:10-0.001; x = cos(2*pi*10*t) + randn(size(t)); X = gpuArray(x);```

Compute the normalized autocorrelation sequence to lag 200.

`[xc,lags] = xcorr(X,200,'coeff');`

The output, `xc`, is a `gpuArray` object.

Use `gather` to transfer the data from the GPU to the MATLAB® workspace as a double-precision vector.

`xc = gather(xc);`

## Input Arguments

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Input array, specified as a vector, a matrix, or a `gpuArray` object.

See GPU Computing (Parallel Computing Toolbox) and GPU System Requirements for details on using `xcorr` with `gpuArray` objects.

Example: `sin(2*pi*(0:9)/10) + randn([1 10])/10` specifies a noisy sinusoid as a row vector.

Example: ```sin(2*pi*[0.1;0.3]*(0:39))' + randn([40 2])/10``` specifies a two-channel noisy sinusoid.

Example: `gpuArray(sin(2*pi*(0:9)/10) + randn([1 10])/10)` specifies a noisy sinusoid as a `gpuArray` object.

Data Types: `single` | `double`
Complex Number Support: Yes

Input array, specified as a vector or a `gpuArray` object.

Data Types: `single` | `double`
Complex Number Support: Yes

Maximum lag, specified as an integer scalar. If you specify `maxlag`, the returned cross-correlation sequence ranges from –`maxlag` to `maxlag`. If you do not specify `maxlag`, the lag range equals 2N – 1, where N is the greater of the lengths of `x` and `y`.

Data Types: `single` | `double`

Normalization option, specified as one of the following:

• `'none'` — Raw, unscaled cross-correlation. This is the only allowed option when `x` and `y` have different lengths.

• `'biased'` — Biased estimate of the cross-correlation:

`${\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy,\text{biased}}\left(m\right)=\frac{1}{N}{\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy}\left(m\right).$`
• `'unbiased'` — Unbiased estimate of the cross-correlation:

`${\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy,\text{unbiased}}\left(m\right)=\frac{1}{N-|m|}{\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy}\left(m\right).$`
• `'coeff'` — Normalizes the sequence so that the autocorrelations at zero lag equal 1:

`${\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy,\text{coeff}}\left(m\right)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{{\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xx}\left(0\right){\stackrel{^}{R}}_{yy}\left(0\right)}}{\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy}\left(m\right).$`

Data Types: `char`

## Output Arguments

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Cross-correlation sequence, returned as a vector, a matrix, or a `gpuArray` object.

If `x` is an M × N signal matrix representing N channels in its columns, then `xcorr(x)` returns a (2M – 1) × N2 matrix with the autocorrelations and mutual cross-correlations of the channels of `x`. If you specify `maxlag`, then `r` has size (2 × `maxlag` – 1) × N2.

For example, if `S` is a three-channel signal, $\text{S}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}{x}_{1}& {x}_{2}& {x}_{3}\end{array}\right)$, then the result of ```R = xcorr(S)``` is organized as

`$\text{R}=\left(\begin{array}{lllllllll}{R}_{{x}_{1}{x}_{1}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{1}{x}_{2}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{1}{x}_{3}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{2}{x}_{1}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{2}{x}_{2}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{2}{x}_{3}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{3}{x}_{1}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{3}{x}_{2}}\hfill & {R}_{{x}_{3}{x}_{3}}\hfill \end{array}\right).$`

Lag indices, returned as a vector.

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### Cross-Correlation and Autocorrelation

The result of `xcorr` can be interpreted as an estimate of the correlation between two random sequences or as the deterministic correlation between two deterministic signals.

The true cross-correlation sequence of two jointly stationary random processes, xn and yn, is given by

`${R}_{xy}\left(m\right)=E\left\{{x}_{n+m}{y}_{n}^{*}\right\}=E\left\{{x}_{n}{y}_{n-m}^{*}\right\},$`

where  < n < , the asterisk denotes complex conjugation, and E is the expected value operator. `xcorr` can only estimate the sequence because, in practice, only a finite segment of one realization of the infinite-length random process is available.

By default, `xcorr` computes raw correlations with no normalization:

`${\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy}\left(m\right)=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}\sum _{n=0}^{N-m-1}{x}_{n+m}{y}_{n}^{\ast },\hfill & m\ge 0,\hfill \\ {\stackrel{^}{R}}_{yx}^{*}\left(-m\right),\hfill & m<0.\hfill \end{array}$`

The output vector, `c`, has elements given by

`$\text{c}\left(\text{m}\right)={\stackrel{^}{R}}_{xy}\left(m-N\right),\text{ }\text{ }m=1,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}2,\dots ,2N-1.$`

In general, the correlation function requires normalization to produce an accurate estimate. You can control the normalization of the correlation by using the input argument `scaleopt`.

## References

[1] Buck, John R., Michael M. Daniel, and Andrew C. Singer. Computer Explorations in Signals and Systems Using MATLAB. 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.

[2] Stoica, Petre, and Randolph Moses. Spectral Analysis of Signals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.