Data Acquisition Toolbox 2.15

Accessing Analog Input Channels

DEMOAI_CHANNEL introduces analog input channels by demonstrating how to add channels to an analog input object and how to configure the channels for your acquisition.

This demo gives examples on using the get/set notation, dot notation, and named index notation for obtaining information about the channel and for configuring the channel for your acquisition.

See also ADDCHANNEL, DAQDEVICE/GET, DAQDEVICE/SET, ANALOGINPUT, DAQHELP.

In this example, you will learn about creating, accessing, and configuring analog input channels.

To get started, an analog input object, ai, is created for the winsound device.

ai = analoginput('winsound');
ai

Display Summary of Analog Input (AI) Object Using 'NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audi
o'.
  Acquisition Parameters:  8000 samples per second on each channel.
                           8000 samples per trigger on each channel.
                           1 sec. of data to be logged upon START.
                           Log data to 'Memory' on trigger.
      Trigger Parameters:  1 'Immediate' trigger(s) on START.
           Engine status:  Waiting for START.
                           0 samples acquired since starting.
                           0 samples available for GETDATA.
AI object contains no channels.

You can add a channel to an analog input object with the ADDCHANNEL command. ADDCHANNEL needs at least two input arguments. The first input argument specifies which analog input object the channel is being added to. The second argument is the id of the hardware channels you are adding to the analog input object. For the sound card, you can add up to two channels. If one channel is added, sound is recorded and played in mono. If two channels are added, sound is recorded and played in stereo.

addchannel(ai, 1)

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Mono'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

There are three methods for accessing a channel. In the first method, the channel is accessed through the analog input object's Channel property. For example, using the dot notation, all the analog input object's channels will be assigned to the variable ch1.

ch1 = ai.Channel;

Or, using the GET notation

ch1 = get(ai, 'Channel');
ch1

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Mono'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

In the second method, the channel is accessed at creation time by assigning an output variable to ADDCHANNEL. The third input argument to ADDCHANNEL assigns the name Chan2 to the added channel.

addchannel(ai, 2, 'Chan2')

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

In the third method, the channel is accessed through its ChannelName property value. This method is referred to as Named Referencing. The second channel added to the analog input object was assigned the ChannelName 'Chan2'. Therefore, you can access the second channel with the command:

ch2 = ai.Chan2;
ch2

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

Channels that have the same parent (or are associated with the same analog input object) can be concatenated into either row or column vectors. An error will occur if you try to concatenate channels into a matrix.

ch = [ch1 ch2];
s = size(ch);
s

s =
     1     2

Or

ch = [ch1; ch2];
s1 = size(ch);
s1

s1 =
     2     1

You can access specific channels by specifying the index of the channel in the analog input object's channel array.

ch1 = ai.Channel(1); % To obtain the first channel
ch2 = ai.Channel(2); % To obtain the second channel
ch1
ch2

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

Or, if a 1-by-5 channel array is created, it is possible to access the first, third, and fourth channels as follows:

charray = [ch1 ch2 ch1 ch1 ch2];
temp = charray([1 3 4]);
charray
temp

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

You can obtain information regarding the channel with the GET command. When passing only the channel to GET, a list of all properties and their current values are displayed. The common properties are listed first. If any device-specific channel properties exist, they will be listed second.

get(ch1)

        ChannelName = Left
        HwChannel = 1
        Index = 1
        InputRange = [-1 1]
        NativeOffset = 1.5259e-005
        NativeScaling = 3.0518e-005
        Parent = [1x1 analoginput]
        SensorRange = [-1 1]
        Type = Channel
        Units = Volts
        UnitsRange = [-1 1]

If an output variable is supplied to the GET command, a structure is returned where the structure field names are the channel's property names, and the structure field values are the channel's property values.

h = get(ch2);
h

h =
      ChannelName: 'Chan2'
        HwChannel: 2
            Index: 2
       InputRange: [-1 1]
     NativeOffset: 1.52590218966964e-005
    NativeScaling: 3.05180437933928e-005
           Parent: [1x1 analoginput]
      SensorRange: [-1 1]
             Type: 'Channel'
            Units: 'Volts'
       UnitsRange: [-1 1]

You can obtain information pertaining to a specific property by specifying the property name as the second input argument to GET (e.g. ch1).

If the channel array is not 1-by-1, a cell array of property values is returned (e.g. ch).

get(ch1, 'Units')
get(ch, 'Units')

ans =
Volts
ans =
    'Volts'
    'Volts'

You can obtain information pertaining to multiple properties by specifying a cell array of property names as the second input argument to GET (e.g. ch2).

If the channel array is not singular, and a cell array of property names is passed to GET, then a matrix of property values is returned (e.g. ch).

The returned property values matrix relate to each object and property name as follows:

get(ch2, {'ChannelName','HwChannel','Units'})
get(ch, {'ChannelName','HwChannel','Units'})

ans =
    'Chan2'    [2]    'Volts'
ans =
    'Left'     [1]    'Volts'
    'Chan2'    [2]    'Volts'

Note that you can also use the dot notation to obtain information about each channel.

 ch1.Units
 ai.Channel(2).ChannelName

And you can also obtain channel information through named referencing.

 ai.Chan2.InputRange

You can assign values to different channel properties with the SET command. If only the channel is passed to SET, a list of settable properties and their possible values are returned. Similar to the GET display, the common properties are listed first. If any device-specific channel properties exist, they will be listed second.

 set(ch1)

If you supply an output variable to SET, a structure is returned where the structure field names are the channel's property names and the structure field values are the possible property values for the channel property.

h = set(ch1);
h

h =
    ChannelName: {}
      HwChannel: {}
     InputRange: {}
    SensorRange: {}
          Units: {}
     UnitsRange: {}

You can obtain information on possible property values for a specific property by specifying the property name as the second input argument to SET.

 set(ch1, 'Units');

Or, you can assign the result to an output variable.

 unit = set(ch1, 'Units');

You can assign values to a specific property as follows

set(ch1, 'SensorRange', [-2 2]);
ch

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-2 2]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

You can assign the same property values to multiple channels with one call to SET.

set(ch, 'SensorRange', [-3 3]);
ch

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-3 3]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-3 3]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

You can assign different property values to multiple channels by specifying a cell array of property values in the SET command.

set(ch, {'SensorRange'}, {[-2 2];[-1 1]});
ch

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-2 2]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [-1 1]      
 'Volts'

This concept can be extended to assign multiple properties different values for multiple channels. The cell array of property values must be m-by-n, where m is the number of objects and n is the number of properties.

Each row of the property values cell array contains the property values for a single object. Each column of the property values cell array contains the property values for a single property.

The assigned property values matrix relate to each object and property name as follows:

set(ai.Channel, {'Units'; 'UnitsRange'}, {'LeftUnits', [0 30]; 'Ri
ghtUnits', [0 40]});
ai.Channel

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Left'        1           [-1 1]       [-2 2]        [0 30]      
 'LeftUnits'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-1 1]        [0 40]      
 'RightUnits'

You can use the dot notation to assign values to channel properties.

 ch1.Units = 'OneUnits';
 ch2.SensorRange = [-4 4];
 ai.Channel(1).ChannelName = 'Chan1';
 ai.Channel

Or, you can assign values to channel properties through named referencing.

 ai.Chan2.Units = 'TwoUnits';
 ai.Channel

ch1.Units = 'OneUnits';
ch2.SensorRange = [-4 4];
ai.Channel(1).ChannelName = 'Chan1';

ai.Chan2.Units = 'TwoUnits';
ai.Channel

   Index:  ChannelName:  HwChannel:  InputRange:  SensorRange:  UnitsRange: 
 Units:
   1       'Chan1'       1           [-1 1]       [-2 2]        [0 30]      
 'OneUnits'
   2       'Chan2'       2           [-1 1]       [-4 4]        [0 40]      
 'TwoUnits'

You can convert the analog input signals into values that represent specific engineering units by specifying the following Channel properties:

     SensorRange - Expected range of data from sensor.
     InputRange  - Range of A/D converter.
     UnitsRange  - Range of data in MATLAB® workspace.
     Units       - Engineering units name.

For example, suppose you are using a microphone which can measure sound levels up to 120 dB and this range produces an output voltage from -0.5 volts to 0.5 volts. Your A/D converter may have several valid voltage ranges that it can be set to. The best A/D hardware range is the one that encompasses the expected sensor range most closely.

The channel configuration would be set as follows:

 set(ai.Channel, 'SensorRange', [-0.5 0.5]);
 set(ai.Channel, 'InputRange', [-1 1]);
 set(ai.Channel, 'UnitsRange', [0 120]);
 set(ai.Channel, 'Units', 'dB');

Only linear engineering unit conversions are supported. You can perform nonlinear conversions by creating the appropriate M-file function.