Function reference¶

Convention for Time Series¶

This is a convention for function arguments and return values that represent time series: sequences of values that change over time. It is used throughout the library, for example in the functions forced_response(), step_response(), impulse_response(), and initial_response().

Types:

• Arguments can be arrays, matrices, or nested lists.
• Return values are arrays (not matrices).

The time vector is either 1D, or 2D with shape (1, n):

T = [[t1,     t2,     t3,     ..., tn    ]]

Input, state, and output all follow the same convention. Columns are different points in time, rows are different components. When there is only one row, a 1D object is accepted or returned, which adds convenience for SISO systems:

U = [[u1(t1), u1(t2), u1(t3), ..., u1(tn)]
     [u2(t1), u2(t2), u2(t3), ..., u2(tn)]
     ...
     ...
     [ui(t1), ui(t2), ui(t3), ..., ui(tn)]]

Same for X, Y

So, U[:,2] is the system’s input at the third point in time; and U[1] or U[1,:] is the sequence of values for the system’s second input.

The initial conditions are either 1D, or 2D with shape (j, 1):

X0 = [[x1]
      [x2]
      ...
      ...
      [xj]]

As all simulation functions return arrays, plotting is convenient:

t, y = step(sys)
plot(t, y)

The output of a MIMO system can be plotted like this:

t, y, x = lsim(sys, u, t)
plot(t, y[0], label='y_0')
plot(t, y[1], label='y_1')

The convention also works well with the state space form of linear systems. If D is the feedthrough matrix of a linear system, and U is its input (matrix or array), then the feedthrough part of the system’s response, can be computed like this:

ft = D * U