MATLAB quickie: How to plot markers on a freqs plot? - matlab

Question

I haven't used MATLAB in a while and I am stuck on a small detail. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out!
So I am trying to plot a transfer function using a specific function called freqs but I can't figure out how I can label specific points on the graph.
b = [0 0 10.0455]; % Numerator coefficients
a = [(1/139344) (1/183.75) 1]; % Denominator coefficients
w = logspace(-3,5); % Frequency vector
freqs(b,a,w)
grid on
I want to mark values at points x=600 Hz and 7500 Hz with a marker or to be more specific, points (600,20) and (7500,-71), both of which should lie on the curve. For some reason, freqs doesn't let me do that.

Answer 1

freqs is very limited when you want to rely on it plotting the frequency response for you. Basically, you have no control on how to modify the graph on top of what MATLAB generates for you.
Instead, generate the output response in a vector yourself, then plot the magnitude and phase of the output yourself so that you have full control. If you specify an output when calling freqs, you will get the response of the system.
With this, you can find the magnitude of the output by abs and the phase by angle. BTW, (600,20) and (7500,-71) make absolutely no sense unless you're talking about magnitude in dB.... which I will assume is the case for the moment.
As such, we can reproduce the plot that freqs gives by the following. The key is to use semilogx to get a semi-logarithmic graph on the x-axis. On top of this, declare those points that you want to mark on the magnitude, so (600,20) and (7500,-71):
%// Your code:
b = [0 0 10.0455]; % Numerator coefficients
a = [(1/139344) (1/183.75) 1]; % Denominator coefficients
w = logspace(-3,5); % Frequency vector
%// New code
h = freqs(b,a,w); %// Output of freqs
mag = 20*log10(abs(h)); %// Magnitude in dB
pha = (180/pi)*angle(h); %// Phase in degrees
%// Declare points
wpt = [600, 7500];
mpt = [20, -71];
%// Plot the magnitude as well as markers
figure;
subplot(2,1,1);
semilogx(w, mag, wpt, mpt, 'r.');
xlabel('Frequency');
ylabel('Magnitude (dB)');
grid;
%// Plot phase
subplot(2,1,2);
semilogx(w, pha);
xlabel('Frequency');
ylabel('Phase (Degrees)');
grid;
We get this:
If you check what freqs generates for you, you'll see that we get the same thing, but the magnitude is in gain (V/V) instead of dB. If you want it in V/V, then just plot the magnitude without the 20*log10() call. Using your data, the markers I plotted are not on the graph (wpt and mpt), so adjust the points to whatever you see fit.

Answer 2

There are a couple issues before we attempt to answer your question. First, there is no data-point at 600Hz or 7500Hz. These frequencies fall between data-points when graphed using the freqs command. See the image below, with datatips added interactively. I copy-pasted your code to generate this data.
Second, it does not appear that either (600,20) or (7500,-71) lie on the curves, at least with the data as you entered above.
One solution is to use plot a marker on the desired position, and use a "text" object to add a string describing the point. I put together a script using your data, to generate this figure:
The code is as follows:
b = [0 0 10.0455];
a = [(1/139344) (1/183.75) 1];
w = logspace(-3,5);
freqs(b,a,w)
grid on
figureHandle = gcf;
figureChildren = get ( figureHandle , 'children' ); % The children this returns may vary.
axes1Handle = figureChildren(1);
axes2Handle = figureChildren(2);
axes1Children = get(axes1Handle,'children'); % This should be a "line" object.
axes2Children = get(axes2Handle,'children'); % This should be a "line" object.
axes1XData = get(axes1Children,'xdata');
axes1YData = get(axes1Children,'ydata');
axes2XData = get(axes2Children,'xdata');
axes2YData = get(axes2Children,'ydata');
hold(axes1Handle,'on');
plot(axes1Handle,axes1XData(40),axes1YData(40),'m*');
pointString1 = ['(',num2str(axes1XData(40)),',',num2str(axes1YData(40)),')'];
handleText1 = text(axes1XData(40),axes1YData(40),pointString1,'parent',axes1Handle);
hold(axes2Handle,'on');
plot(axes2Handle,axes2XData(40),axes2YData(40),'m*');
pointString2 = ['(',num2str(axes2XData(40)),',',num2str(axes2YData(40)),')'];
handleText2 = text(axes2XData(40),axes2YData(40),pointString2,'parent',axes2Handle);