On Fri, 18 May 2012 17:15:31 +1000, Klaus Jensen wrote:
> Linear mixing of two generated frequencies is the electronic equivalent
> of mathematical "addition". This can be easily demonstrated in function
> generator software.
You are confused. I'm not even sure what you're basing that statement
on, but in RF design (which is I assume where you're pulling your terms),
a "frequency mixer" multiplies two signals together, at least one of
which is a sine wave or a distortion thereof, resulting in a signal that
has a spectrum with energy at the sum and difference frequencies of the
frequency content in the two original signals.
> What then is the software equivalent of "multiplying" two sinewave
> frequencies together?
Nonsense.
> For example, multiplying 30Hz by 60Hz to (presumeably) derive 18KHz. And
> what does the resulting signal look like?
Well, as John Fields pointed out, multiplying 30Hz by 60Hz results in
1800Hz, so you're arithmetic is wrong. The resulting signal looks like
whatever you want it to, because there isn't any widely-used useful
signal processing function that does this.
> I am aware of "multiplier" IC's, but want to do this in software as a
> purely mathematical function.
A "frequency multiplier" and a "multiplier" are two different things. A
"frequency multiplier" takes a sine-wave signal and runs it through some
nonlinearity to generate a repetitive wave at the sine-wave frequency,
then filters out one of the resulting harmonics -- so you can start with
frequency f, and get 2f, 3f, etc. A plain old "multiplier" just
multiplies two voltages: V_out = (V_1 * V_2)/(V_ref), where V_ref is some
reference voltage that's either explicit, or (more usually) inherent in
the design of the multiplier circuit.
Back up a few steps and tell us -- at a system level -- what you are
trying to _do_. Not "I want to multiply two frequencies together", but
tell us what you're building, what it needs to do, and why you need to do
this oddball thing to succeed.
--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?
Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com