Generating Gaussian noise in MATLAB is a common task in many scientific and engineering applications. Gaussian noise, also known as white noise or normal noise, is a type of noise that is characterized by a normal distribution of amplitudes around a mean value. It is often used as a model for various types of random noise, such as thermal noise or shot noise, and is often used to add noise to signals in order to study the effect of noise on signal processing algorithms.
There are several ways to generate Gaussian noise in MATLAB, each with its own set of advantages and limitations. One of the simplest methods is to use the randn function, which generates random numbers from a normal distribution with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. For example, to generate a vector of 1000 random numbers from a normal distribution, you can use the following code:
noise = randn(1,1000);
You can also control the mean and standard deviation of the noise by adding and scaling the noise. For example, to generate noise with a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 2, you can use the following code:
mean = 10; std = 2; noise = std*randn(1,1000) + mean;
Another option is to use the normrnd function, which allows you to specify the mean and standard deviation of the noise directly as input parameters. For example, to generate noise with a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 2, you can use the following code:
mean = 10; std = 2; noise = normrnd(mean, std, 1, 1000);
In addition to generating Gaussian noise, you may also want to visualize the noise to check that it has the desired characteristics. One way to do this is to use the histogram function to plot a histogram of the noise samples. You can also use the mean and std function to compute the mean and standard deviation of the noise, and compare these values to the expected mean and standard deviation.
In summary, generating Gaussian noise in MATLAB is a straightforward task that can be accomplished using a variety of functions and tools. By understanding the different options available and the characteristics of Gaussian noise, you can easily add noise to signals and study the effect of noise on your signal processing algorithms.