Communications Blockset

Frame-Based and Sample-Based Signals

In Simulink, each matrix signal has a "frame attribute" that declares the signal to be either frame-based or sample-based, but not both. (A one-dimensional array signal is always sample-based, by definition.) Simulink indicates the frame attribute visually by using a double connector line in the model window instead of a single connector line. In general, Simulink interprets frame-based and sample-based signals as follows:

• A frame-based signal in the shape of an M-by-1 (column) matrix represents M successive samples from a single time series.
• A frame-based signal in the shape of a 1-by-N (row) matrix represents a sample of N independent channels, taken at a single instant in time.
• A sample-based matrix signal might represent a set of bits that collectively represent an integer, or a set of symbols that collectively represent a code word, or something else other than a fragment of a single time series.

Technical Conventions

Typographical Conventions