Skip to main content
`Ctrl`+`K`

# scipy.signal.lsim

scipy.signal.lsim(system, U, T, X0=None, interp=True)

  Simulate output of a continuous-time linear system.

  Parameters:
    system an instance of the LTI class or a tuple describing the system.

      The following gives the number of elements in the tuple and the interpretation:

      - 1: (instance of `lti`)

      - 2: (num, den)

      - 3: (zeros, poles, gain)

      - 4: (A, B, C, D)

    U array_like

      An input array describing the input at each time T (interpolation is assumed between given times). If there are multiple inputs, then each column of the rank-2 array represents an input. If U = 0 or None, a zero input is used.

    T array_like

      The time steps at which the input is defined and at which the output is desired. Must be nonnegative, increasing, and equally spaced.

    X0 array_like, optional

      The initial conditions on the state vector (zero by default).

    interp bool, optional

      Whether to use linear (True, the default) or zero-order-hold (False) interpolation for the input array.

  Returns:
    T 1D ndarray

      Time values for the output.

    yout 1D ndarray

      System response.

    xout ndarray

      Time evolution of the state vector.

  Notes

  If (num, den) is passed in for `system`, coefficients for both the numerator and denominator should be specified in descending exponent order (e.g. `s^2 + 3s + 5` would be represented as `[1, 3, 5]`).

  Examples

  We’ll use `lsim` to simulate an analog Bessel filter applied to a signal.

      >>> import numpy as np
      >>> from scipy.signal import bessel, lsim
      >>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

  Create a low-pass Bessel filter with a cutoff of 12 Hz.

      >>> b, a = bessel(N=5, Wn=2*np.pi*12, btype='lowpass', analog=True)

  Generate data to which the filter is applied.

      >>> t = np.linspace(0, 1.25, 500, endpoint=False)

  The input signal is the sum of three sinusoidal curves, with frequencies 4 Hz, 40 Hz, and 80 Hz. The filter should mostly eliminate the 40 Hz and 80 Hz components, leaving just the 4 Hz signal.

      >>> u = (np.cos(2*np.pi*4*t) + 0.6*np.sin(2*np.pi*40*t) +
      ...      0.5*np.cos(2*np.pi*80*t))

  Simulate the filter with `lsim`.

      >>> tout, yout, xout = lsim((b, a), U=u, T=t)

  Plot the result.

      >>> plt.plot(t, u, 'r', alpha=0.5, linewidth=1, label='input')
      >>> plt.plot(tout, yout, 'k', linewidth=1.5, label='output')
      >>> plt.legend(loc='best', shadow=True, framealpha=1)
      >>> plt.grid(alpha=0.3)
      >>> plt.xlabel('t')
      >>> plt.show()

  In a second example, we simulate a double integrator `y'' = u`, with a constant input `u = 1`. We’ll use the state space representation of the integrator.

      >>> from scipy.signal import lti
      >>> A = np.array([[0.0, 1.0], [0.0, 0.0]])
      >>> B = np.array([[0.0], [1.0]])
      >>> C = np.array([[1.0, 0.0]])
      >>> D = 0.0
      >>> system = lti(A, B, C, D)

  t and u define the time and input signal for the system to be simulated.

      >>> t = np.linspace(0, 5, num=50)
      >>> u = np.ones_like(t)

  Compute the simulation, and then plot y. As expected, the plot shows the curve `y = 0.5*t**2`.

      >>> tout, y, x = lsim(system, u, t)
      >>> plt.plot(t, y)
      >>> plt.grid(alpha=0.3)
      >>> plt.xlabel('t')
      >>> plt.show()