Mason's gain formula (MGF) is a method for finding the
transfer function
In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a function (mathematics), mathematical function that mathematical model, theoretically models the system's output for ...
of a linear
signal-flow graph
A signal-flow graph or signal-flowgraph (SFG), invented by Claude Shannon, but often called a Mason graph after Samuel Jefferson Mason who coined the term, is a specialized flow graph, a directed graph in which nodes represent system variables, ...
(SFG). The formula was derived by
Samuel Jefferson Mason
Samuel Jefferson Mason (1921–1974) was an American electronics engineer. Mason's invariant and Mason's rule are named after him.
He was born in New York City, but he grew up in a small town in New Jersey. It was so small, in fact, that ...
, whom it is also named after. MGF is an alternate method to finding the transfer function algebraically by labeling each signal, writing down the equation for how that signal depends on other signals, and then solving the multiple equations for the output signal in terms of the input signal. MGF provides a step by step method to obtain the transfer function from a SFG. Often, MGF can be determined by inspection of the SFG. The method can easily handle SFGs with many variables and loops including loops with inner loops. MGF comes up often in the context of
control system
A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial c ...
s,
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
circuits and digital filters because these are often represented by SFGs.
Formula
The gain formula is as follows:
:
:
where:
*Δ = the determinant of the graph.
*''y''
in = input-node variable
*''y''
out = output-node variable
*''G'' = complete gain between ''y''
in and ''y''
out
*''N'' = total number of forward paths between ''y''
in and ''y''
out
*''G''
''k'' = path gain of the ''k''th forward path between ''y''
in and ''y''
out
*''L''
''i'' = loop gain of each closed loop in the system
*''L''
''i''''L''
''j'' = product of the loop gains of any two non-touching loops (no common nodes)
*''L''
''i''''L''
''j''''L''
''k'' = product of the loop gains of any three pairwise nontouching loops
*Δ
''k'' = the cofactor value of Δ for the ''k''
th forward path, with the loops touching the ''k''
th forward path removed. *
Definitions
*Path: a continuous set of branches traversed in the direction that they indicate.
*Forward path: A path from an input node to an output node in which no node is touched more than once.
*Loop: A path that originates and ends on the same node in which no node is touched more than once.
*Path gain: the product of the gains of all the branches in the path.
*Loop gain: the product of the gains of all the branches in the loop.
Procedure to find the solution
# Make a list of all forward paths, and their gains, and label these ''G''
''k''.
# Make a list of all the loops and their gains, and label these ''L''
''i'' (for ''i'' loops). Make a list of all pairs of non-touching loops, and the products of their gains (''L''
''i''''L''
''j''). Make a list of all pairwise non-touching loops taken three at a time (''L''
''i''''L''
''j''''L''
''k''), then four at a time, and so forth, until there are no more.
# Compute the determinant Δ and cofactors Δ
''k''.
# Apply the formula.
Examples
Circuit containing two-port
The transfer function from V
in to V
2 is desired.
There is only one forward path:
:* V
in to V
1 to I
2 to V
2 with gain
There are three loops:
:* V
1 to I
1 to V
1 with gain
:* V
2 to I
2 to V
2 with gain
:* V
1 to I
2 to V
2 to I
1 to V
1 with gain
:
note: L
1 and L
2 do not touch each other whereas L
3 touches both of the other loops.
:
note: the forward path touches all the loops so all that is left is 1.
:
Digital IIR biquad filter
Digital filter
In signal processing, a digital filter is a system that performs mathematical operations on a sampled, discrete-time signal to reduce or enhance certain aspects of that signal. This is in contrast to the other major type of electronic filter, t ...
s are often diagramed as signal flow graphs.
: There are two loops
:*
:*
:
Note, the two loops touch so there is no term for their product.
:There are three forward paths
:*
:*
:*
: All the forward paths touch all the loops so
:
:
Servo
The signal flow graph has six loops. They are:
:*
:*
:*
:*
:*
:*
:
There is one forward path:
:*
The forward path touches all the loops therefore the co-factor
And the gain from input to output is
Equivalent matrix form
Mason's rule can be stated in a simple matrix form. Assume
is the transient matrix of the graph where
is the sum transmittance of branches from node ''m'' toward node ''n''. Then, the gain from node ''m'' to node ''n'' of the graph is equal to
, where
:
,
and
is the identity matrix.
Mason's Rule is also particularly useful for deriving the z-domain transfer function of discrete networks that have inner feedback loops embedded within outer feedback loops (nested loops). If the discrete network can be drawn as a signal flow graph, then the application of Mason's Rule will give that network's z-domain H(z) transfer function.
Complexity and computational applications
Mason's Rule can grow factorially, because the enumeration of paths in a directed graph grows dramatically. To see this consider the complete directed graph on
vertices, having an edge between every pair of vertices. There is a path form
to
for each of the
permutations of the intermediate vertices. Thus
Gaussian elimination
In mathematics, Gaussian elimination, also known as row reduction, is an algorithm for solving systems of linear equations. It consists of a sequence of operations performed on the corresponding matrix of coefficients. This method can also be used ...
is more efficient in the general case.
Yet Mason's rule characterizes the transfer functions of interconnected systems in a way which is simultaneously algebraic and combinatorial, allowing for general statements and other computations in algebraic systems theory. While numerous inverses occur during Gaussian elimination, Mason's rule naturally collects these into a single
quasi-inverse. General form is
::
Where as described above,
is a sum of cycle products, each of which typically falls into an
ideal
Ideal may refer to:
Philosophy
* Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals
* Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato
Mathematics
* Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...
(for example, the strictly causal operators). Fractions of this form make a
subring
In mathematics, a subring of ''R'' is a subset of a ring that is itself a ring when binary operations of addition and multiplication on ''R'' are restricted to the subset, and which shares the same multiplicative identity as ''R''. For those wh ...
of the
rational function field
In mathematics, a rational function is any function that can be defined by a rational fraction, which is an algebraic fraction such that both the numerator and the denominator are polynomials. The coefficients of the polynomials need not be ra ...
. This observation carries over to the noncommutative case,
even though Mason's rule itself must then be replaced by
Riegle's rule.
See also
*
Signal-flow graph
A signal-flow graph or signal-flowgraph (SFG), invented by Claude Shannon, but often called a Mason graph after Samuel Jefferson Mason who coined the term, is a specialized flow graph, a directed graph in which nodes represent system variables, ...
*
Riegle's rule
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason's Rule
Control theory