1

III. Gabor Transform

III-A Definition
Standard Definition:

Gx t , f e ( t ) e j 2 f x d
2

Alternative Definitions:
t
j 2 f ( )
Gx ,1 t , f e ( t ) 2
e 2
x d

normalization
Gx ,2 t , f 2 e
4 ( t )2 j 2 f
e x d

Gx ,3 t , e ( t ) 2 / 2 j
e x d

( t ) 2 t
1 j ( )
Gx ,4 t , e 2
e 2
x d
2
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Main Reference
S. Qian and D. Chen, Sections 3-2 ~ 3-6 in Joint Time-Frequency
Analysis: Methods and Applications, Prentice-Hall, 1996.

Other References
D. Gabor, Theory of communication, J. Inst. Elec. Eng., vol. 93, pp.
429-457, Nov. 1946. ( Gabor transform)
M. J. Bastiaans, Gabors expansion of a signal into Gaussian elementary
signals, Proc. IEEE, vol. 68, pp. 594-598, 1980.
R. L. Allen and D. W. Mills, Signal Analysis: Time, Frequency, Scale, and
Structure, Wiley- Interscience.
S. C. Pei and J. J. Ding, Relations between Gabor transforms and
fractional Fourier transforms and their applications for signal processing,
IEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol. 55, no. 10, pp. 4839-4850, Oct. 2007.
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Gabor transform short-time Fourier transform

(STFT) Gabor transform STFT special case.
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III-B Approximation of the Gabor Transform

Although the range of integration is from to , due to the fact that

2
e a 0.00001 when |a| > 1.9143
2
e a /2
0.00001 when |a| > 4.7985
the Gabor transform can be simplified as:
t 1.9143
Gx t , f e ( t ) 2 j 2 f
e x d
t 1.9143

( t )2 t
1 t 4.7985 j ( )
Gx ,3 t , e 2
e 2
x d
2 t 4.7985
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III-C Why Do We Choose the Gaussian Function as a Mask
(1) Among all functions, the Gaussian function has the advantage that the
area in time-frequency distribution is minimal.
( STFT time-domain frequency
domain )

w(t) time domain

W(f) = FT[w(t)] frequency domain

(2) Gaussian function FT eigenfunction Gabor

transform time domain frequency domain


t 2 j 2 f t f 2
e e dt e

2 2
et /2
e j t dt e f /2

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Uncertainty Principle (Heisenberg, 1927)
For a signal x(t), if t x t 0 when |t| , then
t f 1/4

2 2 2 2
(t t ) | x (t ) | dt ( f f ) | X ( f ) | df
where t 2f
2
, , ,
| x(t ) | dt | X ( f ) |
2 2
df

f
t | x (t ) | 2
dt f | X ( f ) |2 df
t , .
| x(t ) | | X ( f ) |
2 2
dt df
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(Proof of Henseinbergs uncertainty principle):

From simplification, we consider the case where t = f = 0

Then, use Parsevals theorem

1
2 2 2
t | x (t ) | dt | x (t ) | dt
t f 2
2 2

4 | x(t ) |2 dt | x(t ) |2 dt

2 2
| x (t ) | dt | X ( f ) | df if X(f) = FT[x(t)]
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2
From Schwarzs inequality x(t ), x(t ) y (t ), y (t ) x(t ), y (t )

d
2
d
2

t
2
| x(t ) | dt | x (t ) | dt tx t x (t )dt tx t x (t )dt / 2
2
2

dt dt
2
d d
tx t x(t ) tx t x (t ) dt / 4 (using |a+b|2 + |ab|2 2|a|2 )
dt dt
2
d 2
t x(t ) x (t ) dt / 4 tx (t ) x (t ) x (t ) x(t ) dt / 4

dt
2
tx(t ) x (t ) t tx(t ) x (t ) t x (t ) x (t ) dt / 4

x (t )
2
dt / 4

1 1
t2 2f t f
16 2 4
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For Gaussian function

x t e t X f e f
2 2

x t dt e
2 2 t 2
dt ?

2 2

use e ( at bt )
dt / a eb / 4a

t x t dt t e
2 2 2 t 2
2
dt ?

[(m 1) / 2]

2
use t m e a t dt
0 2a ( m1) / 2
1/ 2 n 1 n n

[ ] M. R. Spiegel, Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and

Tables, McGraw-Hill, 3rd Ed., 2009.
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2 2
t | x(t ) | dt 1
2
, 1
t
| x(t ) | dt 4
t 2
4

1
, f
4

Gaussian function
1
t f
4

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Special relation between the Gaussian function and the rectangular
function

Gaussian function is also an eigenmode in optics, radar system, and

other electromagnetic wave systems.
(will be illustrated in the 8th week)
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III-D Simulations

Gabor transform for rec-STFT, B = 0.5 for

Gaussian function exp(t2) Gaussian function exp(t2)
4
4

3
3

2
2

1
1
f-axis

f-axis
0
0

-1
-1

-2
-2

-3
-3

-4
-4 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
t-axis t-axis
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x(t) = cos(2 t) when t < 10,
x(t) = cos(6 t) when 10 t < 20,
x(t) = cos(4 t) when t 20
Gabor
5

2
Frequency (Hz)

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (Sec)
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Gabor transform of s(t) Gabor transform of r(t)

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
f-axis

f-axis
0 0

-1 -1

-2 -2

-3 -3

-4 -4
-10 -5 0 5 10 -10 -5 0 5 10
t-axis t-axis

s t exp jt 2 /10 j 3 t for 9 t 1,
s(t) = 0 otherwise,

r t exp jt 2 / 2 j 6t exp (t 4)2 /10
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Gabor transform for s(t) + r(t)

4

1
f-axis

-1

-2

-3

-4
-10 -5 0 5 10
t-axis
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III-E Properties of Gabor Transforms

Gx t , f e j 2 f e ( t ) x d
2

(1) Integration property

Gx t , f e j 2 k t f df e ( k 1) t x k t
2 2
When k 0,


Gx t , f dv e t x 0
2

When k = 0,

When k = 1, Gx t , f e j 2 t f df x t (recovery property)

(2) Shifting property

If y(t) = x(t t0), then G y t , f G x t t 0 , f e j 2 f t0 .

(3) Modulation property

If y(t) = x(t)exp(j2f0t), then G y t , f Gx t , f f 0
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(4) Special inputs:
(a) When x( ) = ( ), Gx t , f e t 2

(b) When x( ) = 1, Gx t , f e j 2 f t f 2
e
(symmetric for the time and frequency domains)

(5) Linearity property

If z( ) = x( ) + y( ) and Gz(t, f ), Gx(t, f ) and Gy(t, f ) are their
Gabor transforms, then
Gx(t, f ) = Gx(t, f ) + Gy(t, f )
(6) Power integration property:
u 1.9143
Gx t , f df e x d x d
2 2 2

2 ( t ) 2 2 ( u ) 2
e
u 1.9143
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(7) Energy sum property

Gx t , f G t , f df dt x y * d
*
y

where Gx(t, f ) and Gy(t, f ) are the Gabor transforms of x( ) and y( )

(8) Power decayed property

Gx t , f df e Gx t0 , f df
2 2

2 ( t t0 )2
If x(t ) = 0 for t > t0, then .

average of Gx t , f e 2 ( t t0 ) average of Gx t0 , f
2 2 2

i.e., (fix t , vary f ) (fix t0 , vary f ) for t >

t0.
X f FT x (t ) 0
If for f >2 f , then
average of Gx t , f e 2 ( f f0 ) 0average of Gx t , f 0
2 2

(fix f , vary t ) (fix f 0 , vary t )

for f > f0.

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III-F Scaled Gabor Transforms

Gx t , f e
4 ( t ) 2 j 2 f
e x d

(finite interval form)

larger : higher resolution in the time domain

lower resolution in the frequency domain

smaller : higher resolution in the frequency domain

lower resolution in the time domain
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Gabor transform for Gabor transform for

Gaussian function exp(t2) Gaussian function exp(t2)

4
= 0.2 4
=5
3 3

2 2

1 1

f-axis
f-axis

0 0

-1 -1

-2 -2

-3 -3

-4 -4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

t-axis t-axis
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time resolution frequency resolution
(1) Using the generalized Gabor transform with larger
(2) Using other time unit instead of second

t ( sec) f ( Hz)

t ( 0.1 sec) f ( 10 Hz)

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Matlab

(1)
(2) Matrix Vector operation
(3)
(4) (
debug)
(5)

Matlab Program (or C program)

Program

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Matlab
(1) function:
(2) tic, toc:
tic toc
(3) find: vector 0 entry
find([1 0 0 1]) = [1, 4]
find(abs([-5:5])<=2) = [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
( abs([-5:5])<=2 = [0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0])
(4) : Hermitian (transpose + conjugation) . : transpose
(5) imread: image, imshow, imagesc:
( Matlab imread double
A=double(imread(Lena.bmp));
(6) imwrite:
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(7) xlsread: Excel
(8) xlswrite: Excel
(9) aviread: video avi
(10) VideoReader: video
(11) VideoWriter: video
(12) dlmread: *.txt
(13) dlmwrite: *.txt