Why are the bins N/2 - N not a mirror image of bins 0 - N/2 in FFT analysis?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of data recorded from an RTL SDR. Participants explore the behavior of frequency bins in the FFT output, particularly questioning why the bins from N/2 to N do not appear as a mirror image of the bins from 0 to N/2. The conversation includes technical aspects of FFT, signal bandwidth, and the interpretation of frequency bins.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their FFT implementation and notes a discrepancy in the expected output, questioning the arrangement of frequency bins.
  • Another participant suggests that labeling the coordinates on the graph could clarify the issue being discussed.
  • A participant provides additional context about the number of samples and the corresponding frequency bins, indicating the signal bandwidth and center frequency.
  • There is uncertainty expressed about the exact mapping of frequency values to bin numbers, particularly around the midpoint bin (2500).

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple competing views regarding the arrangement of frequency bins and their interpretation. Participants have not reached a consensus on whether switching the bins is the correct approach.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not fully resolved the assumptions regarding the mapping of frequency values to bin numbers, particularly around the critical midpoint, which may affect their interpretations.

GhostLoveScore
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I am trying to do Fast Fourier Transform on some data recorded from RTL SDR. I managed to write a program that does that, but the problem is this. This is final result as it should look

IQ_plot.jpg


And this is my result

graph2.jpg

It may be hard to understand this, I'll try to explain. My graph is done using 5000 samples. At upper graph, see that vertical line at around 99.4 MHz? That's the same line as at 3500 at lower graph. And if you look closely at lower graph, you can see that it really should be cut vertically at 2500 and left and right side switched.

I understand that when doing Fourier Analysis using N samples, as a result we get N frequency bins. And the result looks like this

1,2,3,4,5,6...N/2,N/2...6,5,4,3,2,1

So in a way I understand why I need to have right and left half of my graph switched. The result would look like this

N/2,..., 6,5,4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,...,N/2

And the graph looks like this

graph3.jpg


What I don't understand is why the bins N/2 - N are not mirror image of bins 0 - N/2. And what I am doing here, switching bins N/2 - N to the left and bins 0 - N/2 to the right is the correct way to do this?
I forgot to say that data that I used for input was complex data.
 
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It would clarify it a little if you labelled the coordinates on your graph.
 
As I said, I used 5000 samples so I got 5000 frequency bins. That's what is on X axis. Amplitude is on Y axis.
 
Sorry, I didn't write frequency on the graph, just the bin number. I'll try to explain - signal bandwidth is 2.4MHz and center frequency is 100.122 MHz.

For my first graph that means 0 = 100.122MHz, 2500 = 98.9MHz/101.3MHz, 5000 = 100.122

For my second graph 0=98.9MHz, 2500 = 100.122MHz, 5000 = 101.3MHz

You will notice how there is a split at 2500. I didn't know exactly if 2500 = 98.9MHz 2501=101.3MHz or 2499=98.9MHz 2500= 101.3MHz so I wrote it like that.
 

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