matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow

Apply moving window function and block reduction to padded blocks of data

Syntax

tA = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(windowfcn,blockfcn,window,tX)

[tA,tB,...] = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(windowfcn,blockfcn,window,tX,tY,...)

[___] = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(___,Name,Value)

Description

tA = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(windowfcn,blockfcn,window,tX) applies blockfcn to complete windows of data and windowfcn to incomplete windows of data near the edges. window specifies the size of the sliding window. The result contains the vertical concatenation of applying blockfcn and windowfcn to these windows of data.

[tA,tB,...] = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(windowfcn,blockfcn,window,tX,tY,...), where windowfcn and blockfcn are function handles that return multiple outputs, returns arrays tA, tB, ..., each corresponding to one of the output arguments of windowfcn and blockfcn. The inputs to windowfcn and blockfcn are pieces of data from the arguments tX, tY, .... This syntax has these requirements:

• windowfcn and blockfcn must return the same number of outputs as were requested from matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow.

• Each output of windowfcn and blockfcn must be the same type as the first data input tX.

• All outputs tA,tB,... must have the same height.

[___] = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(___,Name,Value) specifies additional options with one or more name-value pair arguments using any of the previous syntaxes. For example, to adjust the step size between windows, you can specify 'Stride' and a scalar. Or to change the treatment of endpoints where there are not enough elements to complete a window, you can specify 'EndPoints' and a valid option ('shrink', 'discard', or a numeric padding value).

Examples

Moving Window Calculation with Tall Array

Use matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow to calculate the moving mean of airline arrival and departure delays.

Create a datastore for the airlinesmall.csv data set and convert it into a tall array. The data contains information about arrival and departure times of US flights. Extract the ArrDelay and DepDelay variables, which are vectors of flight delays, to create a tall array containing the delays as separate columns.

varnames = {'ArrDelay', 'DepDelay'};
ds = tabularTextDatastore('airlinesmall.csv', 'TreatAsMissing', 'NA', ...
    'SelectedVariableNames', varnames);
tt = tall(ds);
tX = [tt.ArrDelay tt.DepDelay]

tX =

  Mx2 tall double matrix

     8    12
     8     1
    21    20
    13    12
     4    -1
    59    63
     3    -2
    11    -1
    :     :
    :     :

Use matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow to calculate the moving mean of the data in the first dimension with a window size of 10. Since windowfcn applies only to single windows of data, you can use the mean function to reduce the windows of data down into a matrix with one row. The blockfcn applies to whole blocks of data, so use the movmean function to calculate the mean of each full window of data in the blocks.

windowfcn = @(info,x) mean(x,1,'omitnan');
blockfcn = @(info,x) movmean(x,info.Window,1,'omitnan','EndPoints','discard');
A = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(windowfcn, blockfcn, 10, tX)

A =

  MxNx... tall double array

    ?    ?    ?    ...
    ?    ?    ?    ...
    ?    ?    ?    ...
    :    :    :
    :    :    :

Gather a portion of the results into memory.

gather(A(1:10,:))

Evaluating tall expression using the Local MATLAB Session:
- Pass 1 of 2: Completed in 0.62 sec
- Pass 2 of 2: Completed in 2.5 sec
Evaluation completed in 3.5 sec

ans = 10×2

   10.8000    8.8000
   18.8333   17.8333
   16.5714   15.0000
   15.8750   13.0000
   14.4444   11.8889
   13.2000   10.8000
   14.0000   11.1000
   13.5000   11.9000
   15.3000   11.4000
   19.7000   13.4000

Moving Table Statistics

Calculate moving statistics on the variables of a table.

Load the outages.csv data set as a tall table. The data contains information about power outages.

T = tall(readtable('outages.csv'))

T =

  1,468x6 tall table

       Region           OutageTime        Loss     Customers     RestorationTime            Cause       
    _____________    ________________    ______    __________    ________________    ___________________

    {'SouthWest'}    2002-02-01 12:18    458.98    1.8202e+06    2002-02-07 16:50    {'winter storm'   }
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-01-23 00:49    530.14    2.1204e+05                 NaT    {'winter storm'   }
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-02-07 21:15     289.4    1.4294e+05    2003-02-17 08:14    {'winter storm'   }
    {'West'     }    2004-04-06 05:44    434.81    3.4037e+05    2004-04-06 06:10    {'equipment fault'}
    {'MidWest'  }    2002-03-16 06:18    186.44    2.1275e+05    2002-03-18 23:23    {'severe storm'   }
    {'West'     }    2003-06-18 02:49         0             0    2003-06-18 10:54    {'attack'         }
    {'West'     }    2004-06-20 14:39    231.29           NaN    2004-06-20 19:16    {'equipment fault'}
    {'West'     }    2002-06-06 19:28    311.86           NaN    2002-06-07 00:51    {'equipment fault'}
          :                 :              :           :                :                     :
          :                 :              :           :                :                     :

Use matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow to apply a moving-window function to blocks of the tall table. Specify these options:

• blkstats as the block function to operate on complete blocks of data (included at the end of the example as a local function).

• A window size of 50 and a stride of 5.

• EndPoints as 'discard' to ignore incomplete windows of data. With this value, the windowfcn input can be specified as empty [] since only complete windows of data are operated on.

• The input table has six variables, but the two outputs are double-precision vectors. Specify scalar doubles as the value for OutputsLike so that the function permits this change in data type and size.

[A, B] = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow([], @blkstats, 50, T, 'Stride', 5, ...
    'EndPoints', 'discard', 'OutputsLike', {1, 1});

Preview a few rows in the results.

[A,B] = gather(head(A),head(B))

Evaluating tall expression using the Local MATLAB Session:
- Pass 1 of 2: Completed in 0.28 sec
- Pass 2 of 2: Completed in 0.4 sec
Evaluation completed in 1 sec

A = 8×1

  254.0861
  254.0861
  340.3499
  452.0191
  464.8524
  471.9737
  464.8524
  464.8524

B = 8×1
105 ×

    1.3447
    1.0779
    1.4227
    1.4509
    1.2888
    1.2888
    1.2308
    1.3722

The blkstats function calculates the moving median value of the Loss and Customers table variables in the first dimension using the specified window size. The function applies the Stride value to reduce the size of the output, and then it returns the results as two vectors.

function [out1, out2] = blkstats(info, t)
    a = movmedian([t.Loss t.Customers], info.Window, 1, 'omitnan', 'EndPoints', 'discard');
    a = a(1:info.Stride:end, :);
    out1 = a(:,1);
    out2 = a(:,2);
end

Input Arguments

windowfcn — Function to apply to incomplete windows of data

function handle | anonymous function | []

Function to apply to incomplete windows of data, specified as a function handle, anonymous function, or []. windowfcn is invoked once per incomplete window as the calculation moves over data in the tall dimension. matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow applies windowfcn only when 'EndPoints' has the default value of 'shrink'. If you specify a different value for 'EndPoints', then set windowfcn to [].

Each output of windowfcn must be the same type as the first data input tX. You can use the 'OutputsLike' option to return outputs of different data types.

The general functional signature of windowfcn is

[a, b, c, ...] = windowfcn(info, x, y, ...)

The info input is a structure provided by matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow that includes these fields:

• Stride — Specified step size between windows (default: 1). Set this value with the 'Stride' name-value pair.

• Window — Specified window size. Set this value with the window input argument.

windowfcn must satisfy these requirements:

1. Input Arguments — The inputs [x, y, z, ...] are blocks of data that fit in memory. The blocks are produced by extracting data from the respective tall array inputs [tX, tY, tZ, ...]. The inputs [x, y, z, ...] satisfy these properties:

   • All of the inputs [x, y, z, ...] have the same size in the first dimension.

   • The blocks of data in [x, y, z, ...] come from the same index in the tall dimension, assuming the tall array is nonsingleton in the tall dimension. For example, if tX and tY are nonsingleton in the tall dimension, then the first set of blocks might be x = tX(1:20000,:) and y = tY(1:20000,:).

   • When the first dimension of any of [tX, tY, tZ, ...] has a size of 1, the corresponding block [x, y, z, ...] consists of all the data in that tall array.

   • Applying windowfcn must result in a reduction of the input data to a scalar or a slice of an array of height 1.

     When the input is a matrix, N-D array, table, or timetable, applying windowfcn must result in a reduction of the input data in each of its columns or variables.

2. Output Arguments — The outputs [a, b, c, ...] are blocks that fit in memory to be sent to the respective outputs [tA, tB, tC, ...]. The outputs [a, b, c, ...] satisfy these properties:

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] must have the same size in the first dimension.

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] are vertically concatenated with the respective results of previous calls to windowfcn.

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] are sent to the same index in the first dimension in their respective destination output arrays.

3. Functional Rules — windowfcn must satisfy this functional rule:

   • F([inputs1; inputs2]) == [F(inputs1); F(inputs2)]: Applying the function to the concatenation of the inputs should be the same as applying the function to the inputs separately and then concatenating the results.

Example: A = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(@windowfcn, @blockfcn, 10, tX)

Example: A = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow([], @blockfcn, 10, tX, 'EndPoints', 'discard')

Data Types: function_handle

blockfcn — Function to apply to blocks of data

function handle | anonymous function

Function to apply to blocks of data, specified as a function handle or anonymous function. blockfcn is applied to blocks of data that contain complete windows of data. Thus, blockfcn must operate in a vectorized manner on entire blocks of data and return output that has the proper size for the specified window size and stride.

Each output of blockfcn must be the same type as the first data input tX. You can use the 'OutputsLike' option to return outputs of different data types.

matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow applies blockfcn to blocks of data whenever the block contains only complete windows:

• For middle blocks when 'EndPoints' is set to 'shrink' (default behavior). In this case windowfcn operates on the incomplete windows of data on the ends.

• For all blocks when 'EndPoints' is set to 'discard' or a padding value.

The general functional signature of blockfcn is

[a, b, c, ...] = blockfcn(info, bX, bY, bZ, ...)

The info input is a structure provided by matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow that includes these fields:

• Stride — Specified step size between windows (default: 1). Set this value with the 'Stride' name-value pair.

• Window — Specified window size. Set this value with the window input argument.

The blocks of data bX, bY, bZ, ... that matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow provides to blockfcn have these properties:

• The blocks contain only full-sized windows. blockfcn does not have to define a behavior for incomplete windows of data.

• The first window of data starts at the first element of the block. The last element of the last window is the last element of the block.

blockfcn must satisfy these requirements:

1. Input Arguments — The inputs [bX, bY, bZ, ...] are blocks of data that fit in memory. The blocks are produced by extracting data from the respective tall array inputs [tX, tY, tZ, ...]. The inputs [bX, bY, bZ, ...] satisfy these properties:

   • All of the inputs [bX, bY, bZ, ...] have the same size in the first dimension after any allowed expansion.

   • The blocks of data in [bX, bY, bZ, ...] come from the same index in the tall dimension, assuming the tall array is nonsingleton in the tall dimension. For example, if tX and tY are nonsingleton in the tall dimension, then the first set of blocks might be bX = tX(1:20000,:) and bY = tY(1:20000,:).

   • If the first dimension of any of the data inputs [tX, tY, tZ, ...] has a size of 1, then the corresponding block [bX, bY, bZ, ...] consists of all the data in that tall array.

   • Applying blockfcn must result in a reduction of the input data such that the result has height equal to the number of windows in the block. You can use info.Window and info.Stride to determine the number of windows in a block.

     If the input is a matrix, N-D array, table, or timetable, then applying blockfcn must result in a reduction of the input data in each of its columns or variables.

2. Output Arguments — The outputs [a, b, c, ...] are blocks that fit in memory, to be sent to the respective outputs [tA, tB, tC, ...]. The outputs [a, b, c, ...] satisfy these properties:

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] must have the same size in the first dimension.

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] are vertically concatenated with the respective results of previous calls to blockfcn.

   • All of the outputs [a, b, c, ...] are sent to the same index in the first dimension in their respective destination output arrays.

3. Functional Rules — blockfcn must satisfy this functional rule:

   • F([inputs1; inputs2]) == [F(inputs1); F(inputs2)]: Applying the function to the concatenation of the inputs should be the same as applying the function to the inputs separately and then concatenating the results.

Example: A = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(@windowfcn, @blockfcn, 10, tX)

Example: A = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow([], @blockfcn, 10, tX, 'EndPoints', 'discard')

Data Types: function_handle

window — Window size

positive integer scalar | two-element row vector

Window size, specified as a positive integer scalar or a two-element row vector [NB NF].

• If window is a scalar, then:

  • When the window size is odd, each window is centered on the corresponding element in the data.

    

  • When the window size is even, each window is centered about the current and previous elements.

    

• If window is a vector [NB NF], then the window includes the previous NB elements, the current element, and the next NF elements of the inputs.

  

By default, the window size is automatically truncated at the endpoints when not enough elements are available to fill the window. When the window is truncated in this manner, the function operates only on the elements that fill the window. You can change this behavior with the EndPoints name-value pair.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

tX, tY — Input arrays (as separate arguments)

scalars | vectors | matrices | multidimensional arrays | tables | timetables

Input arrays, specified as separate arguments of scalars, vectors, matrices, multidimensional arrays, tables, or timetables. The input arrays can be tall or in-memory arrays. The input arrays are used as inputs to the transform function fcn. Each input array tX,tY,... must have the same height.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: tA = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(@windowfcn, blockfcn, window, tX, 'Stride', 2)

Stride — Step size between windows

1 (default) | positive integer scalar

Step size between windows, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Stride' and a positive integer scalar. After fcn operates on a window of data, the calculation advances by the 'Stride' value before operating on the next window. Increasing the value of 'Stride' from the default value of 1 is the same as reducing the size of the output by picking out every other element, or every third element, and so on.

By default, the value of 'Stride' is 1, so that each window is centered on each element in the input. For example, here is a moving sum calculation with a window size of 3 operating on the vector [1 2 3 4 5 6]':

If the value of 'Stride' is 2, then the calculation changes so that each window is centered on every second element in the input (1, 3, 5). The moving sum now returns three partial sums rather than six:

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

EndPoints — Method to treat leading and trailing windows

'shrink' (default) | 'discard' | padding value

Method to treat leading and trailing windows, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'EndPoints' and one of the values in the table.

At the beginning and end of a windowed calculation, the window of elements being operated on is incomplete. The 'EndPoints' option specifies how to treat these incomplete windows.

'EndPoints' Value	Description	Example: Moving Sum
'shrink'	Shrink the window size near the endpoints of the input to include only existing elements.
'discard'	Do not output any results where the window does not completely overlap with existing elements.
Numeric or logical padding value	Substitute nonexisting elements with a specified numeric or logical value. The padding value must have the same type as tX. The size of the padding value in the first dimension must be equal to 1, and the size in other dimensions must match tX.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical | char | string

OutputsLike — Prototype of output arrays

cell array

Prototype of output arrays, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'OutputsLike' and a cell array containing prototype arrays. When you specify 'OutputsLike', the output arrays tA,tB,... returned by matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow have the same data types and attributes as the specified prototype arrays {PA,PB,...}. You must specify 'OutputsLike' whenever the data type of an output array is different than that of the input array. If you specify 'OutputsLike', then you must specify a prototype array for each output.

Example: tA = matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow(..., tX, 'OutputsLike', {int8(1)});, where tX is a double-precision tall array, returns tA as int8 instead of double.

Data Types: cell

Output Arguments

tA, tB — Output arrays

scalars | vectors | matrices | multidimensional arrays

Output arrays, returned as scalars, vectors, matrices, or multidimensional arrays. If any input to matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow is tall, then all output arguments are also tall. Otherwise, all output arguments are in-memory arrays.

• The size and data type of the output arrays depend on the specified window functions windowfcn and blockfcn.

• The output arrays tA,tB,... all have the same height, which depends on the value of 'Stride' and 'EndPoints'. By default the output arrays are the same size as the input arrays.

• In general, the outputs tA,tB,... must all have the same data type as the first data input tX. However, you can specify 'OutputsLike' to return different data types. In cases where the input arrays tX, tY, ... are empty, or when 'EndPoints' is 'discard' and there are not enough elements to fill a full-sized window, matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow returns empty outputs. The sizes of the empty outputs are based on the size of the input array tX, or on the sizes of the prototype arrays provided to 'OutputsLike', if specified.

Tips

• Use matlab.tall.movingWindow for simple sliding-window calculations. matlab.tall.blockMovingWindow is an advanced API designed to provide more flexibility to perform sliding-window calculations on tall arrays. As such, it is more complicated to use since the functions must accurately process blocks of data that contain many complete windows. However, with properly vectorized calculations, you can reduce the necessary number of function calls and improve performance.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a