Signal-to-Noise Ratio in the Bandpass Output of a Discriminator

A formula is derived for the output signal-to-noise power ratio from a limiter-discriminator that is followed by an ideal (rectangular) bandpass filter. This signal-to-noise ratio is shown to be inversely proportional to the difference between the cube of the upper cutoff frequency and the cube of the lower cutoff frequency. The formula commonly utilized by designers for the discriminator output signal-to-noise ratio was derived for the case of a lowpass filter on the discriminator output. The bandpass and low-pass formulas are compared to indicate 1) the advantage of bandpass filtering for the discriminator output, and 2) the error incurred if the designer employs the low-pass formula to evaluate the performance of a bandpass filter design. Finally, the accuracy of a narrow-band approximation for the bandpass formula is evaluated.     

The Detection Performance of the Siebert and Dicke-Fix CFAR Radar Detectors

The Siebert and the Dicke-fix CFAR radar detectors, used to maintain a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) in radar receivers under very similar circumstances, are considered. The Siebert detector represents the maximum-likelihood detection procedure for a signal in Gaussian noise of unknown power level, whereas the Dicke-fix makes use of a bandpass limiter to normalize the input and thus ensure a constant false alarm rate. The detection performance of the two detectors is determined and a comparison shows that over a wide range of parameters, the Dicke-fix introduces a loss which is approximately 1 B larger than for the Siebert detector.     

Interference Due to Limiting and Demodulation of Two Angle Modulated Signals

Two angle modulated signals (FM or PM) passing through a limiter and then a demodulator are analyzed. The analysis considers the problem of adjacent carrier interference, direct adjacent channel interference (DACI) or cross talk, and adjacent channel interference (ACI). The analysis of adjacent carrier interference shows that if the 3rd order IM is not to overlap the signal spectra, the carrier frequencies must be separated by 2B where B is the bandwidth of each carrier. The ACI analysis shows that the carrier frequencies must be separated by B+2?m for no ACI, since the demodulator reduces the bandwidth of the 3rd order IM from 3B to 2B+2?m where ?m is the maximum frequency of each baseband. The DACI analysis shows that DACI does not exist in a PM system and is -52 dB for an ideal hard limiter with no bandpass filter. But the DACI is -58 dB for an ideal hard limiter with a more realistic bandpass filter.     

Interference Effects of Pseudo-Random Frequency-Hopping Signals

When a pseudo-random frequency-hopping signal is intercepted by a conventional receiver operating within the same frequency band, the interfering signal has the form of a pulse-amplitude modulated signal. Each pulse amplitude is dependent upon the hopping frequency and the selectivity characteristic of the victim receiver. The probability density function for the interfering pulse amplitude prior to demodulation is determined when the probability density function for the hopping frequency is uniform and the victim-receiver characteristic is 1) ideal flat bandpass, 2) single tuned, and 3) Gaussian shaped. It is shown that the average interfering pulse amplitude and interference power decrease as the frequency-hopping bandwidth increases with respect to the victim-receiver bandwidth. Fast Fourier transform computer techniques are used to obtain the probability density function of the interference amplitude in a Gaussian receiver when several (from 2 to 10) pseudo-random frequency-hopping systems are simultaneously using the same frequency band. The probability that the interference exceeds a prescribed threshold value is computed from the derived probability density functions. This probability may be used in signal-to-interference ratio calculations, to describe the capture effect, or to compute the expected number of clicks produced in an FM discriminator.     

Output of a Balanced Frequency Discriminator Driven by a Sine Wave and Gaussian Noise

The output of a realizable balanced frequency discriminator is calculated for an input consisting of a sine wave plus Gaussian noise. Explicit autocorrelation and power spectra are found for one practical embodiment of the discriminator for various input carrier-to-noise ratios, with the carrier tuned to center frequency and also off-center. The formulas also permit the calculation of the output for the case of a spectrum of noise slowly swept through the discriminator. Although qualitatively similar to results previously obtained with an ideal discriminator, substantial differences are also found. Measurements are made that closely verified the theoretical results. No limiting is assumed.     

Limiting the Impulsive Noise in a PLL

This paper analyzes the operation of a phase-locked loop (PLL) preceded by a bandpass limiter (BPL) in the presence of impulsive noise. It is shown that the effect of the limiter consists essentially in a change of the statistics of the pulse strengths of the noise, so that the behavior of a BPL + PLL can be deduced from that of a simple PLL by suitable adjustment of the noise model. It is found that the limiter greatly enhances the PLL performance by reducing both the phase-error variance in the loop and the probability of cycle slippage. Finally, the design of the filter of the BPL is discussed, resulting in the conclusion that the best results are obtained by using a singletuned RLC circuit.     

Nonlinearity Model with Variable Knee Sharpness

Soft limiter models used in the past do not provide a convenient way of changing the knee sharpness while maintaining small signal linearity. A new model is described which does this. Both instantaneous characteristics and bandpass limiter characteristics are discussed. The model is also suitable for analyzing and simulating compressors, expanders, and detectors.     

Probability Density Function at the Output of the Delay-Lock Discriminator

The first-order probability density at the output of the correlation network of the delay-lock discriminator is determined using the methods developed by Arthur, Kac, and Siegert. The analysis assumes that the input signal is stationary and Gaussian and that the discriminator is locked on. No restrictions are made on the bandpass filter characteristics in the channels.     

FM Threshold Performance of the Frequency Demodulator with Feedback

The FM threshold performance of the frequency demodulator with feedback (FMFB) is experimentally optimized. Rules of thumb for the practical design of the FMFB with limiter in the loop are proposed. Such design rules provide for optimum FMFB threshold performance given specifications of the received signal. Equivalences among the FMFB, phase-locked loop, and limiter- discriminator offer some additional physical insight into the threshold-extending mechanism of the FMFB not presented by previous investigators.     

Hard Limiting and Sequential Detection Applied to Loran-C

The combination of an antenna, a 100 kHz bandpass filter, a hard limiter, and a sequential detector can supply highly accurate Loran-C data to a digital processor, even under low signal-to-noise-ratio conditions. For such a simple, low-cost receiver, calculations are given for the accuracy of the envelope and phase tracking of the Loran-C signal as a function of the signal-to-noise (Gaussian and atmospheric) ratio, averaging time, and radian speed of the observer with respect to the transmitter. Mentioned are the quasi-noise censoring effects of the hard limiter. Besides the Loran-C application, the hard limiter-sequential detector system can in general be applied for low-cost, synchronous signal detection under poor signal-to-noise ratio.     

High-Resolution Frequency Measurement by Linear Prediction

The efficacy of linear prediction spectrum analysis (LPSA) (also called autoregressive or maximum entrophy spectrum analysis) for problems concerning narrowband signals in noise is examined by means of Monte Carlo simulation. For the case of pure tones (sinusoids) in white noise, both frequency estimation accuracy and resolution of two closely spaced tones with the linear prediction approach are discussed. In addition, estimation of the carrier frequency of a narrowband random (fading) Gaussian signal in noise is considered. The results are compared with standard fast Fourier transform (FFT) methods. These comparisons indicate that there is no significant advantage to using the linear prediction approach with real (bandpass) data. It is concluded that these experiments should be repeated with complex (baseband) data before a complete assessment of the LPS approach can be made.     

Compensators for Bandpass Nonlinearities in Satellite Communications

The characteristics of optimum compensators for bandpass non-linearities are described. A predistortion compensator to reduce the nonlinear phase and envelope distortion at the output of a traveling-wave tube (TWT) is developed, and a possible implementation as a simple network of power law devices in cascade with the input to the TWT is given. The overall compensated characteristic of the TWT approximates that of a piecewise linear limiter with a small phase shift. A computer simulation shows that the compensated system yields 0.3 to 0.5-dB improvement in performance of a 2-phase coherent phase shift keying (CPSK) system over the uncompensated system.     

Detection of Known Signals in Nonstationary Noise

The basic design of a nonlinear, time-invariant filter is postulated for detecting signal pulses of known shape imbedded in nonstationary noise. The noise is a sample function of a Gaussian random process whose statistics are approximately constant during the length of a signal pulse. The parameters of the filter are optimized to maximize the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The resulting nonlinear filter has the interesting property of approximating the performance of an adaptive filter in that it weights each frequency band of each input pulse by a factor that depends on the instantaneous noise power spectrum present at that time. The SNR at the output of the nonlinear filter is compared to that at the output of a matched filter. The relative performance of the nonlinear system is good when the signal pulses have large time-bandwidth products and the instantaneous noise power spectrum is colored in the signal pass band.     

The Response of Hard-Limiting Bandpass Limiters to PM Signals

The signal-to-noise ratio of the output of a hard-limiting bandpass limiter to a PM signal is calculated by using the probability density function of the random phase variable. The signal-to-noise ratio transfer characteristics are plotted for comparison.     

The Effect of Hard Limiting an Angle-Modulated Signal Plus Noise

The effect of hard limiting an angle-modulated signal plus narrow-band Gaussian noise is analyzed. Several examples are considered?sinusoidal angle modulation, Gaussian angle modulation, and biphase angle modulation. The general conclusion is that when a zonal band-pass filter is used, which rejects dc and second harmonics, an angle-modulated signal plus Gaussian noise provides the same output signal-to-noise ratio as shown by Davenport for a CW signal plus Gaussian noise. However, when a narrow bandpass filter is used, which has a bandwidth approximately equal to the input angle-modulated signal, an angle-modulated signal plus Gaussian noise has a better output signal-to-noise ratio than a CW signal plus Gaussian noise.     

Analysis and Design Considerations of Hard Limiters for LF and VLF Navaid Receivers

Hard limiters, followed by a D-type flip-flop as a digital-signal-polarity detector, are very effective receiver/phase detectors for low frequency (LF) and very low frequency (VLF) navigation receivers. However the performance not only depends on the signal quality, but also on the specifications of the hard limiter and the flip-flop. Analysis of the tracking accuracy is given as a function of the dc offsets of the limiter and the flip-flop, the linear gain of the limiter, the signal-to-noise ratios of one or more input signals, and the power consumption of the limiter. The results are presented in formulas and graphs for application by circuit designers. A design example of a low-power, high-gain limiter is given.     

Specification and Performance of Passive Sonar Spectral Estimators

The application of existing estimation theory to the problem of specification and performance of passive sonar spectral estimators is considered. The classification function is addressed, so that the signal is assumed to be present, and so that the energy arrival angle is known. The spatial filter considered is a line array of M equally spaced omnidirectional hydrophones. Signal and ambient noise are both zero-mean, wide-sense, stationary Gaussian random processes that differ in their spatial correlation across the face of the array. The signal is a plane wave that can be made totally spacially corrected between array elements by inserting delays between sensors to invert the signal propagation delay. The noise correlation is a function of frequency, bandwidth, element separation, and the relative time delay between sensors. Under these assumptions, the Cramer-Rao lower bound is derived for the class of unbiased estimates of signal power in a narrow frequency band at the hydrophone in the presence of correlated ambient noise of known power. The bound is examined numerically, resulting in a threshold phenomenon with M that constitutes a new design consideration. In addition, there is a striking insensitivity to realistic values of ambient noise correlation, and there are ranges in signal-to-noise ratio for which one gains more by increasing M than by increasing the bandwidth-time product. Specific processors, including a new unbiased estimator when noise power is unknown, are developed.     

On Transient and Periodic Signal Detection in Time-Varying Noise Power

Detectability of periodic and synchronously recurrent transient signals in a noisy environment in which the noise power is time varying is investigated. For at least one noise model, it is shown that the basic nonlinearity of the optimum detector is a limiter. Performance of this optimum detector is compared with analog cross-correlation and clipper cross-correlation (CCC) detectors. It is shown that the CCC performs nearly optimally, especially at low signal-to-noise ratios, and that its performance is significantly better than that of the analog cross correlator.     

On Uniform Sampling of Amplitude Modulated Signals

For a bandpass waveform produced by the amplitude modulation of a low-pass signal, it is shown that the corresponding bandpass signal may be recovered from its samples taken at a uniform rate which is equal to or less than half the sampling rate called for in applying the classical bandpass sampling theorem.     

北斗导航接收机频率稳定度传递算法

为了提高北斗导航接收机的灵敏度,提升其弱信号跟踪能力,通常需要利用长时间的相干积分来提高环路信噪比。但是,当相干积分时间加长到一定程度时,环路性能反而有所下降,信噪比提升也不能达到理论值。针对由剩余频率误差和晶振误差引起的相干积分能量损失问题,主要研究了频率偏差对环路跟踪性能的影响,并提出了利用频率稳定度传递策略辅助弱信号跟踪的方法,解决了北斗导航接收机弱信号跟踪性能提升的问题,最大程度地改善了相干积分的效果,实现了对弱信号的跟踪。利用软件接收机平台对提出的频率稳定度传递算法进行验证,仿真结果表明该算法可使环路信噪比提升4dB ~5dB,充分说明了其可行性及有效性。