Publications Details

Detection of a chirping electromagnetic signal

Stearns, S.D.

A matched chirp transform (MCT) method for detecting a dispersive electromagnetic pulse is described. The unique feature of this transform is that it gives a distribution of signal amplitude over time rather than frequency, and thereby simplifies signal detection and identification in the case described here. In the MCT method, the incoming signal is matched to a set of signal segments that chirp in accordance with an expected model of the dispersive medium. The performance of the MCT method is compared with that of a standard periodogram method of frequency measurement. 6 refs., 5 figs.