Parameter estimation of quadratic frequency modulated signal based on three‐dimensional scaled Fourier transform

Abstract

In this study, a novel algorithm based on three-dimensional scaled Fourier transform (TDSFT) is proposed for parameter estimation of a quadratic frequency modulated (QFM) signal. To solve the problem of signal-to-noise ratio loss caused by constant delay, a variable-delay instantaneous autocorrelation function is first proposed. After that, two steps TDSFT and addition operation are performed to achieve three-dimensional decoupling and coherent integration of signal energy. The analysis shows that the proposed algorithm can be efficiently implemented by a fast Fourier transform without any searching procedure. Moreover, it can deal with multi-component QFM signals with satisfactory suppression of cross terms. Comparisons with three other popular methods, chirp rate-quadratic chirp rate distribution, generalized scaled Fourier transform and generalized decoupling technique demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has superior anti-noise performance due to the coherent integration of all signal energies. Extensive numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the TDSFT-based algorithm.