The estimated signal parameter detector: Incorporating signal parameter statistics into the signal processor

Acoustic propagation through a time-varying and spatially varying environment can produce variations in the received signal over multiple observations, possibly degrading receiver performance. This paper presents a signal processing structure that utilizes knowledge of received signal statistics to recoup lost performance. Recent research has shown that received signal parameter statistics can be calculated using Monte Carlo simulation and knowledge of ocean environment properties and processes. The processor possesses an estimator-correlator structure, and is referred to in this paper as the estimated signal parameter detector (ESPD). To demonstrate ESPD performance, the derivation is implemented to distinguish between monotone sinusoids with Gaussian-distributed amplitudes with identical means but different variances, embedded in zero-mean white Gaussian noise. In general, the amplitude distributions can possess any form and the noise distribution must belong to a general class of probability density functions (pdfs). The present assumptions allow for analytical results, and performance of the ESPD is seen to depend upon the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as well as the difference between the amplitude variances. Larger SNR and greater difference in amplitude variance result in better receiver performance, eventually leading to an asymptotic performance bound prediction.