Detector operation in the deterministic limit versus the random limit.
01 January 1988
The effect of measurement time and the detector bandwidth product in determining the signal to noise ratio is formulated. Results are derived for both cases when the detector is operated in the deterministic limit and the random limit. A comparison suggests that for level detection, the random limit operation results in superior performance for all values of the time bandwidth products. For pulse detection, the random limit operation makes it possible to approach the ideal performance limit for large time bandwidth products.