Operating Characteristics for a Linear Detector of CW Signals in Narrow-BandGaussian Noise

The curves* given in this article relate statistical properties of the output of an envelope detector to the signal-power/noise-power ratio, S/N, of a CW signal in narrow-band Gaussian noise at the input. T h e signal will be represented here by a finite section of a sine wave which may be divided further into segments, for convenience in processing, so that most of the signal energy will be contained in a relatively narrow band, comparable in width to the reciprocal of the segment length. A filter will be used to select the part of the spectrum in which the signal may be found. T h e output of this filter will be applied to an envelope detector, and the amplitude of the output of the detector will be measured. Only if the magnitude measured at this * This work was supported bv the U. S. N a v v , Bureau of Ships under contract no. N600(63133)64940.