On the resolution of autoregressive spectral estimation

This paper presents an investigation of the resolution of Autoregressive (AR) spectral analysis. An expression for the Mth-order exact AR spectrum for K complex sinusoids with additive white noise is derived. In order to relate the resolution to the model order and signal power, the resolution boundary is defined for two-sinusoids in white noise. Empirical formulas are given relating resolution to the factors affecting it.