Simulation experiments to compare the signal detection properties of DFT and MEM spectra

Four simulation experiments have been carried out to compare the statistics of threshold detection of a complex sinusoid in additive noise using the Burg maximum entropy method (MEM) and the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) technique. The results indicate that, in the presence of additive white noise, the DFT consistently provides a higher signal detection probability P
D
and a more accurate estimate of signal frequency than the MEM. In the presence of colored noise, the DFT provides a higher P
D
when signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is high, or when signal detection is carried out in the low false-alarm probability P
FA
region. Only in the very restricted case of low SNR together with a high P
FA
and the signal far away from the center of the noise band does the MEM provide a higher P
D
than the DFT.