Real-time wavelet-transform spectrum analyzer for the investigation of 1/f^α noise

A wavelet-transform spectrum analyzer operating in real time within the frequency range 3×10^-5–1.3×10⁵ Hz has been implemented on a low-cost digital signal processing (DSP) board operating at 150 MHz. The wavelet decomposition of the signal allows one to efficiently process nonstationary signals dominated by large amplitude events fairly well localized in time, thus providing the natural tool to analyze processes characterized by 1/f^α power spectrum. The parallel architecture of the DSP allows the real-time processing of the wavelet transform of the signal sampled at 0.3 MHz. The bandwidth is about 220 dB, almost 10 decades. The power spectrum of the signal is processed in real time from the mean square value of the wavelet coefficients within each frequency band. The performances of the spectrum analyzer have been investigated by performing dynamic light scattering experiments on colloidal suspensions and by comparing the measured spectra with the correlation functions data obtained with a traditional multitau correlator. In order to assess the potentialities of the spectrum analyzer in the investigation of processes involving a wide range of time scales, we have performed measurements on a model system where fluctuations in the scattered intensities are generated by the number fluctuations in a dilute colloidal suspension illuminated by a wide beam. This system is characterized by a power-law spectrum with exponent -3/2 in the scattered intensity fluctuations. The spectrum analyzer allows one to recover the power spectrum with a dynamic range spanning about 8 decades. The advantages of wavelet analysis versus correlation analysis in the investigation of processes characterized by a wide distribution of time scales and nonstationary processes are briefly discussed. © 2003 American Institute of Physics.