A mobile communications application of time-varying higher order spectra to FM signals affected by multiplicative noise

A new method for estimating the instantaneous frequency (IF) of mobile communication signals affected by Rayleigh multiplicative noise is proposed. The method is based on the use of time-varying higher-order spectra (TV-HOS) and particularly the Wigner-Ville trispectrum (WVT). The performance of the method is evaluated under the assumptions of linear FM signals affected by stationary Rayleigh multiplicative noise. It is shown that the WVT allows for optimal estimation of the IF of the signal.