Signal adaptive hardware design of a system for highly nonstationary FM signal estimation

Multiple-clock-cycle implementation (MCI) of a signal adaptive optimal nonstationary filtering system is developed. The proposed design is based on the real-time results of time-frequency (TF) analysis, on the correspondence of filter's region of support (FRS) to the signal's instantaneous frequency (IF), and on the real-time IF estimation. It permits multiple local FRS detection in the observed time-instant, resulting in the efficient filtering of multicomponent FM signals. It takes a variable number of CLKs-the only necessary ones regarding the highest quality of IF estimation-in different TF points within the execution. The design also optimizes critical performances related to the hardware complexity, making it a suitable system for implementation on an integrated chip.