Noise Enhanced Signal Detection and Estimation

Noise is traditionally defined as an unwanted signal or disturbance to the system. In general, more noise in the system often leads to a worse system performance, e.g., less channel capacity, worse detection performance and degraded estimation accuracy. However, noise may play a constructive role in some systems. The phenomenon of noise enhanced system (PHONES) is observed and employed in many areas. In this paper, PHONES is investigated for some signal processing systems including detection and estimation. The mathematical framework to analyze PHONES is established and the optimum noise pdf is found. Some illustrative examples are also presented.