Frequency estimation utilizing the Hadamard transform

Fast analog to digital conversion with only one bit per sample not only makes high sampling rates possible but also reduces the required hardware complexity. For short data buffers or block lengths, it has been shown that tone frequency estimators can be implemented by a simple table look-up. We present an analysis of such tables using the Hadamard transform. As an outcome of the analysis, we propose a class of nonlinear estimators of low complexity. Their performance is evaluated using numerical simulations. Comparisons are made with the proper Cramer-Rao bound and with the table look-up approach.