Enhanced period-peak analysis of the electroencephalogram using a fast sinc function

In an effort to reduce memory space and processing time required by the fast Fourier transform (FFT), a new method, the enhanced period-peak detection (EPPD), is investigated. The method is based on a combination of the Fourier transform (FT) and period-peak detection. The signal is considered as a train of truncated sinusoidal functions. Each truncated sinusoidal function is limited by two successive local extrema. The Fourier transform of the truncated sinusoidal function is a sinc function. The summation of these sinc functions taken from the train of truncated sinusoids yields an approximate frequency spectrum of the signal. This EPPD spectrum compares favorably to the actual frequency spectrum of the signal as determined by the Fourier transform using both a random generated signal and a sample EEG segment.