A Fast Algorithm for the Chirp Rate Estimation

A fast algorithm for the chirp rate estimation is presented in this paper. By the computation of the cubic phase transform (CPT) of the signal, it is shown that the CPT is concentrated along the frequency rate law of the signal, and the peak of the CPT yields the estimate of the chirp rate. The proposed algorithm is fast in that it requires only one-dimensional (1-D) maximizations. The asymptotic statistical result is derived for the chirp rate estimation, and the computer simulation demonstrates that, when the input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is higher than -2 dB, the simulation results and the theoretical analyses are well matched, and the mean-square error (MSE) approaches optimality as the SNR tends to infinity.