System for Assessing Stochastic Properties of Signals Representing Three Items ofMutually Orthogonal Measurement Information

摘要

A signal processing system provides and processes a digital signal, generated inresponse to an analog signal, which includes a noise component and possibly also an information component representing three mutually orthogonal items of measurement information representable as a sample point in a symbolic Cartesian three dimensional spatial reference system. An information processing subsystem receives said digital signal and processes it to extract the information component. A noise likelihood determination subsystem receives the digital signal and generates a random noise assessment of whether or not the digital signal comprises solely random noise, and if not, generates an assessment of degree of randomness. The noise likelihood determination system controls the operation of the information processing subsystem in response to the random noise assessment or a combination of the random noise assessment and the degree of randomness assessment. The information processing system is illustrated as combat control equipment for submarine warfare, which utilizes a sonar signal produced by a towed linear transducer array, and whose mode operation employs three mutually orthogonal items of measurement information comprising (1) clock time associated with the interval of time over which the sample point measurements are taken, (2) conical angle representing bearing of a passive sonar contact derived from the signal produced by the towed array, and (3) a frequency characteristic of the sonar signal.