Noise Estimation in the Presence of BPSK Digital Burst Transmissions

This research explores noise estimation techniques in an attempt to improve upon a previously developed digital burst transmission Binary Phase Shift Keyed (BPSK) demodulator. The demodulator success is dependant on the accuracy of the estimate of Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the unknown noise. Given a discrete time signal transformed into the frequency domain, the research seeks to determine if it is possible to effectively estimate the PSD of the unknown noise. The demodulator was developed using a new signal model for digital burst transmissions based on linear spectral subspace theory. Using this model and the redundancy properties of BPSK digital burst transmissions, five noise estimation techniques will be presented and tested. The success of the methods will be reported in two ways, first, the effect the new noise PSD estimates have on the success of the demodulator and second, a comparison to the actual PSD of the noise.