ria
Tapan K. Sarkar and C. Su
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Syracuse University
121 Link Hall
Syracuse, New York 13244-1240 USA
Tel: +1 (315) 443-3775
Fax: +1 (315) 443-2583
E-mail: tksarkar@mailbox.syr.edu
Keywords: Wavelets, wavelet transforms, Fourier transform,
Gabor transform
1. Abstract
The wavelet transform is described from the perspective of a
Fourier transform. The relationships among the Fourier transform,
the Gabor transform (windowed Fourier transform), and the wave-
let transform are described. The differences are also outlined, to
bring out the characteristics of the wavelet transform. The limita-
tions of the wavelets in localizing responses in various domains are
also delineated. Finally, an adaptive window is presented that may
be optimally tailored to suit ones needs, and hence, possibly, the
scaling functions and the wavelets.
2. Introduction
n nature, one does not encounter pure single-tone signals, but
signals the frequency content of which varies with time. Gen-
erally, frequency is defined as a phenomenon where the period of
zero crossings of a signal has a fixed duration for all times, and
frequency is related to the period. However, one may define the
term instantaneous frequency by defining signals the frequency
content of which changes as a function of the time or duration of
the signal. A good example of this is speech, where the instantane-
ous frequency may change from 20 Hz to 20 kHz,depending on
the system. Hence, it is interesting to develop methodologies that
can be introduced to analyze such signals.
In modern times, such concepts have proven to be useful in
modem radar-system analysis. Conventionally, radar has dealt with
pure CW signals, which are either frequency modulated or tumed
off and on to generate pulses. However, there are other radar sys-
tems that deal with wideband pulses. Hence, in understanding how
such radar systems work, it is necessary to understand the time-
frequency representation of waveforms, and how they are charac-
terized and analyzed.
In this study, we look at the classical Fourier transforms, the
Gabor transforms, and the wavelet transforms, which have been
This is part 2 of two-part article. Part 1, which treated discrete
wavelet techniques, appeared in the October issue.
36 1045-9243/98/$10.0001998 IEEE IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998
utilized for characterizing waveforms the frequency content of
which changes with time. One of the main features that distin-
guishes the three transforms is the choice of the window function.
The purpose of the window function is to localize the information
about the signal, in both space and time. To this end, the T-pulse
technique provides a very flexible window function, which can be
generated a priori, utilizing computerized optimization techniques.
Once such methodologies are known, one can then utilize special
pulse shapes to enhance detection performance. Hence, waveform
shaping and analysis of wave shapes is the main theme of this
paper.
3. Mathematical background
This section summarizes the various analytical tools that per-
form time-frequency analysis. The three techniques that are most
popular are the Fourier transform, the Gabor transform, and the
wavelet transform. These techniques are presented both from a
continuous and a discrete-time signal point of view.
The basic difference that distinguishes the three transfonn
techniques as time-frequency localization tools is the choice OP a
window function. The window function is essentially an arti-
fact through which we observe the data. For each of the three trans-
forms, the window function has certain fixed properties. As a
result, each of these analysis techniques has preferred domains
over which their application provides good results. One of the
objectives of this paper is to generalize these analysis techniques,
and to describe a window function that is very flexible and can deal
with a very broad class of practical target-identification problems.
4. Continuous transforms
4.1 Fourier transform
The classical Fourier-transform technique is utilized to find
the frequency content of a particular wave shape, p ( t ) ,which has
occurred just once, has existed for a time interval [O,T],and is
nonexistent for any other times. It is well known that the frequency
content of such a signal p ( t ) is given by the Fourier transform
P ( w ):
Equation (1) can be interpreted as modulating the function p ( t ) by
e-wf and then integrating it. The Fourier transform is defined for
all values of the variable t [Le., from --co < t < a ] , whereas the
Fourier series of the function p ( t ) is defined to be periodic. That
is, p ( t ) repeats itself after every period (e.g., 27~).Hence, p F ( t ) ,
the Fourier series of p ( t ),is defined as
m The problem here is that as the window function gets nar-
p F (t ) = c, e+jnf,
n=-m
where
c, = L T p ( t ) e - j dt . (3)
27T 0
So, for a Fourier series, the function p ( t ) is decomposed into a
sum of orthogonal functions c, elnf. Observe that the orthogonal
functions into which p ( t ) is decomposed in Equation (2) is gener-
ated by integer dilations of a single function eJt. Also, note that
the function p F ( t ) is periodic with period 2 n . In contrast, in the
Fourier Transform, the spectrum is decomposed into non-integer
dilations of the function eJf ,as we know:
. m
(4)
The problem in analyzing signals that are limited in time-Le., they
exist over a finite time window and are zero elsewhere-by Fourier
transform techniques is that such functions can not simultaneously
be bandlimited. Hence, to represent signals p ( t ) , which exist for
0 5 t 2 T , the Fourier transform is generally not the best way to
characterize such signals. However, a short-time Fourier transform
has been utilized to analyze such signals in the time-frequency
plane.
By its very definition, the Fourier transformation uses the
entire signal, and permits analysis of only the frequency distribu-
tion of energy of the signal as a whole [l]. To solve this problem,
many who do spectral analysis have taken a piecewise approach.
The signal is broken up into contiguous pieces, and each piece is
separately Fourier transformed. The resulting family of Fourier
transformations is then treated as if it were the basis for a joint
time-frequency energy distribution [ 1-41.
In the short-time Fourier transform, the function p ( t ) is mul-
tiplied by a window function w ( t ) , and the Fourier transform is
calculated. The window function is then shifted in time, and the
Fourier transform of the product is computed again. So, for a fixed
shift P of the window w ( t ) , the window captures the features of
the signal p ( t ) around P . The window helps to localize the time-
domain data, before obtaining the frequency-domain information.
Hence, the short-time Fourier transform is given by
m
PSTFT(WP) = jp(t)w(t -P)e- dt > (5)
-m
and when w ( t )= 1 for all t, one obtains the classic Fourier Trans-
form.
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998
By observing Equation (5), it is clear that the short-time Fou-
rier transform is the convolution of the signal p ( t ) with a filter
having an impulse response of the form h(t) = w(-t)e@, so that
rower, the localization information in the frequency domain is
compromised. In other words, as the frequency-domain localiza-
tion gets narrower, the window gets wider, so that localization
information in the time domain gets compromised due to the
uncertainty principle. [The uncertainty in time, A t , and the uncer-
tainty in angular frequency, A w , are related by AwAt 2 0.5 1.
Since the requirements in the time localization and frequency
resolution are conflicting, one has to make some judicious choices.
The best window w(t) depends on what is the meaning of the term
best.
The above problem has solutions only under certain condi-
tions. For example, if we require the function w(t) to be symmet-
ric, and we require that its energy be confined to a certain band
IwI 5 B , then we know the optimum function w(t) is given by the
prolate-spheroidal functions. Other criteria, such as the signal-to-
noise ratio, can also be utilized in designing the function w(t), or
utilizing other criteria for best [4-71.
To obtain the original signal back from the short-time Fourier
transform, we observe that [4]
If we set p = t ,then
So, we can recover the original signal p ( t ) for all t as long as
w(0)# 0 . If w(0)= 0 , then choose some other value of p that will
guarantee w(0)+ 0 . Observe that it is not necessary to know w(t)
for all t in order to recover p ( t ) from its short-time Fourier trans-
form.
Altemately, one can also recover p ( t ) from Equation (7) by
multiplying both sides by G(t - p) , and integrating with respect to
p . The over-bar denotes the complex conjugate. Then,
m
2
This, of course, assumes that J\w(t-p)I d p is finite. However, if
-m
the window fkction is infinite, then one can multiply both sides of
Equation (7) by another sequence ~ ( tsuch
) that
37
 Thus, ,B is a shift parameter, and now the functions ~ , , ~ ( tcan
)

-m
span any function p ( t ) for all possible choices of the parameter a
and ,B. Now, if we look at the Fourier transform of the product of
An attempt was made by Gabor [8],in 1946, to develop a the two functions p ( t ) ~ ~ , ~which
( t ) ,is called the Gabor transform
methodology where a function can be simultaneously localized in G,,p(w) 1 3 then
time and frequency. If that is possible, then the frequency con-
tent of any signal can easily be obtained, by observing the
response in certain narrow frequency bands. Hence, it is possible to
track the instantaneous frequency of a signal.

In order to simplify the presentation, we introduce the gener-

Note that (here, ~ , , ~ ( is
t )assumed to be a real function)
alized form of Parsevals theorem for two functions, p ( t ) and
q(t), and their Fourier transforms, P ( w ) ande(@). Thus,
m
l m 1
(P;4 ) p(t)g(t)dt= - P ( w ) e ( o ) d o=-(Pi
2 n
Q) , (11)
-m 2n -m
Hence, integrating Equation (16) with respect to O
, and substitut-
where (*;a) denotes the inner product between two functions, and ing Equation (17), one obtains
the over-bar denotes the complex conjugate. Note that if [l]

then Equation (1 1) along with Equation (12) defines the inverse

So, the Fourier transform of the function p ( t ), given by P(w),
transform. If
results from integrating the Gabor transform with respect to all
possible delay parameters ,B.
e(@)
= 2n6(w - w o ) and q(t) = elmot, (13)

then Equation (13), when substituted into Equation (1 I), defines Since ( p ; q ) = -1( P ; Q ) , andif q ( t ) = ~ , , ~ ( t ) e @ then
,
2n
the forward Fourier transform.
co m

In the next section, we see how Gabor, through the choice of J p ( t ) q ( t ) d t= jp(t)w,,p(t)e-jox dt
certain window functions, made it possible not only to localize a -m -m

signal in the time domain, but was also able to localize its fre-
quency content in a narrow hequency band. - 1
= G,,p(w) = -P(rrl)Q(Q)dQ.
-m
2z
4.2 Gabor transform [l,8,9]
And since ~ , , ~ ( tis) real, we have
The objective of the Gabor transform is to expand p ( t ) into a
set of functions that are simultaneously limited in both time and
frequency. This is in contrast to the Fourier transform, where the
expansion is done by functions e-Jwt that are not time limited, but
highly localized in frequency.

Even though, hom a strictly mathematical point of view, it is

not possible to localize a function simultaneously both in the time
and frequency domain, this can, however, be achieved from a
practical standpoint. Let us illustrate this by considering a family
of functions q ( t ) such that a member qa(t) is defined as = e-( w-n)CrejP(0-n)

t2
1 --
q,(t)=-e 4a
2&
Also, since
Then the product p(t)q,(t) can be localized in time from a practi-
cal standpoint if a>O. This is because, beyond a certain value
t = q , the function qa(t) decays down to practically zero, and so
will the product p(t)q,(t). Next, we introduce another parameter,
,L?, so that the function ~ ~ , (which
~ ( t is) real) is defined by we have

38 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998
 4.3 Wavelet transform

A property not possessed by the window functions of the

Gabor transform is the additional condition that the windows have
no "dc" component,

It is clear from Equation (22) that the Gabor transform also local-
izes the Fourier transform, P(w) of p ( t ) ( i t in fact, the window
function wa,B(t) is highly localized), to give its local spectral namely, the average value of the window is zero. This property
gives an extra degree of freedom for introducing a dilation (or
information. Hence, not only is the function p(t) localized in time
scale) parameter in the window, in order to make the time-fre-
by the function ~ ~ , ~ but ) , its transform P(w) is localized in
( talso quency window flexible. With this dilation parameter, the integral
frequency by the function The
W ~ / ( ~ ~ ) , ~ ( Wwidth
) . of the window wavelet transform provides a flexible time-frequency window,
which automatically narrows when observing high-frequency com-
function in the time domain, A t , is then obtained as
ponents, and widens when studying low-frequency components.
Hence, it is in tune with our auditory and visual sense perceptions,
which, at least in the first step, process signals in this fashion. This
explains the evolution of the musical scale in the West. For exam-
ple, Figure 1 shows the location of the notes C and G in the major
diatonic scale, for several octaves [4]. On a logarithmic scale, they
We have would appear to be nearly equally spaced. Thus, the notes C and G
become sparser and sparser as the frequency increases.

The window function in the wavelet transform takes the form

of [for both positive and negative scale values of a ]

and
wa,$(t) = -w
& __ .

The above function is admissible as a window function in the

wavelet transform (or succinctly, a wavelet) provided Equation
(30) is satisfied. The integral wavelet transform of p ( t ) is defined
Hence,
by WTp:

and the width of the spectrum of the window function in the fre-
quency domain is given by A. : with a 8 0 .

The shortcoming of the short-time Fourier techniques is taken

care of by utilizing the scaled window ~ , , ~ ( t For
) . a fixed time
width of the window ~ ( t in) Equation (7), when p ( t ) is a high-
So the product of the functions p(t)wa,s(l) is localized in time at frequency signal, many cycles are captured by the window,
whereas if p ( t ) is a low-frequency signal, only very few cycles are
& , and their
p9 - spectrum [it is the spectrum of the windowed within the same window. Thus, the accuracy of the estimate of the
2 Fourier transform is poor at low frequencies, and improves as the
frequency increases. One way to correct this problem is to replace
* 1
version of p ( t ) ]is localized in frequency at R -. In addition,
4&
the window w(t) with a function of both frequency and time, so
that the time-domain plot of the window gets wider as frequencies
please note that

1
AtAW= -.
2
(28)
p
111 1 1
C Q C 0 c 0
'
c
1

i
So, the width of the time-frequency window is unchanged for
le!
aw H I
wz :,.cu.nn - 1 2 2 1 HI B 116 I 2

observing the spectrum of p(t) at all frequencies. In fact, it is seen
that the Gabor transform is essentially a short-time Fourier trans-
form with the smallest time-frequency window. It is the smallest
time-frequency window because the principle of uncertainty is
exactly equal to 1/2, as given by Equation (28).
628 H t
Figure 1. The pitch frequencies corresponding to the keys of C
and G on a piano. These correspond to the major diatonic scale
of Western music. The spacing is very nonuniform, and will
appear to be almost uniform on a logarithmic scale.

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998 39
decrease: so that the window adjusts its width according to fre-
quency. This is accomplished by the wavelet transform, as outlined
above. For example, if
then in the frequency domain,
(33)
Thus, all the possible states of the window are obtained by fre-
quency scaling the response of the window function. This is in
contrast to the STFT (short-time Fourier transform), where the
various window functions were obtained as W(w)eJpW, Le., by
modulating the spectrum of the window function, which is fixed.
Hence, if the center of the window function w(t) is given by
t * , and the width of the window in the time domain is given by
A,: then the function ~ , , ~ ( tis) a window function with its center
at p + at*,and its width is aA7. In addition, its spectrum is given
by
where W ( o ) is the Fourier transform of w(t)
From Parseval's relation in Equation (19), and utilizing
Equation (34), the wavelet transform WTp o f p is given by
(35)
The window function in the frequency domain is centered at w *,
2 A:
and has a width -, with the exception of the multiplicative
a
a
factor ~ , and the phase factor eJpW, The wavelet transform
274&/
provides local information in the frequency window
Note that in the wavelet type of analysis, if w * of W ( a w ) is
assumed to be positive, then the ratio
center frequency -
bandwidth
w./a
2A:ia
= w*
2Az
] .
(37)
is independent of the scaling factor, a . The class of bandpass fil-
ters represented by Equation (36) as a function of a has the prop-
erty given in Equation (37), and these are called constant-Q filters.
This type of processing is done by the human ear, at least in the
first stage of signal detection [4].
40 /E& Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40,No. 6,December 1998
From the wavelet transform given by Equations (31) or (35),
the original function can be recovered, utilizing
where a > 0 . The constant C, is given by
(39)
Thus, Equation (39) implies that only certain classes of window
functions can be utilized in the wavelet transform, namely, those
1
responses that decay at least as fast as
The convergence of the integral in Equation (38) is defined in
a weak sense [2], Le., taking the inner product of both sides of
Equation (38) with any function g ( x ) L 2 and commuting the
inner product with the integral over a,P on the right-hand side
leads to the true formula. Since for any absolutely integrable func-
tion W ( o )-the Fourier transform of w(t)-is continuous, Equation
(39) can only be evaluated provided
w(0)= 0 , (40)
m
or, equivalently, j w ( t ) d t = 0 , i.e., the wavelet w(t) has no dc
-m
value, as mentioned in Equation (29).
Implementation of the wavelet transform is equivalent to fil-
tering the signal p ( t ) by a bank of bandpass filters that are of con-
stant Q. The center hequencies of the filters are offset from one
another by an octave and, in the limit of Equation (39), this guar-
antees that the center frequencies of the bandpass filters will never
be zero.
In the continuous domain, all three techniques (Fourier,
Gabor, and wavelet) have good theoretical properties. The question
is, what happens in the discrete domain? Do all these properties
cany over to the discrete domain, or do certain additional con-
straints need to be imposed?!
5. Discrete transforms
The problem of dealing with the discrete transforms has some
advantages and disadvantages. For example, the Fourier transform
for the discrete case changes over to the Fourier-series representa-
tion. The Gabor transform, on the other hand, provides a non-
physical representation of the spectrum for a certain class of win-
dow functions. The discrete-wavelet transform provides a fast
algorithm for computation of the wavelet coefficients from a multi-
rate digital-filtering point of view, without even introducing the
concept of wavelets.
5.1 A discrete short-time Fourier transform (DSTFT)
The discrete representation of Equation ( 5 ) is given by [4]
 Gabor presented a heuristic argument for iteratively estimating the
coefficients ake so as to obtain an approximation j ( t ) . However,
no justification of this process was given [8,9].
where
Martin Bastiaans [lo] used a different set of expansions for
p ( t ) , given by

and the p ( n ) are the sampled versions of p ( t ) , with p as an inte-

ger. So, the window function is represented by values that are sam-
pled at w(n - p) . The inverse DSTFT of PDLr~FT is given by
He demonstrated that when gke(t) replaces Y k t ( t ) in Equa-
tion (48), then, indeed, the representation of Equations (48) and
(43) (SO) form a complete set, and the representation error, p ( t ) - j ( t )
goes to zero for a sufficiently large number of basis functions
If we set f l = n ,then gke(t).The important difference between the representations of
Equations (49) and (SO) are the choices

(44)

and
Hence, one can recover p ( n ) as long as w(0) # 0 . If w(0)= 0 ,
then one chooses a value of /3 for which w(m) = w(n - p) z 0 , and
the procedure continues.
where Tis the sampling interval.
An altemative representation can be made, provided we have
One of the objectives of this representation is to look at the
cell centered at the point ( t k ,f!) in the time-frequency plane, and
how its surrounding regions are distributed. The main objectives of
the representation of Equation (48) is that if the signal within the
For Equation (44), p ( n ) is recovered by T T
window NT - - 5 t 5 NT + - contains a pure sinusoid of fie-
2 2
quency fo,then we would hope that the expression for the time-
limited spectrum would be

It is interesting to note that the inversion formula is not unique. For

example, if zo is a zero of the z transform of the conjugate of the
window function, i.e., zo is a zero of the polynomial

m
and that IP(NT,f,T)I2 would have a significant magnitude, pri-
&(z) = C"(k)z-k, (47)
k=-m marily near f0 . However, if one looks at the representation of p ( t )
given by (48) and (49), then it is not at all clear that there would
then if we replace P'~TFT(z,~) in Equation (46) by not be any leakage from nearby cells, where k = N + 1 , N + 2 , or
2
P'sTFT(z,m) + z: , then Equation (46) is still satisfied. This is in N - 1, N - 2 , and so on, to IP(NT,f,T)I . Indeed, the leakage
contrast to the conventional, discrete Fourier transform (or, from neighboring cells can produce erroneous interpretations, as
equivalently, the Fourier series), which provides a unique inverse. described in [9]. This is because neither Equation (49) nor (SO) has
a finite support in the time domain. They extend for all times. One
would expect the signals centered around the cell NT to contribute
5.2 Discrete Gabor transform to P(NT,t , f) if and only if the time-domain support in the repre-
sentation in Equation (48) is finite. Otherwise, the results are not
In the discrete Gabor transform, the objective is to represent relevant. This is why Lemer [ 111 extended the representation in
the signal, p ( t ),by a series, Equation (SO) to have the basis signals of the general form

where v ( t ) is considered to be a "convenient" finite-energy function, the

energy of which is concentrated near t = 0 , and the energy spec-
2
(49) trum of which, IV(w)l , is concentrated near w = 0 . This was later

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 199% 41
modified by Roach [SI, who demonstrated that unless the function Equation (62) guarantees that the coefficient ckf for a given
v ( t ) is of finite support in the time domain, representations of the segment centered at t = tk is completely independent of the signal
82 outside the Mh segment. To confirm this, observe that
form in Equation (48) produce an energy spectrum IP(NT,f,T)I
that has no clear relationship to the energy of the signal concen-
trated in the corresponding interval in time. Note that this pre-
cludes the Gaussian fimction or the prolate-spheroidal functions as
possible window functions, since they are of infinite duration!
Now note that, always, k = m : otherwise, the window functions
It has been shown that for a proper time-hequency represen-
tation, the expansion must be of the form [9] w(t - t k ) and w(t - tm) are disjoint. We have

-m tk -Ti2

where

and finally

The window function ~ ( t in) Equation (56) is chosen in such a

way that

Ti2
WT(W)= ~ ( t ) dt , (57) Utilizing the property of Equations (58) and (59) of the window
-Ti2 function, it is seen that Equation (65) becomes unity for e = n and
zero otherwise, satisfying Equation (62), and hence Equation (61)
and holds. The interesting point in Equation (61) is that the coefficient
for a given segment in time is completely independent of the signal
outside the kth cell, since the coefficients in different time seg-
ments are orthonormal, Le., the total energy in the signal is then the
sum of all the individual coefficients squared.
with
It is interesting to observe that Equations (56) and (61) have
(59) close resemblance to the windowed Fourier transform, presented in
the earlier sections, when the window function becomes a rectan-
gular window. However, any window function that results from the
The class of window functions that possesses this property is convolution of any rectangular pulse with a symmetric window
formed by convolving a rectangular pulse of duration (T - p) with function will provide the mathematical requirements for ~ ( t in)
a symmetric positive pulse a ( t ) having duration p and area Equations (56) to (59).
__1
5.3 Discrete wavelet transform
T-p'
If, in the continuous wavelet transform, one uses integer val-
Here,
ues for some integers k,n in Equation (32), and usually assumes
p = 2knT (one can assume T = 1 without loss of generality for the
discrete case) and a = 2 k , then the discrete wavelet transform of
p ( t ) is given by [4]
where Q is the integer frequency-spacing factor. The coefficients
eke in Equation (55) can be given by

The inverse transform is given by

c n m
provided p ( t )= 2 WT,(k,n)2-k'2w(2-kt-n~), (67)

under the condition that the window functions, given by

where the over-bar denotes the conjugate.

42 /Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998

are orthonormal, i.e., m
W ( X )= dm4(2x- m) .
m=-m

The + ( x ) are called the scaling functions, and are generated by the
dilation equation
The shift integers n are chosen in such a way that ~ ( 2 - -~ ntT )
covers the whole line for all values of t. The wavelet transform (73)
thus separates the object into different components in its trans-
form domain, and studies each component with a resolution
matched to its scale. Another interesting property to observe is that where, in each case, only a finite number of coefficients cm and
the original signal in Equation (67) is recovered from the discrete- dm are different from zero.
wavelet-transform coefficients by filtering with the window
~ , , ~ ( tof) Equation (68). Equivalently, the discrete wavelet trans- Here, 4 does not have integral zero, but w does, and q5 is
form is obtained by filtering the signal p ( t ) by ~ ~ , ~ ( -ort ) , normalized such that
2-kZw(-2-kt). m
J #(x)dx = 1. (74)
The wavelet series of Equation (67) amounts to expanding -m
the function p ( t ) in terms of wavelets wk,n(t) or, equivalently, by
the shifted-dilated versions of the same window function, so that We define (bk,n even though 4 is not a wavelet, i.e.,

q5k,n = 2-k24(2-% -n). (75)

The inner products of Equation (71) can be evaluated using

Ifwe further assume that the wavelets wk,n(X) are orthogonal (i.e.,
that Equation (69) holds), then

So, the problem of finding the wavelet coefficients is reduced to

By comparing Equations (67) and (71), it is apparent that the
(k, n)th wavelet coefficient of p is given by the integral wavelet
transform ofp, if the same orthogonal wavelets are used in both the
integral wavelet transform and in the wavelet series. So the wavelet
series provides an approximation for p that is not necessarily the
least-squares (l?) orthogonal projection that a Fourier Series pro-
vides.
Also, the wavelets provide an unconditional basis for f for
1 < i < co . Since 2 has no unconditional bases, wavelets cannot do
the impossible. However, they can still do a better job than the
Fourier expansion, by displaying no Gibbs phenomenon for
approximating functions that are discontinuous, by utilizing the
Haar wavelets, for example. However, if the wavelets used in the
approximation are not discontinuous, like the Haar wavelets (or
Walsh functions), but utilize continuous functions, instead, then
the Gibbs phenomenon is visible in the wavelet approximation.
The problem now at hand is to determine if are there any numeri-
cally stable algorithms to compute the wavelet coefficients Ck,* in
Equation (71). Specifically, in real life, p is not a given function,
but is a sampled function. Computing the integrals of
then requires a quadrature formula. For the smallest value of k-
that of computing ( p ;$ j , k ) . Note that
(77)
so that ( P ; $ ~ , can
~ ) be computed recursively, starting from the
smallest scale (most-negative k ) to the largest. The advantage of
this procedure is that it is numerically robust, namely, even though
the wavelet coefficients ck,nin Equation (71) are computed with
low precision-say, with a couple of bits-one can still reproduce
p ( t ) with comparatively much higher precision [2].
In summary, what we have done is as follows. Consider p ( t )
to be a function of time. We have taken the spectrum of p ( t ) , and
have separated the spectrum into octaves of widths A u k , such that
its frequency band w has been divided into [ 2 k to ~ 2 k + z ] ,for
all values of k. We now define wavelets in each frequency bin
Amk , and approximate p ( t ) by them. If we choose
sin nt
4(t) = -3

often referred to by the scale parameter, Le., most negative k- nt

Equation (71) will not involve many samples ofp, and one can do then
the computation quickly. For large scales, however, one faces large
integrals, which might considerably slow down the computation of
the wavelet transform o f any given function. Especially for on-line
implementations, one should avoid having to compute these long
and the wavelet expansion of p ( t ) is given by
integrals. One way out is the technique used in multirate/multi-
resolution analysis, by introducing an auxiliary function, @(x), so
that [2] ~ 2k2y1(2kt
~ ~ , = ( t ) - n) (with T = 1),

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998

The functions ~ ~ , ~are( orthonormal
t ) because their bandwidths
are non-overlapping, namely, for a fixed k, P k ( 0 ) has the band-
width A m k , which is [ 2 k n , 2k+n]. So, the wavelet expansion of
a function is complete in the sense that it makes an approximation
by orthogonal functions that have non-overlapping bandwidth.
As concluded by Vaidyanathan [4],even though the continu-
ous wavelet transform has a wider scope with deeper mathematical
issues, the discrete wavelet transform is quite simple, and can be
explained in terms of basic filter theory. Even before the develop-
ment of wavelets, nonuniform filter banks had been used in speech
processing by [12, 131. The motivation was that the nonuniform
bandwidths could be used to exploit the nonuniform frequency
resolution of the human ear [14]. So if the wavelet application is
already in the digital domain, it is really not necessary to under-
stand the deeper results of the scaling function 4(t) and wavelets
~ ( t. In
) this case, all we need to focus on is the dilation equation
and the shift principle to generate a complete basis.
5.3.1 First word of caution. Often, over-zealous researchers,
in order to push the advantages of this newly developed tool
(which, of course, is quite useful for selective problems), overlook
two important factors.
The first one is termed a wavelet crime by Strang and
Nguyen. The problem has to do with the selection of sample values
of the function as the wavelet coefficients. As Strang and Nguyen
point out, ...start with a function ~ ( t )Its. samples x ( n ) are often
the input to the filter bank (to generate the wavelet decomposition).
Is this legal? NO. IT IS A WAVELET CRIME. Some cant imag-
ine doing it, others cant image not doing it. Is this crime conven-
ient? YES. We may not know the whole function n(t), it may not
be a combination of 4(t - k ) , and computing the true coefficients
in x a ( k ) 4 ( t - k ) may take too long. But the crime cannot go
unnoticed-we have to discuss it [20,p. 2321.
The problem is in Equations (71) and (76),where the samples
of x ( n ) are used at the zeroth scale to initiate the pyramid algo-
rithm for doing a discrete wavelet decomposition. As Strang and
Nguyen point out, [20, p. 2321 ...the pyramid algorithm acts on
the numbers x ( n ) as if they were expansion coefficients of its
underlying function x s ( t ) = C x ( n ) @ (-t n ) , i.e.,
Does xs(t) have the correct sample values x ( n ) ? This seems a
minimum requirement. They further point out the correct way to
solve the problem. There is a perennial problem of relating the
sampled values of the function to the continuous function, as the
mapping from the sampled z domain to the continuous s domain is
not unique [21].
5.3.2 Second word of caution. It is possible to generate a
local orthogonal basis, by using the Malvar wavelets, for example
[22]. The Malvar wavelets are basically windowed cosine and,
44 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6,December 1998
possibly, sine functions. Even though they generate orthogonal
bases with some localization, there is a problem, as with the Gabor
basis. Unless the windows have the specific properties as outlined
by Equations (56) to (59) the windowed localized bases of Equa-
tion (61), which are similar to the Malvar wavelets, do not always
provide the correct localization picture in the transformed domain!
6. A discussion of possible choices of the window function
The claim that a particular transform provides simultaneous
localization, strictly in time and frequency, is preposterous. What
we have seen is that if a function is limited in time, it cannot
simultaneously be limited in frequency, Le., bandlimited. Hence,
resolution in time is accomplished at the expense of the frequency,
such that for the best window, we have the situation that the
Heisenberg principle of uncertainty, A t A o 5 112 is satisfied with
the equality. The equality is achieved only for a Gaussian window
function. However, as we have seen for the Gabor transform, the
Gaussian window provides nonphysical power spectral density for
a region of the function localized in time. The wavelet transform
cannot do any better! For all other choices of the window function,
A t A , is > 112.
Other possible choices for the window may be the prolate-
spheroidal functions. Unfortunately the prolate-spheroidal func-
tions are not limited in time, but they are strictly bandlimited. An
altemate choice is to deal with the truncated prolate-spheroidal
functions, which are strictly time limited, but one does not have
any control over the spectrum of such functions [15-171. That is
why a flexible methodology has been developed, where one can
design a window shape that it is finite in time and, in addition, can
focus the energy into a pre-specified band [18, 191.
However, what one may try to do is to have a finite time
window for localizing a process in time. However, its shape can be
manipulated in such a way that it is approximately bandlimited for
most practical purposes, Le., 99.9% of its energy is within a very
narrow prescribed band. Such a construct is called a T pulse. A T
pulse is a pulse limited in time T. Moreover, its spectral content,
Le., 99.9% of its energy, is focussed within a few band times (i.e.,
z),
T
where n is about 2 or 3.
The design of the T pulse is carried out in the discrete
domain. Let us assume a discrete signal sequence f(m), which is
defined for m = 0, 1, 2, ..., N , - 1, and is identically zero outside
these N m values. Let us assume there are N, samples in one baud
time (in an approximate way, the baud time is the time duration
between zero crossings of a signal). Then, the total number of baud
times N, i s
The discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of the signal f(m) is given
by
for k = 0, 1,..., Nk -1
So, in the frequency domain, N k is the total number of sam-
ples of the DFT sequence F ( k ). In the frequency domain, if we
assume there are N,. samples per baud rate (the inverse of baud
time), then

and increasing N,. increases the resolution in the frequency

domain.

In the T pulse construction, the objective is to maximize the

in-band energy within the set 4 = {-Nb I k I Nb}. Or, equiva- In summary, the following observations are of importance.
lently, it minimizes the energy outside the Nb samples. In addi-
I. Note that the objective is to minimize the cost function, J, such
tion, the wave shape has to be orthogonal to its shifted version, and
that E,,, is minimum with em = 0 , and ep = 0 for
this will minimize the inter-symbol interference. This implies that
p = O , l , ..., N , - l .

2. The weights w e , wm, and w p ( p = 0, 1,..., N , - 1 ) should be

m=O adjusted in a search procedure to achieve the above goal.

for k = 0 , 1 , ..., N c - I , The minimization process can be outlined as follows:

where 6 ( k ) is the impulse function. This guarantees that if the Step 1. Choose an initial guess for f (m)and an initial guess
waveform is shifted by a baud time or its multiples, then the wave for the weights we, wm, and w p , p = 0, 1, ..., Ne - 1 .
shape is orthogonal to itself. This is termed zero inter-symbol inter-
ference. Note that when k = 0, it is the square of the function Step 2. Compute the gradient of the functional Jwith respect
itself, and no constraint needs to be put on that. In addition, we to f (m) . This is given by
need to put in a dc constraint, i.e., the wave shape should have no
dc component. Hence,

So, the cost function, J , that will be minimized is

N -1

p=o

where w e , wm, and wp are various weights to the errors E,,,, em,
ep . The weights should be adjusted in a search procedure that has
been designed to minimize J.
In addition,
assuming f ( m ) is real.
Next, an optimum step length to update the signal sequence
f ( m) is chosen, through one-dimensional searches.

E,,, = out-of-band energy

and

m=O
-0.4

N,-1
e, = C f ( m ) f ( m + p N s ) - 6 ( p )for p = l , 2, ..., N c - l . (90) -0.61

m=O -0.8

1
Equivalently, 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100

Time Index
Figure 2. A baseband T pulse with zero mean and uon inter-
m=O symbol interference.

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40,No. 6 , December 1998 45

 20
I Note that throughout the process, we is a fixed nonzero
value, since the absolute value of the total energy is not important.
However, we can be increased during the process, if the in-band
energy to generate the T pulse is unexpectedly low. This may hap-
pen since the cost function may have more than one local mini-
mum, and increasing w e can make one jump out of an undesired
local minimum.

An example is presented, showing the synthesized T pulse in

the time domain, in Figure 2. Its spectrum is in Figure 3. The T
pulse has been designed for Nbaud= 4 , Nband= 130, and for 100
samples. Note that the T pulse has zero mean, and is orthogonal to
its shifted versions. The second figure shows the spectrum of the T
Frequency Index pulse. It is seen that the bandwidth of the Tpulse is 13 units, as
Figure 3. The spectrum of the zero-mean baseband Tpulse. seen from the FFT. As seen, one can design a window function as
shown in Figure 2 that has zero mean and, in addition, has no inter-
symbol interference, i.e., the waveform is orthogonal to its shifted
version. This window function is called the T pulse or the time-
limited pulse. The spectrum of the Tpulse is illustrated in Figure 3,
and is shown to be very highly localized.

To further illustrate the application of time limiting and, practi-

cally, band-limiting a signal, we consider the electromagnetic
scattering from a thin wire. If a Gaussian-shaped pulse excites a
thin-wire antenna 2.0 m in length and with a radius of 0.01 m, then
the current at the center point of the wire is given in Figure 4. If we

-1.5

0 10 20 30 0 50

Time (light-meters)

Figure 4. The current at the center point of a thin-wire antenna

2.0 m in length and with a radius of 0.01 m, excited by a Gaus-
sian-s~apedpulse.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ,o 80 90 100 ,io 120 130

Time Index
Figure 6. A T pulse with a dc value that is not zero.

-30

-40

Frequency Index

Figure 5. The Fourier transform of the current in Figure 4.

Step 3. If the norm of the previous gradient vector is not

small enough, go to Step 2. Otherwise, see whether the -'to

orthogonality errors lepl, for p = 1, 2, ..., N, - 1, are small enough. -120

-.....- ,........ .--..,..I.....
\ , , , , -

If the errors are small enough, stop the process. If the errors are 0 IO 20 30 0 50 SO 0

still considered to be large, increase each w p ( p = 1, 2, ..., N, -1) Frequency Index

by a factor, and then go to Step 2. Figure 7. The spectral content of the Tpulse shown in Figure 6.

46 /Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40,No. 6,December 1998

 1.0
0.9
0.8.
0.7
0.6
0.1
0.4.
0.3.
0.2
0. I
-0.0
-0.1.
w
8 -0.1.
6-0.a
.CI -0.4'
VI -0,s.
-0.6.
-0.7
-0.0

-1.0

0 10 20 30 40 M 110 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

-'O +.--,
0 IO
, . , . . . ~~.
zo 30 0
., . , , . . .
M
~

a 70

Time Index Frequency Index

Figure 8. The amplitude-modulated carrier with the T pulse. Figure 11. The spectral content of the signal in Figure 11.

observe the Fourier transform of the current, it is given in Figure 5.

Now, the question is, it is possible to excite the second resonance
in the wire structure, which is 20 dB down, without exciting the
first resonance? To this effect, we amplitude modulate a carrier
frequency that is at the second resonance by the T pulse. In this
example, we consider a T pulse with a dc value that is not zero, as
is shown in Figure 6. The spectral content of the T pulse is given
by Figure 7. The amplitude-modulated carrier with the T pulse is
E shown in Figure 8. Its spectral content is given in Figure 9.
e
Y Observe that the spectral energy is dominant around the second
Q)
a resonance. Now, if we excite the dipole antenna with this incident
rA pulse of Figure 8, the current at the center is given in Figure 10.
The spectral content is given in Figure 11. From Figure 11, it is
quite clear that it is possible to generate the second resonance
without exciting the dominant first resonance. Hence, this multi-
resolution analysis can have significant potential application in tar-
.IO0 get identification.
0 10 20 30 0 50 60

Frequency Index Finally, we conclude this section by pointing out the differ-
ences between a T pulse and a wavelet. In the T pulse, a window
Figure 9. The spectral content of the signal in Figure 8. has been created that is not only limited in time, but 99% of the
energy is focused in a narrow band and, in this way, an attempt is
made to satisfy the equality in the Heisenberg principle of uncer-
tainty, i.e.,

A,A, 4 0.5.

0.017
0 015 The expansion in Equation (70) can be done in terms of a dilated
0.013.

O.OI,
and shifted version of the T pulse in an approximate fashion. For
0.00s. the wavelets. the decomposition by Equation (70) is essentially
0.007.
exact, and perfect reconstruction can be done, even after the func-
Y 0.00S.

B 0.003.
tions have been down-sampled [4]. Also, in Equation (70), there is
0.001. a desire to limit the number of nonzero coefficients in Equation
-0.001.
(70), to improve the efficiency of the decomposition. This is
-0.003.
-0.005 achieved by enforcing that the pth derivative and all its lower
-0.007. derivatives are zero at co = 0 , Le.,
-0.009.

-0.0,1.

-0.013'
-0.O,S,
(93)
-0.017 \-.-.-.-~,-~.-- , .,.. . . . ... , . . ,.. . .. . ,
0 IO 20 30 0 HI

Time (light-meters)
Depending on the nature of the requirements for the problem of
Figure 10. The current at the center of the dipole antenna, interest, one can use either of the constraints on the window fiinc-
when excited by the incident pulse of Figure 8. tions.

IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 1998 47
7. Conclusion
This paper provided a survey of the short-time Fourier tech-
niques, the Gabor transform, and the wavelet transform. The
strengths and the weaknesses of each method have been identified.
The unity in diversity between the three transforms is the choice of
the appropriate window function. In addition, it has been shown
how to apply numerical-optimization techniques to design a flexi-
ble window function, such that it is strictly time limited, yet 99.9%
of its energy can be focused in a narrow band.
8. Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the suggestions of the
Editor-in-Chief regarding ways to improve the readability of the
article.
9. References
1. C. K. Chui, An Introduction to Wavelets, New York, Academic
Press, 1992.
2. I. Daubechies, Ten Lectures on Wavelets, Philadelphia, Society
of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (CBMS, 61), 1992.
3. R. Gopinath and C. S. Bums, Wavelet Transforms and Filter
Banks, in C. K. Chui (ed.), Wavelets-A Tutorial in Theoly and
Applications, New Nork, Academic Press, 1992, pp. 603-654.
4. P. P. Vaidyanathan, Multirate Systems and Filter Banks, New
Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1993.
5. F. I. Tseng, T. K. Sarkar, and D. D. Weiner, A Novel Window
for Harmonic Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech
andsignal Processing, April 1981, pp. 177-188.
6. W. F. Walker, T. K. Sarkar, F. I. Tseng, andD. D. Weiner, Car-
rier Frequency Estimation Based on the Location of the Spectral
Peak of a Windowed Sample of Carrier Plus Noise, IEEE Trans-
actions on Instrumentation and Measurements, IM-31, December
1982, pp. 239-249.
7. W. F. Walker, T. K. Sarkar, F. I. Tseng, and J. Cross, Optimum
Windows for Carrier Frequency Estimation, IEEE Transactions
on Geoscience Electronics, GE-21, October 1983, pp. 446-454.
8. D. Gabor, Theory of Communications, Journal of the Institute
for Electrical Engineers, November 1946, pp. 429-457.
9. J. E. Roach, A Vector Space Approach to Time-Variant Energy
Spectral Analysis, PhD thesis, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New
York, 1982.
10. M. Bastiaans, Gabors Expansion of a Signal into Gaussian
Elementary Signals, Proceedings ofthe IEEE, 68, April 1980, pp.
538-539.
11. R. Lemer, Representation of Signals, in E. Baghdady (ed.),
Lectures on Communrcation Svstem Theow, New York, McGraw-
Hill, 1961, Chapter 10.
12. G. A. Nelson, L. L. Pfeiffer, and R. C. Wood, High Speed
Octave Band Digital Filtering, IEEE Transactions on Audio and
Electroacoustics, AU-20, March 1972, pp. 8-65.
48 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 6 , December 1998
13. R. W. Schafer, L. R. Rabiner, and 0. Herrmann, FIR Digital
Filter Banks for Speech Analysis, Bell System Technical Journal,
54, March 1975, pp. 531-544.
14. J. L. Flanagan, Speech Analysis, Synthesis and Perception,
New York, Springer-Verlag, 1972.
15. I. Gerst and J. Diamond, The Elimination of Intersymbol
Interference by Input Signal Shaping, Proceedings of the IRE, 19,
1963, pp. 1195-1203.
16. P. H. Halpern, Optimum Finite Duration Nyquist Signals,
IEEE Transactions on Communications, COM-27, June 1979, pp.
886-888.
17. E. Panayirci and N. Tugbay, Optimum Design of Finite Dura-
tion Nyquist Signals, Signal Processing, 7,1984, pp. 57-64.
18. Y. Hua and T. K. Sarkar, Design of Optimum Discrete Finite
Duration Orthogonal Nyquist Signals, IEEE Transactions on
Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, ASSP-36, 4, April 1988,
pp. 606-608.
19. T. K. Sarkar, S. M. Naryana, H. Wang, M. Wicks, and M.
Salazar-Palma, Wavelets and T-pulses, in L. Carin and L. B.
Felsen (eds.), Ultra- Wideband Short-Pulse Electromagnetics 2,
New York, Plenum Press, 1995, pp. 475-485.
20. G. Strang and T. Nguyen, Wavelets and Filter Banks,
Wellesley Cambridge Press, 1996.
21. T. K. Sarkar, N. Radhaknshna, and H. Chen, Survey of Vari-
ous z-Domain to s-Domain Transformations, IEEE Transactions
on Instrumentation and Measurements, IM-35, December 1986,
pp. 508-520.
22. M. Vettereli and J. Kovacevic, Wavelets and Subband Coding,
New York, Prentice Hall, 1995.
Introducing Feature Article Authors
Tapan Kumar Sarkar received the B. Tech. degree from the
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, the MScE degree
from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada, and
the MS and PhD degrees from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New
York in 1969, 1971, and 1975, respectively.
From 1975 to 1976, he was with the TACO Division of the
General Instruments Corporation. From 1976 to 1985, he was with
the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N Y . From 1977
to 1978, he was a Research Fellow at the Gordon McKay Labora-
tory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. He is now a Professor
in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Syra-
cuse University; Syracuse, N Y . He has authored or co-authored
more than 170 joumal articles, and has written chapters in ten
books. His current research interests deal with numerical solutions
of operator equations arising in electromagnetics and signal proc-
essing, with application to system design.
Dr. Sarkar is a registered Professional Engineer in the State
of New York. He was an Associate Editor for Feature Articles of
the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Newsletter, and he
was the Technical Program Chairman for the 1988 IEEE Antennas ~ ~~

and Propagation Society International Symposium and URSI

Radio Science Meeting. He was the Chairman of the Inter-Com-
SENIOR
mission Working Group of URSI on Time-Domain Metrology. He N A DESIGN ENGINEER
is a member of Sigma Xi and USNC/URSI Commissions A and B. South Florida
He received one of the best solution awards in May, 1977, at the
Rome Air Development Center (RADC) Spectral Estimation
Workshop. He received the Best Paper Award of the IEEE Truns-
actions on Electromagnetic Compatibility in 1979, and at the 1997
National Radar Conference. He is a Fellow of the IEEE. He
received the degree of Docteur Honoris Causa from the UniversitC
Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 1998.
Senior level position with South
Florida avionics company. Design
Chaowei Su was bom in Jiangsu, Peoples Republic of experience with Broad Band
China, on April 23, 1961. He received the BS and MSc degrees Aircraft Antennas from 1 MHz to
from Northwestem Polytechnical University (NPU), both in the 5 GHz desirable. BSEE or higher
Department of Applied Mathematics, in 1981 and 1986, respec- Degree required. Full benefits.
tively. He joined the Department of Applied Mathematics at NPU
in 1982. Mr. Su was appointed as an Associate Professor and a full
Professor at NPU in 1993 and 1996, respectively. He was a Visit-
ing Scholar at S U N Y , Stony Brook, New York, USA, between
December, 1990, and June, 1992, supported by a Grumman Fel- DAYTON-GRANGER, INC.
lowship. Since August, 1996, he has been a Visiting Professor at P.O. Box 350550
Syracuse University, USA. He is an author of Numerical Methods Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33335
in Inverse Problems of Partial Differential Equations and Their TEL: 954-463-3451
Applications (published by NPU Press). His main research interests
are in the area of numerical methods of electromagnetic scattering
FAX: 954-761-3172
and inverse scattering, and inverse problems of partial differential
WWW.daytongranger.com
equations.
E-mail: sales@daytongranger.com
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