USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Brian K Meadows

Ardeshir Ratan Bulsara

William Lawrence Ditto

Mario E Inchiosa

John F Lindner

The invention exploits the phenomenon of stochastic resonance in a nonlinear dynamic system to enhance the system's response to a weak periodic signal locally corrupted by background noise. The invention is designed to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the system's output power spectrum at the periodic signal's frequency. This technique utilizes an array of nonlinear dynamic elements whose individual outputs are specifically coupled to other array elements. The coupling is found to substantially enhance the output SNR over what would be expected from a signal processor based upon a single such element. This principle has the potential to substantially enhance the performance of arrays of nonlinear devices; in fact, the nonlinear array can be expected to yield an output SNR that is very close to that obtainable by an array of ideal linear devices, so that the coupling actually 'linearizes' the nonlinear system. The output SNR enhancement is found to correlate with enhanced signal detection performance.

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Fayetteville, GA, United States of America

Brian K Meadows