Complex analytic signals applied on time delay estimation

In this paper, we present the concept of the time delay estimation based on the transformation of real sensor signals into analytic ones. We analyze the differential time delay values obtained using real seismic signals, simulated complex analytic signals and simulated complex analytic signals with real parts coming from real seismic signals. The simulation results indicate that the application of complex analytic signals leads to reliable computation of the differential time delay. The influence of specific signal parameters on spectral coherence threshold in systems for passive localization and proposed methods for lowering the threshold is analyzed. The computation of all differential time delays with respect to the reference sensor (geophone) is based on the application of Generalized Cross-Correlation (GCC) applied on corresponding analytic signals. The difficulties to select a peak of cross-correlation function that corresponds to true differential time delay when dealing with real signals are significantly reduced if GCC is applied on analytic signals. The efficiency of the proposed technique on differential delay estimation is performed on deterministic and real-life signals.