Analysis of a discrete complex sinusoid frequency estimator based on single-delay multiplication method

A statistical analysis of the single-delay multiplication based frequency estimator is treated here. The single-delay multiplication frequency estimator for complex single sinusoid signals is a phase averaged estimator, which is similar to the Kay's estimator. Here we provide a study on the statistical distribution of the frequency estimates made by the estimator, and verify the analytical results using simulations. It is shown that the analytical results hold true even at very low signal to noise ratio levels. In deriving the probability density function of the frequency estimates, we explore the cross product noise terms resulting due to the multiplication operation of the estimator by making valid assumptions.