COST-BENEFIT CRITERION FOR SELECTION OF PULSED DOPPLER ULTRASOUND SPECTRAL MEAN FREQUENCY AND BANDWIDTH ESTIMATORS

A flexible selection criterion for spectral estimators based on the we ighted statistical accuracy (benefit) of estimation of decisive spectr al parameters under the constraint of low computational complexity (co st) is proposed. This new cost/benefit criterion also selects the mode l order for parametric spectral estimators - selecting model orders si gnificantly lower than those determined by accepted criteria. The impo rtance of different Doppler signal parameters (e.g., mean frequency an d spectral bandwidth) and their accuracy of estimation is incorporated by the use of weighting factors. The use of this method with simulate d Doppler signals led to the selection of the modified covariance Alt estimator.