This paper presents a new approach to the explicit identification of a
n input time delay in continuous-time linear systems. The system model
is converted to a discrete-time version, assuming that a digital comp
uter is to be used for time delay estimation and control. A recursive
identification algorithm based on parallel Kalman filtering and Bayes'
estimation is developed. The sampling rate is adapted during the time
delay estimation process using the most recent estimate of the time d
elay. This method assures that the estimate of the time delay approach
es the true value with each successive iteration. The proposed method
also has the advantage of a fast convergence rate because prior knowle
dge of the delay, if available, can be effectively utilized.