Transient signal detection using higher order moments

The asymptotic performance of transient detection based on higher order mom ents is theoretically derived, invoking the asymptotic normality of the dec ision statistics, and a detector based on the third-order absolute moment i s proposed. The analysis shows that for transient duration less than half t he observation window, the proposed detector outperforms the detectors base d on the second- and fourth-order moments for a wide range of SNR values. C omputer simulations assess the applicability of the theoretical analysis.