† Corresponding author. E-mail:
The conventional Duffing oscillator weak signal detection method, which is based on a strong reference signal, has inherent deficiencies. To address these issues, the characteristics of the Duffing oscillatorʼs phase trajectory in a small-scale periodic state are analyzed by introducing the theory of stopping oscillation system. Based on this approach, a novel Duffing oscillator weak wide-band signal detection method is proposed. In this novel method, the reference signal is discarded, and the to-be-detected signal is directly used as a driving force. By calculating the cosine function of a phase space angle, a single Duffing oscillator can be used for weak wide-band signal detection instead of an array of uncoupled Duffing oscillators. Simulation results indicate that, compared with the conventional Duffing oscillator detection method, this approach performs better in frequency detection intervals, and reduces the signal-to-noise ratio detection threshold, while improving the real-time performance of the system.
Research on weak signal detection is very important in many fields.[1,2] Traditional weak signal detection methods primarily involve the filtering of noise, but these methods can potentially alter the useful signal during this process. Therefore, in general, when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is less than −10 dB, it is difficult to extract weak signals against a background of noise.[3] Chaotic systems are different from the traditional methods in that they are immune to noise and sensitive to a specific signal, which means that they are particularly suitable for weak signal detection under noisy conditions.[4–7]
The Duffing oscillator is one of the classic nonlinear systems that have been extensively studied for weak signal detection.[8–11] In addition, many researchers have investigated the combination of Duffing oscillators and other detection methods for weak signal detection with positive results.[12–14] The effectiveness of these approaches under a low SNR has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically.[15] Based on the intermittency transition between order and chaos, the detection and estimation of a weak signal with unknown frequency can be quantitatively studied.[16] As this method has been validated earlier, numerous additional studies have been performed with regard to the efficiency of the approach. For instance, using two coupled Duffing oscillator systems, harmonious wave and square wave signals can be detected under a strong colored noise background.[17] Combining chaos theory with cross-correlation detection, a weak signal can be detected when the SNR is reduced to −77 dB.[18] All of the Duffing oscillator detection methods in Refs. [16–18] addressed the low-frequency weak signals, and did not consider large-bandwidth high-frequency signals. However, the SNR detection threshold of Duffing oscillator systems deteriorates rapidly with the irregularity and increase of the weak signal frequency. Therefore, a Duffing oscillator capable of detecting weak signals with arbitrary frequencies needs to be investigated.
An extended Duffing oscillator model was used to effectively detect weak high-frequency partial discharge signals.[19] A weak signal detection approach based on the generalized parameter-adjusted SR (GPASR) model is proposed.[20] By combining the advantages of FPGA and the Duffing oscillator, a novel state detector, phase trajectory auto-correlation, is introduced for state detection of Duffing oscillators.[21] The Duffing oscillator systems in Refs. [19–21] eliminated the limitation of small frequency parameters. It should be noted that all the Duffing oscillator detection methods previously mentioned are based on a strong reference signal, i.e., they depend on the phase transition from chaotic to large-scale periodic motion. However, this phase transition process is difficult to identify accurately, and the critical threshold corresponding to the critical state is greatly affected by many factors.[22] In addition, the inherent deficiencies of the conventional Duffing oscillator detection method, which is based on a strong reference signal, were not considered.[23]
In this investigation, our objective was to maximize the frequency detection interval of a single Duffing oscillator, while avoiding the effects of the inherent deficiencies of this method on the detection accuracy. Firstly, based on the theory of the stopping oscillation system, which is sensitive to a certain driving force and immune to a zero mean random small perturbation,[24] the Duffing oscillator detection system based on the small-scale periodic state is proposed. Then, using the phase trajectory characteristics, a new method for weak wide-band signal frequency detection based on this system is also proposed. This method not only overcomes the disadvantages of a conventional Duffing oscillator detection method which is based on a strong reference signal, but also realizes the frequency detection of wide-band signals using a simpler structure. Finally, we investigated the performance of the proposed method. Simulation results show that this approach can achieve a lower SNR detection threshold, which provides a new solution for Duffing oscillator weak wide-band signal detection.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section
The stochastic differential equation can be given as[24]
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s.t.
i)
ii) When the input is a periodic signal, equation (
Under this circumstance, the system corresponding to Eq. (
According to the definition, in the stopping oscillation system, the state transition from stopping oscillation state to periodic or quasi-periodic state is sensitive to a periodic signal and immune to noise. Thus, it provides a new idea for detecting weak periodic signals with unknown frequencies.
The conventional Duffing oscillator detection system based on a strong reference signal can be described by the following equation:[25,26]
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Using the conventional Duffing oscillator detection method which is based on a strong reference signal, a weak periodic signal buried in noise can be detected via the phase transition from chaos to large-scale periodic motion.[27]
However, there are several inherent deficiencies in the conventional Duffing oscillator detection method.
i) There is a non-detection zone when detecting a weak signal with a frequency which is identical to the reference signal frequency. In this zone, the system always remains in chaotic motion, which means that the signal cannot be detected by the phase transition.[22]
ii) The critical threshold varies with the reference signal frequency and the intensity of the background noise.[23]
iii) The frequency detection interval of a single Duffing oscillator is very narrow. Therefore, for an unknown weak signal, an array of uncoupled Duffing oscillators must be used to cover the whole frequency domain, but it may also lead to greater computational cost and time in the process.
iv) There is a transition section in the transition process from the initial value or chaotic motion to the large-scale periodic motion. Therefore, more time is required to determine the current state of the system. Otherwise, this may lead to misjudgment, and to a reduction of the detection accuracy.[28]
To eschew these deficiencies without the reference signal, a weak signal detection system driven only by a to-be-detected signal buried in noise, can be given as
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Generally, an equivalent transformation of Eq. (
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Based on Hamiltonian system theory, when
The phase trajectories of the Duffing oscillator system in Eq. (
![]() | Fig. 2. (color online) Phase trajectories of the system in Eq. (![]() ![]() |
To facilitate the subsequent analysis and calculations, it is necessary to make the phase points uniformly distributed in four quadrants as far as possible. Thus, equation (
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In this paper, the Duffing oscillator system in a small-scale periodic state in Eq. (
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In Section
A large number of simulation results reveal that the phase trajectory is irregular when the system is in the stopping oscillation state; while the phase trajectory is regular when the system is in the small-scale periodic state. More importantly, when the Duffing oscillator system is in the latter state, the phase trajectory has the same periodicity with the to-be-detected signal. Using this knowledge, the phase space angle can be used for weak periodic signal detection.
Defining ϕ as the phase space angle corresponding to the phase point (x, y) in the phase plane, the sine and cosine functions of ϕ can be given as
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It is well known that x and y are the displacement and velocity of the Duffing oscillator, respectively. Therefore, the periodic characteristics of the phase trajectory can be described using sine and cosine functions.
Setting the system initial value (x,y) = (0,0), and adding the to-be-detected signal
![]() | Fig. 4. (color online) Time series of the to-be-detected signal and the sine cosine curves (a) sinusoidal signal ![]() |
From the above analysis, it can be found that even though the noise intensity is large, the sine cosine curves can still accurately reflect the frequencies of the to-be-detected signals. Therefore, when the Duffing oscillator is in the small-scale periodic state and the SNR is higher than −50 dB, we can use sine cosine curves for frequency detection.
In addition, when the frequency difference between the reference signal and the to-be-detected signal is too large, the output (x, y) of the Duffing oscillator cannot respond well to the rapid changes of the to-be-detected signal, and the periodic characteristics of the small-scale periodic state would be destroyed. As seen in Fig.
Based on the above studies, a novel Duffing oscillator weak signal detection method based on the small-scale periodic state is proposed to detect weak wide-band signals. The specific implementation can be described as follows.
i) Initializing the parameters: initial value of the Duffing system (0, 0), the damping ratio k = 0.5.
ii) Selecting a value within
iii) Adding the to-be-detected signal buried in noise to the Duffing oscillator system in the small-scale periodic state in Eq. (
iv) Setting the starting point of the search data to avoid the influence of the transition section on the frequency detection accuracy. Then, using the peaks of the cosine curve and its corresponding time series to calculate the cosine curve frequency, which is considered to be the measured value of the to-be-detected signal frequency.
Furthermore, we can detect periodic signals in different frequency bands by changing the reference signal frequency.
In this section, three scenarios are considered which include the Duffing oscillator system is driven by (i) periodic signals, (ii) divergent or attenuation oscillator signals, and (iii) chirp signals. For each scenario, the initial value of the Duffing oscillator systems is (x,y) = (0,0), the reference signal angular frequency is ω = 2π f = 2π ×1000 rad/s, and the frequency detection accuracy can be given as
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In the first scenario, the periodic signal is used as a driving force and added to the Duffing oscillator system in Eq. (
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For to-be-detected periodic signals, Table
![]() | Table 1.
Frequency detection intervals of a single Duffing oscillator driven by periodic signals at different SNRs. The notation—implies that the detection failed. . |
When the to-be-detected signal frequency is outside the frequency detection interval, Figure
The influence of the to-be-detected signal amplitudes on the frequency detection intervals of a single Duffing oscillator also needs to be discussed. For example, when the SNR is 0 dB, keeping other parameters unchanged and increasing A to 0.01 or 0.02 from 0.004, respectively, as seen in Fig.
In the second scenario, the divergent or attenuation oscillation signals are used as driving forces, and are given as
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Adding the divergent oscillation signal as a driving force to the Duffing oscillator system in Eq. (
![]() | Fig. 9. Phase trajectories driven by the divergent oscillation signals in (a) small-scale periodic motion; (b) double-periodic motion. |
Similarly, taking the attenuation oscillation signal as a driving force, Figure
Figure
For divergent or attenuation oscillation signals, in order to compare the detection ability of the proposed method with the detection method based on a strong reference signal, Tables
![]() | Table 2.
Frequency detection intervals of a single Duffing oscillator driven by divergent oscillation signals. The notation – implies the detection failed. . |
![]() | Table 3.
Frequency detection intervals of a single Duffing oscillator driven by attenuation oscillation signals. The notation – implies the detection failed. . |
In addition, to study the influence of the initial amplitude on the frequency detection intervals of a single Duffing oscillator, Figure
In the last scenario, the chirp signal is used as a driving force, which can be given as
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Adding chirp signals with different frequency change rates to the Duffing oscillator system in Eq. (
![]() | Fig. 14. Frequency detection accuracy (η) for chirp signals based on the small-scale periodic state of the Duffing oscillator. |
Using the conventional detection method based on a strong reference signal, we can obtain the frequency of the to-be-detected signal only when the SNR is not less than −20 dB and the frequency change rate is less than 15. Otherwise, this approach cannot complete the chirp signal frequency detection, as shown in Fig.
![]() | Fig. 15. (color online) Frequency detection accuracies for (η) chirp signals based on a strong reference signal. |
Besides, instead of an array of uncoupled Duffing oscillators, the proposed method only requires a single Duffing oscillator for weak signal detection which has a significantly lower computational burden compared to the method based on a strong reference signal.
In this paper, a weak wide-band signal detection method based on the small-scale periodic state of a Duffing oscillator is proposed. In order to eschew the deficiencies of a conventional Duffing oscillator detection method based on a strong reference signal, the to-be-detected signal buried in noise is considered as the driving force. Then, the cosine function of the phase space angles was used to detect the weak signal frequency when the system is in the small-scale periodic state. Simulation results demonstrate that the frequency detection interval of a single Duffing oscillator was significantly improved, which means that the proposed method is more suitable for detecting the existence of a weak wide-band signal and extracting its frequency with a higher speed. In addition, the approach reduces the detection threshold of the input SNR and improves the detection accuracy and real-time performance.
It is noteworthy that the frequency detection interval of a single Duffing oscillator is reduced when the SNR is low, which improves the adaptability of the reference signal frequency. By modifying the developed algorithm, the frequency detection interval could be further expanded.
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