Two-dimensional polynomial phase signals: Parameter estimation and bounds

This paper considers the problem of parametric modeling and estimation of nonhomogeneous two-dimensional (2-D) signals. In particular, we focus our study on the class of constant modulus polynomial-phase 2-D nonhomogeneous signals. We present two different phase models and develop computationally efficient estimation algorithms for the parameters of these models. Both algorithms are based on phase differencing operators. The basic properties of the operators are analyzed and used to develop the estimation algorithms. The Cramer-Rao lower bound on the accuracy of jointly estimating the model parameters is derived, for both models. To get further insight on the problem we also derive the asymptotic Cramer-Rao bounds. The performance of the algorithms in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise is illustrated by numerical examples, and compared with the corresponding exact and asymptotic Cramer-Rao bounds. The algorithms are shown to be robust in the presence of noise, and their performance close to the CRB, even at moderate signal to noise ratios.