Robustness of the sign detector in dependent noise

The sign detector is an easily implemented signal detector which has classic appeal especially in situations where a great deal of uncertainty exists regarding the underlying noise situations. However, actual success in the application of this detector is strongly influenced by its robustness to several factors which may violate textbook assumptions regarding the detector but which arise in practise nevertheless. In this paper we investigate the robustness of the sign detector to a variety of such factors and discuss how the detector may be modified to better admit dependent data by making use of the robustness measure we derive.