A New Kind of Matched Filter

In this article, an attempt is made to bring together the method of frequency filters, designed to separate signals whose spectra are nonoverlapping without regard to the statistical properties of the signals being separated, and the method of "optimum filters" (Wiener, Zadeh-Ragazzini) where the desired signal and the interference are specified by their power spectral densities or their autocorrelation functions. Thus a class of new filters is defined; their fundamental properties are studied and a number of examples are furnished. Finally, a comparison is made, referring to a particular case, with the method of Zadeh and Ragazzini.