Generalizations of the Sign Detector Based on Conditional Tests

Generalizations of the simple sign detector are considered for nonparametric detection. Nonparametric operation is obtained with only a symmetry assumption on the noise density functions, by basing the detectors on conditional statistical tests. The performance (both asymptotic and finite-sample, finite-signal) of the generalized sign detector is shown to be very good compared to the Wilcoxon detector and to the linear detector, whereas the detector structure remains simple.