In this paper, signals in
![(L)_{2}(- \\infty , t]](/images/tex/4295.gif)
, a subspace of the space of square integrable signals defined on
![(- \\infty , t]](/images/tex/4296.gif)
, are approximated by signals in
![(L)_{2}^{1}(- \\infty , t]](/images/tex/4297.gif)
, the one-dimensional subspace of
![(L)_{2}(- \\infty , t]](/images/tex/4295.gif)
spanned by the first function from the set of reversed time Laguerre functions. A system mapping
![(L)_{2}(- \\infty , t]](/images/tex/4295.gif)
into itself is associated with a system mapping
![(L)_{2}^{1}(- \\infty t]](/images/tex/4298.gif)
into itself; the latter system is characterized by a gain-exponential describing function. This type of describing function is developed as an analysis tool for studying the transient response of a large class of nonlinear feedback systems. The contraction-mapping fixed-point theorem is used to develop conditions for the existence of a solution prior to the use of the exponential describing function to obtain an approximate solution.