Patent ID: 8213550

Claim:
A method for processing received electromagnetic signals present in a first, wide band of frequencies comprising: down-converting said received electromagnetic signals to an intermediate frequency band; channelizing signals in the intermediate frequency band into a plurality of narrower band channels within said intermediate frequency band; inputting the intermediate frequency signals into a programmable narrowband filter; forming a set of original descriptors, with each original descriptor corresponding to an associated output signal of each of the plurality of channels and characterizing said output signal; storing the set of original descriptors in a computer-readable memory; in a processor, analyzing each original descriptor to determine if further processing is warranted according to predetermined criteria; for each original descriptor warranting further processing, selecting one or more corresponding analysis methods from a library of available analysis methods; based at least in part on the selected analysis methods, adjusting the programming of the programmable narrowband filter and forming a new descriptor of its output; and augmenting a corresponding stored original descriptor in said computer readable memory with the new descriptor, to form an augmented descriptor.