Patent ID: 7720644

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of spectral estimation of a signal represented by a data stream D of sampled data from that signal, the method comprising: (1) selecting a first set of samples from the data stream D; (2) initializing a combined set of samples with said first set; (3) selecting a set of data samples which is not in the combined set of samples; (4) combining the selected set of data samples with the combined set of samples to create an updated combined set of samples; (5) determining a measure of signal-to-noise ratio of an estimated spectrum for the updated combined set of samples; (6) comparing said determined measure to a target measure determined for a target signal-to-noise ratio; (7) repeating steps (3)-(6) until said determined measure has a predetermined relationship to said target measure; and (8) providing said estimated spectrum as an output representing said signal.