High-order synchrosqueezed wavelet-chirplet transform for instantaneous frequency and chirprate estimation

The separation of multicomponent signals with crossing instantaneous frequency (IF) curves remains a fundamental challenge in time-frequency analysis. Although the synchrosqueezed wavelet-chirplet transform (SWCT) enhances time-frequency readability by introducing a chirprate variable, its effectiveness is constrained by the underlying assumption of local linear chirp. Consequently, this method does not perform well when analyzing signals characterized by strong frequency modulation. This paper extends the SWCT framework by relaxing the linear chirp assumption. We model signal components as having polynomial phase behavior over short intervals and derive compact expressions for high-order IF and chirprate reassignment operators. The proposed high-order synchrosqueezed wavelet-chirplet transform (HSWCT) enables accurate estimation of both IF and chirprate, and supports robust mode retrieval even with intersecting IF curves. Another key contribution is a rigorous mathematical analysis of the approximation errors of arbitrary-order reassignment operators for IF and chirprate estimation. When the chirprate vanishes, HSWCT simplifies to the traditional high-order synchrosqueezed wavelet transform. To our best knowledge, no theoretical analysis exists in the literature on the approximation of arbitrary-order SST IF reassignment operators to the IF. As a by-product of this work, our established theorem provides such an analysis, thereby filling a gap in the theoretical framework of high-order SSTs.

Synchrosqueezed X-Ray Wavelet-Chirplet Transform for Accurate Chirp Rate Estimation and Retrieval of Modes from Multicomponent Signals with Crossover Instantaneous Frequencies

Recent advances in the chirplet transform and wavelet-chirplet transform (WCT) have enabled the estimation of instantaneous frequencies (IFs) and chirprates, as well as mode retrieval from multicomponent signals with crossover IF curves. However, chirprate estimation via these approaches remains less accurate than IF estimation, primarily due to the slow decay of the chirplet transform or WCT along the chirprate direction. To address this, the synchrosqueezed chirplet transform (SCT) and multiple SCT methods were proposed, achieving moderate improvements in IF and chirprate estimation accuracy. Nevertheless, a novel approach is still needed to enhance the transform's decay along the chirprate direction. This paper introduces an X-ray transform-based wavelet-chirprate transform, termed the X-ray wavelet-chirplet transform (XWCT), which exhibits superior decay along the chirprate direction compared to the WCT. Furthermore, third-order synchrosqueezed variants of the WCT and XWCT are developed to yield sharp time-frequency-chirprate representations of signals. Experimental results demonstrate that the XWCT achieves significantly faster decay along the chirprate axis, while the third-order synchrosqueezed XWCT enables accurate IF and chirprate estimation, as well as mode retrieval, without requiring multiple synchrosqueezing operations.