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Definitions of Total Estimators of Common Time-Domain Variances
Published
Author(s)
David A. Howe, Trudi K. Peppler
Abstract
This paper summarizes the definitions and properties of frequency and time variance estimators based on the "total" approach. These definitions and properties are not available in one document, yet this statistical approach produces variance estimates with the best confidence, as indicated by equivalent degrees of freedom (edf), for the time-domain sample variances most frequently used to analyze the stability of oscillators. There are differences in the total approach as applied to each variance because each variance reports noise levels for a specific range of power-law noise processes. Development of these total definitions has been motivated by the goal of realizing the highest edf and the lowest bias across this range while keeping the algorithms relatively simple.
Howe, D.
and Peppler, T.
(2001),
Definitions of Total Estimators of Common Time-Domain Variances, 2001 Int. IEEE Frequency Control Symposium , Seattle, WA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=105282
(Accessed October 9, 2025)