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Work out the autocorrelation

$r_Y(\tau) = E[Y(t)Y(t+\tau)]$

with $Y(t) = \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(t-u) x(u)$ and $X$ a WSS, ergodic process

I always get: $h(t)* h(t+\tau) * r_X(\tau)$ (with $*$ convolution)

My approach

(after multiplication)

$\int h(t-u) ( \int h(t+\tau -u')r_X(u'-u) \text{d}u' ) \text{d}u$

The inner integral is the definition of a convolution hence $= \int h(t-u) ( h(t+\tau)*r_x(t+\tau-u) ) \text{d}u$

This gives again a convolution integral with time variable t. so,

$= h(t)* h(t+\tau) * r_X(\tau) $

Correct solution:

$ r_X(\tau) * h(\tau) * h(-\tau) $

Question

What am I doing wrong?

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    $\begingroup$ This question is difficult because the notation doesn't make sense. Presumably, $h=g$. (If not, what is $h$?) Convolution is an operation on functions whereas expressions like $h(\tau)$ and $h(-\tau)$ are numbers. Thus, for instance, it makes sense to write expressions like $$(h * r_X)(t)=\int_\mathbb{R}h(t-u)r_X(u)du$$ but this is not equal to "$h(t)*r_X(t)$," which has no meaning. Because of this confusion, after a good start to the solution things begin to go awry at the second step when "$*$" first appears. If you straighten out this notation you might find the problem is simple. $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 18:35
  • $\begingroup$ @whuber Thank you for clearing this up. So that means that the presented solution is nonsense? $\endgroup$
    – tgoossens
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 19:40
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure--it depends on what you really mean by the "$h$" notation. I'm struggling to make sense of it, but maybe I'm overlooking something that's obvious to you. $\endgroup$
    – whuber
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 19:58
  • $\begingroup$ @whuber sorry. I've corrected it (g had to be h) h is the impulse response of a linear system. $\endgroup$
    – tgoossens
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 20:43

1 Answer 1

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An adapted and enhanced version of an answer of mine on dsp.SE

Suppose that $$\begin{align*} Y(t) &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s)X(t-s)\,\mathrm ds \tag{1} \end{align*} $$ If we define the crosscorrelation function $R_{X,Y}(\tau)$ as $$R_{X,Y}(\tau) = E[X(t-\tau)Y(t)],\tag{2}$$ then $$\begin{align*} R_{X,Y}(\tau) &= E\left[X(t-\tau)\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s)X(t-s)\,\mathrm ds\right]\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s)E[X(t-\tau)X(t-s)]\,\mathrm ds\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s)R_X(\tau-s)\,\mathrm ds. \end{align*}$$ In short, $R_{X,Y} = h\star R_X.$ Next, consider $$\begin{align} R_Y(\tau) &= E[Y(t-\tau)Y(t)]\\ &= E\left[\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s)X(t-\tau-s)\,\mathrm ds \,Y(t)\right] &{\scriptstyle{\text{substituting from} ~ (1)}}\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s) E[X(t-\tau-s)Y(t)]\,\mathrm ds\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(s) R_{X,Y}(\tau+s)\,\mathrm ds\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \tilde{h}(-s) R_{X,Y}(\tau+s)\,\mathrm ds &{\scriptstyle{\tilde{h}(t) = h(-t)\ \forall \, t ~\text{is the time-reversed impulse response}}}\\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \tilde{h}(\lambda) R_{X,Y}(\tau-\lambda)\,\mathrm d\lambda &{\scriptstyle{\text{substitute}~ \lambda = -s}} \end{align}$$ that is, $R_Y = \tilde{h}\star R_{X,Y}$, and it follows that $$R_Y = \tilde{h}\star h \star R_X = (\tilde{h}\star h)\star R_X = R_h\star R_X$$ where $\tilde{h}(t) = h(-t)$ for all $t$ is the time-reversed impulse response and $R_h = \tilde{h}*h$ is the autocorrelation function of the deterministic signal $h(t)$. Translated to the frequency domain, this gives the power spectral density relationship $$S_Y(f) = |H(f)|^2 S_X(f).$$

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