Event detection and period extraction using multi-scale symmetry and entropy

We present a system for detecting discrete periodic events over a short interval and in the presence of interference. In the first stage symmetries are identified using scale-space representation. This process detects signal events with a low signal-to-noise ratio but has the potential to introduce a number of false responses. This process is followed by an entropy-based algorithm that can robustly extract periodicities from a set of observed discrete events in the presence of a large number of false alarms. The event detection and period extraction processes have a low computational cost and can extract signal periodicity after a short observation time. This scheme was evaluated against four previously reported methods. Results demonstrate that the period extraction algorithm presented here is more reliable than three of the previously reported algorithms. The reliability of the algorithm presented here was similar to that of the fourth method but the computational cost was much less.