Periodic signals with minimal power fluctuations.

In this article, Pumplin's algorithm [J. Pumplin, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 78, 100-104 (1985)] is used to find periodic waveforms with minimal power fluctuations. Starting with a particular power spectrum, the algorithm can find a set of phases for the harmonics such that the variance in waveform power is a minimum or near a minimum. Such optimized waveforms are smooth and tend to have very small crest factors. The particular power spectra chosen for study include narrow- and wideband spectra, with emphasis given to signals that are useful in research in psychoacoustics and in physiological acoustics.