Time–Frequency Analysis in $$\mathbb {R}^n$$

Abstract A time–frequency transform is a sesquilinear mapping from a suitable family of test functions to functions on the time–frequency plane. The goal is to quantify the energy present in the signal at any given time and frequency. The transform is further specified by imposing conditions such as those stemming from basic transformations of signals and those which an energy density should satisfy. We present a systematic study on how properties of a time–frequency transform are reflected in the associated evaluation at time–frequency origin, integral kernel and quantization and discuss some examples of time–frequency transforms.