Review of Weak Signals Detection Methods

In engineering application, the weak signals generated by the system during operation are useful in determining the working status of the system. But such effective signals are usually masked by strong noise, making it difficult to extract useful information. Therefore, it is particularly important to study weak signal detection technology. This article introduces some weak signal detection methods including linear method and nonlinear method. Linear detection methods can be generally divided into time domain analysis, frequency domain analysis and Time-Frequency analysis. Nonlinear method includes Chaos theory, Stochastic resonance method, differential oscillator and adaptive decomposition, which are the main nonlinear detection methods for weak signals. Then, this article analyzes the application scope, advantages, and disadvantages of these weak signal detection methods and summarized for future prospects.