Empirical Bayes approach to -ary detection (Corresp.)

An empirical Bayes procedure is introduced for -ary detection in a statistically undefined noise background. The Bayes decision rule, which depends on a set of nuisance parameters, is formed first from sample qualitative information so that the requirement of known noise distribution can be relaxed. The rule is then approximated by estimating the nuisance parameters. The resulting empirical procedure possesses the desirable property of consistency and is simple to implement.