The asymptotic CRLB for the spectrum of ARMA processes

This paper addresses the issue of quantifying the frequency domain accuracy of autoregressive moving average (ARMA) spectral estimates as dictated by the Cramér–Rao lower bound (CRLB). Classical work in this area has led to expressions that are asymptotically exact as both data length and model order tend to infinity, although they are commonly used in finite model order and finite data length settings as approximations. More recent work has established quantifications that, for AR models, are exact for finite model order. By employing new analysis methods based on rational orthonormal parameterizations, together with the ideas of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, this paper develops quantifications that extend this previous work by being exact for finite model order in all of the AR, MA, and ARMA system cases. These quantifications, via their explicit dependence on poles and zeros of the underlying spectral factor, reveal certain fundamental aspects of the accuracy achievable by spectral estimates of ARMA processes.