Hybrid and polarity-coincidence correlation processing

Two simple definitions of correlation processors, based on hard limiting in one or both channels, yielding a hybrid and a polarity-coincidence correlation function, are analyzed theoretically. Several practically useful correlation schematics are proposed. In some of them, linearization by means of additional noise in the one-bit channel(s) is used. Errors due to random fluctuations and residual nonlinearity are estimated. If the linearization noise level is optimized, the total error is inversely proportional to the n-th power of the number of signal samples used in averaging, where n=1/2, 1/3, or 1/4, in the case that the linearization is performed in 0, 1, or 2 channels, respectively.