Estimating instantaneous frequency based on phase derivative and linear canonical transform with optimised computational speed

We introduce a new instantaneous frequency (IF) estimator investigating the resulting process of the IF estimation within the framework of the signal's phase derivative and the linear canonical transform. We define a quantitative performance index for computational speed to show that the new estimator can outperform others within that framework in optimising computational speed (minimising the performance index). The authors investigate the relationship between the new estimator and the previous one proposed by Li et al ., and also compare their estimation accuracy and computational speed. The authors further verify the theoretical analyses by applying the new and Li's estimators to capture the IF of some linear and non‐linear frequency‐modulated signals.