Steven M. Kay: “Modern Spectral Estimation – Theory and Applications”,p. 62 exercise 3.13
Author: Panagiotis 
23
Feb
 
 In 
[1, p. 62 exercise 3.13] it is requested to prove that the PSD of a real WSS random process is a real even function of frequency. 
Solution:
The PSD of a WSS process is given by the Fourier transform of its autocorrelation function: 
 We note that for a real process 
![x[n]](https://lysario.de/wp-content/cache/tex_d3baaa3204e2a03ef9528a7d631a4806.png)
, 
![r_{xx}[k]](https://lysario.de/wp-content/cache/tex_86d1714abfafbac31f80e60727d3add6.png)
 will be also real thus we obtain the relations: 
 
 First let us prove that for a real WSS  this function is even. Having the previous relations in mind: 
Let 

 then 
Thus we have shown that the PSD is symmetric 

. The next step is to show that the PSD is also real. We know that the real part of a complex function is given as one half of the sum of the complex function with its complex conjugate form, that is 

. Let’s determine the complex conjugate of the PSD: 
Again relation (
2) was used in order to obtain the last result. The real part of the PSD is thus given by 
because of (
4).
So the real part of the PSD 

 is the PSD itself, or stating it in another way: the PSD of a WSS process is real. Thus together with (
3) we have shown that the PSD of a real WSS random process is a real even function of frequency. QED. 
 [1] Steven M. Kay: “Modern Spectral Estimation – Theory and Applications”, Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13-598582-X.
 
 
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