ln~rurrd Ph\\,c\ Vol 21. pp 261 10 270.

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Printed m Great Bnlam. All rlghls rcscrwd

HIGH RESOLUTION FOURIER TRANSFORM

SPECTROSCOPY WITH PHASE CORRECTION
IN REAL TIME

c. R. hJCHER
Mathematical Analysis Division. European Space Agency. ESTEC. Noordwijk. Holland

and
D. A. NAYLOR
AstronomyDivision. Space Science Department. European Space Agency, Noordwijk. Holland

(Received 3 February 1981)

Abatrrct-The principle of phase correction in Fourier spectroscopy is reviewed and it is shown

how this process can be modified to allow the use of an efficient fast cosine Fourier transform
algorithm to give effectively real time analysis. The implementation of this method on an HP
21MX-E minicomputer is discussed and results are presented for infrared astrophysical research
application.

1. INTRODUCTION

One of the goals of Fourier spectroscopists has been to compute the Fourier transform of
the measured interferogram function at high resolution and in real time, using minicom-
puters. This paper presents a method for computing the Fourier transform of up to 2**16
floating-point (FP) data points in a single-sided interferogram, with phase correction and
in real time. (The maximum transform size was limited to this value for practical pur-
poses and is not intrinsic to the computation technique.)
In Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS) the spectral distribution is given by the
discrete Fourier transform (DFf) of the sampled interferogram. The interferogram is
necessarily real and in the case of an ideal interferometer is an even function of the
optical path differe.nce between the interfering beams.“) In practical FTS phase errors
due to optical, electronic or sampling effects are often unavoidably introduced into the
interferogram causing it to become asymmetric. (‘) The correction of these phase errors is
standard practice in FTS and results in a symmetric interferogram which can be Fourier
transformed using efficient methods developed for computing the DFf of real and sym-
metric data.(3*4*5)
The method presented in this paper for computing the phase corrected spectrum of a
large single-sided interferogram is based on a new algorithm for the computation of the
cosine Fourier transform developed by Makhoul. w This algorithm requires that the
input data have a well defined symmetry which, it is shown here, can be produced by a
slight modification of the phase correction function.“’ This method was found to be
more efficient than the methods referred to above and can readily be used in a wide
range of Fourier transform applications.
The impetus for this work was provided by the need to gain real time feedback on
infrared astrophysical measurements obtained with a balloon-borne Fourier spec-
trometer”) and thereby to make optimal use of the limited available observing time. In
order to detect infrared astrophysical emission lines which are in general much weaker
than atmospheric emission lines and are often close neighbours, it is necessary to study
the phase corrected spectrum at high resolution.
Using the method described in this paper a real time analysis software employing a
disc-based FFT has been developed on an HP 21MX-E minicomputer. This software was
used to compute the phase corrected spectrum of a 2**16 FP data points interferogram
obtained with a far-infrared Michelson interferometer”) which had a sampling Nyquist
frequency of 100 Hz.
261
 262 C. R. BOUCHER and D. A. NAYLOR

2. THEORY

2. I Phase correction
In FTS the measured interferogram function is in general asymmetric and is given by
1
I’(x) = B(a) exp[i&(a)] exp(i2lrox) da (1)
s --I
where x is the optical path difference between the interfering beams in the interferometer,
rr is the wavenumber and B(o) is the spectral distribution of the incident radiation, and
+((a) is a wavenumber dependent phase error term. (*’ The asymmetric interferogram I’(x)
can be phase corrected using the convolution method”) to give a symmetric interfero-
gram, I(x). In this method I’(x) is convolved with the correction function F(x) defined as

s
3

F(x) = exp - [i&a)] exp(i2lcox) da (2)

-I
where the phase error, #(c~),which is in general a slowly varying function of wavenumber,
has previously been determined from a short double-sided portion of the interfero-
gram. (l’ The resulting interferogram. I(x), given by
.I
I(x) = I’(x)*F(.u) = B(a) exp( i2rrax) da (3)
J --I
possesses truly even symmetry about the point chosen for the determination of the phase
error.

2.2 Fourier transform

In practice the measured interferogram is sampled at discrete increments of optical
path difference over a finite maximum optical path, and the continuous Fourier trans-
form of equation (3) is approximated by the DFT. The spectral distribution is then given
by
ZN-I
z I(kAx)exp-
k :O

where Ax is the sampling interval, 2N is the total number of samples in the periodic
function Z(x), and k and n are integer variables. Equation (4) represents the discrete
complex Fourier transform of the interferogram function and is often solved using the
fast Fourier transform algorithm (FFT) developed by Cooley and Tukey.‘g’
In the case of an ideal interferometer the interferogram is truly symmetric and is
defined by:
I(k Ax) = I[(ZN - k)Ax] k = 0.1.. . . , N - 1 (9
with two unique samples. I(0) and I(N). Cooley et al. (‘) have developed an algorithm
which exploits this type of symmetry. Their algorithm is based around a standard
Cooley-Tukey algorithm (g) but requires a large amount of pre- and postprocessing. and
for this reason has not found wide usage on minicomputers.
A more efficient algorithm for computing the DFT of truly symmetric data has been
presented by Ziegler. (4’ However. this algorithm outputs the transform values in non-
ascending order and the reordering which is necessary to retrieve the spectral infor-
mation reduces the potential gain. especially for large size disc-based Fourier transforms.

2.3 New phase correction-Fourier transform method

The method we present below for computing the Fourier transform of real symmetric
valued data is based upon an algorithm for computing the fast, cosine Fourier transform
which has recently appeared in the literature. (” The starting point of this algorithm is
 High resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy 263

that the input data should have even extension symmetry defined by:

I(k A x) = I[(2N - k - l)Ax] k = 0, 1,. . . , N - 1 (6)

It was realised that the desired symmetry, could be produced by a slight modification of
the phase correction method described above.
The standard phase correction method, which can be summarized by equations (1) to
(3) adjusts the phase of each frequency component of the interferogram to the point
chosen for the phase determination which then becomes the point of stationary and zero
phase (i.e. the point about which the corrected interferogram is truly symmetric). The
even extension representation of the interferogram can be obtained by shifting the cor-
rected interferogram by an amount which is equal to half the sampling interval. From the
shift theorem in Fourier analysis (‘I) this can be accomplished by adding to the phase
term in equation (2) a linear phase term of the form
C#)‘(a)= 2nae
where E is equal to half the sample interval, AX/~. The new correction function then
becomes
I
G(x) = exp - i[&(a) - ~#‘(a)]exp(i2nax) da (7)
I -7
When G(x) is convolved with I’(x) the resulting interferogram possesses even
extension symmetry as defined by equation (6) and allows the use of the fast cosine
transform which is summarised below.
The spectral distribution B(n)0 I n I N - 1 is related to the interferogram by
equation (4) which can be written
2N- I

B(n) = & l(k) WZ: (8)

where

and the index scale values have been dropped for clarity. Let I(k) be the 2N-point even
extension representation of the interferogram defined by equation (6) and let u(k) and h(k)
be the two N-point sequences defined by

a(k) = 1(2k)

b(k) = 1(2k + 1) k=O,l,...,N-1 (9)

substitution of equation (9) into equation (8) leads to
N-l N-l
B(n) = 2 u(k) Wigk + x b(k) Wji”+ “” (10)
k=O k=O

a(k) and b(k) are related by equation (6)

a(k) = b(N - k - 1) k = 0, 1, . . . , N - 1 (11)

Finally, substituting equation (11) into equation (10) and rearranging terms it can be
shown that

1
N-l
B(n) = 2Re KN ,zo a(k)W$ (12)

The result is that the spectral distribution can be computed from an N-point DFT
(equation 12) instead of a ZN-point DFT (equation 8). Following Makhoul’6’ the main
264 C. R. BOUCHERand D. A. NAYLOR

steps in the computation are as follows:

(1) from the sequence a(&),which is related to the even extension interferogram I(k) by

1(2/i) k =O,l, . . ..NG

u(k) = (13)
I(2N - 2k - 1) k=N+’
- , . . . . N-l
2
(2) compute A(n) the N-point DFT of a(k);
(3) compute B(n) from equation (12). It is not necessary to compute the real part of the
complex multiplication of A(n) and 2W”,, over the range 0 I n I N - 1. Since A(n) is
Hermitian symmetric it can easily be shown (6) that the real part of the complex multipli-
cation is B(n) and the negative of the imaginary part is B(N - n), where n lies in the
range 0 I n I N/2 - 1, and therefore only N/2 complex multiplications are required.
[Note: In the computation of the DFT of a(k) using the FFT algorithm”’ since A(0) is
real and A(N/2) is imaginary they are usually combined in the complex number A(0).
&N/2) is then given by , 2 multiplied by the imaginary part of A(O).]

3. COMPUTATIONAL ASPECTS

3.1 Development of a disc based FFT

The computation of the Fourier transform of a large number of input data points
using a minicomputer necessitated the development of a disc-based FFT algorithm. We
chose as our starting point the method described by Singleton.“” This method required
two disc files-one input, one output--each equal in length to the number of input data
points, in order to keep the correct index order throughout the FFT thus preventing bit
reversal reordering which would have been impracticable for a disc-based FFT. After
each pass through the FFT the usage of the two files was reversed.
(a) The first improvement was to use the same file as both input and output. Once an
input data record was loaded from the disc into memory these data were not required
further and the same disc space could be used to store the result of the computation. This
method required two tables which contained the physical disc addresses of data records
for the input and output files. (For the FFT of 2**16 FP data points the required table
space is 128 words).
(b) We exploited the fact that the input data are real by using the algorithm described
by Brigham Cl” for computing the Fourier transform of 2 N real samples with an N-point
complex transform. With this improvement the required file size and the computational
time were halved.
(c) The last improvement used the method described in this paper to exploit the
symmetry properties of the interferogram. By modifying the standard phase correction
process we were able to use an efficient algorithm for computing the fast cosine Fourier
transform.@)
The result is an FFT for real and symmetric data which is four times faster and
requires eight times less disc space than the original method.“‘)

3.2. Application to infrared astrophysical research

A description of the ESTEC-UCL balloon-borne Michelson interferometer used in
infrared astrophysical research is given elsewhere. (‘) An HP ZlMX-E computer is used to
control the interferometer. Digital commands are transmitted to the balloon-borne ex-
periment, and data, in the form of interferograms and housekeeping, are telemetered to
the ground station where they are recorded onto digital magnetic tape. all under the
control of the computer.
A secondary task for the computer, and one which has significant importance in the
optimal use of the limited available observing time, is the computation of high resolution
 High resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy 265

COYPUTE FFT OF DOUBLE-

SIDED INTERFEROGRAM;
CGMPUTBPEASE 8(u);
FORM G (x) USING TABLE
OF SMRRD COEFFICIENTS

PERFORM CONVOLUTION
I’(x)W(x) ON NUMBER
OF BLOCKS OF RAW DATA
ALREADY RECEIVED

APPLY DISC-BASED
FAST COSINE TRANSFQRM

Fig. I. Flow chart of real time processing.

spectra in real time. The existing analysis routines had been capable of computing the
power spectrum of 2** 11 integer data points in a double-sided interferogram in real time.
Although the computation of the power spectrum removed the need for phase correction,
the spectral resolution was limited by the double-sided travel of the interferometer. This
resolution was sufficient to check the instrumental performance but gave little infor-
mation on the astrophysical measurement.
Based on the method described in this paper we have developed a real time analysis
software to compute the phase corrected spectrum of up to 2**16 FP data points in a
single-sided interferogram obtained with the ESTEC-UCL interferometer. For real time
operation it was sufficient to analyse only those interferograms which were measured
with increasing optical retardation. This had the advantage of allowing us to perform a
running convolution as soon as data was received.
The three main steps in the real time processing are described below and outlined in
the flow chart shown in Fig. 1.
(a) Computation of the convolutionfunction. As the computer receives the data tele-
metred from the balloon, it checks to see if the characteristic zero path difference (ZPD)
signature of the interferogram has been detected. The phase error, #((ok is computed from
266 C. R. b4JCHER and D. A. NAYLOR

Table I

Number of data points in Time (SW) to produce

single-sided interferogram phase corrected spectrum

2K 2.4
4K 5.6
8K 11.5
16K 23.6
32K 48.0
64K loo.3

the FFT of a short double-sided interferogram as soon as enough points”‘) (typically 64)
have been recorded on both sides of the ZPD position. The modified convolution func-
tion (equation 7) is generated by introducing a phase shift into each component of the
phase error and is equivalent to multiplying each exp-(i&Aa)) term by a coefficient.
Furthermore since these coefficients depend only on the length of the short double-sided
interferogram they can be computed beforehand and stored in a table. Finally the modi-
fied convolution function, G(x) (equation 7), is apodised to avoid the production of
spurious ripples in the final output spectrum.‘12)
(b) Perform the conuolution. Once the convolution function has been computed it is
convolved with the input data. Since the convolution is done by blocks of 512 FP data
points, care must be taken to ensure that enough data has been received before the next
block is convolved. The time taken to perform the convolution depends on the length of
the convolution function, G(x), and on the total number of points in the interferogram.
The latter is fixed, however the length of G(x) can be adjusted by a suitable choice of the
apodising function in part (a). In this way it is possible to optimise the length of G(x) so
that in the operating mode the running convolution lags only slightly behind the recep
tion of data. Therefore it is possible to start computing the Fourier transform of the
phase corrected interferogram soon after the last block of data has been received.
(c) Compute the FFT As soon as the requested number of points have been convolved
with the correction function, the disc based FFT is applied. The computation of the
Fourier transform of the real, even extension symmetric interferogram has been outlined
in steps l-3 above. Summarising, the sequence u(k) (equation 13) is formed by taking the
even points of I(n) in order followed by the odd points of Z(n) in reverse order; the DFT
of a(k) is computed using the efficient FFf algorithm for real input data;‘12’ the final step
involves the complex multiplication of A(n) by 2 exp(inn/2N) where n ranges from 0 to
N/2. Since the values of exp-(inn/2N) are identical to those required by the real FFT and

w 100.0

;r"
% 0.0

&
2 -100.0
kz
f -200.0

-300.0

-32 -24 -16 -8 0 8 16 2L

SAMPLE NUMBER

Fig. 2. Raw interferogram.

 High resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy 267

100.0

c! 00
$
d
t-
z -100 0
a

.,,OL_J___ 1
-32 -24 -16 -8 0 8 16 2L -
SAMPLE NUMBER
Fig. 3. Correction function to create truly symmetric interferogram.

are in the same ascending order, they are computed using the same algorith and therefore
the final step can be looked upon as an extra pass of the real FFT.

RESULTS
Based on the method described in this paper an assembler real time analysis software
has been written for an HP 21MX-E computer. Emphasis was placed on achieving a fast
programme with high accuracy. The length of the FFT programme including all tables
and a 3K word data buffer was about 4.5K words (16 bits/word). To achieve the desired
accuracy an efficient sub-routine was written to compute sine and cosine values using a
small table of 32 sine and cosine values. The accuracy real&d with this subroutine leads
to an rms error of less than 10e5 for the Fourier transform of 2**16 FP data points in a
single-sided interferogram. The total execution time for the disc based FIT on an HP

L
-32 -2L -16 -8 0 8 16 2L
SAMPLE NUMBER
Fig. 4. Truly symmetric intcrfcrogram.
2611 C. R. BOUCH~ and D. A. NAYLOU

w 0.0
a
3

& -1cxl.o

z
m
s -200.0

-32 -2L -16 -6 ?J"MBEi 16 2L

SAMPLE
Fig. 5. Correction function to create even extension interferogram.

ZlMX-E computer, without floating-point processor, is shown in Table 1 as a function of

the number of input data points.
A graphical illustration of the comparison between the processing of a real, inherently
symmetrical interferogram using the standard convolution phase correction method”’
and the method described in this paper is given in Figs 2-8.
A short section of a typical interferogram of ihe Orion nebula measured over the
wavelength range 40-100 m is shown in Fig. 2.1 he standard phase correction function
F(x) (equation 2) for this interferogram, is shown in Fig. 3 and the result of the convolu-
tion is the truly symmetric interferogram (equation 5) shown in Fig. 4. The modified
phase correction function G(x) (equation 7) for the same interferogram is shown in Fig. 5
and the result of the convolution is the even extension symmetric interferogram (equation
6) shown in Fig. 6.

l.Oy

-32 -2.5 -16 -6 0 6 16 2f.

SAMPLE NUMBER
Fig. 6. Even extension interferogram.
 High resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy 269

2.00

1.00

0 00
8
2
2 -100

-2 00

-3 00 , I I I I I I I I I I
1700 1710 172.0 173.0 17L.O 1750 176.0 1770 1780 179.0 l80.0

Fig. 7. Comparison of the two.processes. Upper trace shows the result of processing the truly
symmetric interferogram. lower trace (shifted by A = 1) shows the result of processing the
even extension interferogram.

.03,
I

.Ol-
x
2 o.oo-
?
a -.Ol-

5 -02-

-.03/.l
1700 171.0 1720 1730 174.0 175.0 176.0 1770 178.0 179.0 180.0
WAVENUMBER I CM-l 1
Fig. 8. Difference between the two processes shown in Fig. 7.

The truly symmetric interferogram was Fourier transformed using the efficient form of
the FFT algorithm for real data”‘) and the even extension interferogram was Fourier
transformed using the fast cosine transform@’ outhned above. A part of the resulting
spectra which included an unresolved water vapour doublet and covers the spectral
range of the astrophysically important NIII fine structure line at 174.4 cm-’ is repro-
duced in Fig. 7. The difference between the two spectra is shown in Fig. 8. There is seen
to be excellent agreement between the two spectra including both stronger lines and the
unresolved doublet. The residual noise approaches that expected from considerations of
the computational accuracy of the two transforms.

CONCLUSION
We have presented a method for computing the Fourier transform of a large single-
sided interferogram, with phase correction and in real time. Although the execution time
and accuracy are machine dependent we found our results to be superior to those quoted
by other authors. In common with other methods,‘3*4*5) we exploit the fact that the
interferogram is real and inherently symmetric. The novelty lies in the modification of the
necessary phase correction function which enables the use of the fast cosine Fourier
transform.@’ This method was successfully used to produce high resolution, phase cor-
270 C. R. BWCHER and D. A. NAYL~~

rected, real time spectra during the October 1980 campaign of the ESTEC-UCL balloon
borne experiment.
The increased efficiency offered by the method described in this paper can be realised
in other areas of Fourier transform applications where the input data is real and inher-
ently symmetric.

Acknorvledgemenrs-The authors acknowledge useful discussions with Dr R. J. Emery, and the support of Dr B.
Fitton. D. A. N. holds a research fellowship with the European Space Agency.

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