Kernel selection in linear system identification part II: A classical perspective

In this companion paper, the choice of kernels for estimating the impulse response of linear stable systems is considered from a classical, “frequentist”, point of view. The kernel determines the regularization matrix in a regularized least squares estimate of an FIR model. The quality is assessed from a mean square error (MSE) perspective, and measures and algorithms for optimizing the MSE are discussed. The ideas are tested on the same data bank as used in Part I of the companion papers. The resulting findings and conclusions in the two papers are very similar despite the different perspectives.