Cross-correlation - Time Delay Analysis

Time Delay Analysis

Cross-correlations are useful for determining the time delay between two signals, e.g. for determining time delays for the propagation of acoustic signals across a microphone array. After calculating the cross-correlation between the two signals, the maximum (or minimum if the signals are negatively correlated) of the cross-correlation function indicates the point in time where the signals are best aligned, i.e. the time delay between the two signals is determined by the argument of the maximum, or arg max of the cross-correlation, as in