# A second-order generalization of TC and DC kernels

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.09562 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.09562/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 20 Sep 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Bayes and Biased Estimators Without Hyper-parameter Estimation: Comparable Performance to the Empirical-Bayes-Based Regularized Estimator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.11854/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Kernel-based methods have been successfully introduced in system identification to estimate the impulse response of a linear system. Adopting the Bayesian viewpoint, the impulse response is modeled as a zero mean Gaussian process whose covariance function (kernel) is estimated from the data. The most popular kernels used in system identification are the tuned-correlated (TC), the diagonal-correlated (DC) and the stable spline (SS) kernel. TC and DC kernels admit a closed form factorization of the inverse. The SS kernel induces more smoothness than TC and DC on the estimated impulse response, however, the aforementioned property does not hold in this case. In this paper we propose a second-order extension of the TC and DC kernel which induces more smoothness than TC and DC, respectively, on the impulse response and a generalized-correlated kernel which incorporates the TC and DC kernels and their second order extensions. Moreover, these generalizations admit a closed form factorization of the inverse and thus they allow to design efficient algorithms for the search of the optimal kernel hyperparameters. We also show how to use this idea to develop higher oder extensions. Interestingly, these new kernels belong to the family of the so called exponentially convex local stationary kernels: such a property allows to immediately analyze the frequency properties induced on the estimated impulse response by these kernels.