Intersample assumptionsAll the data processing in this article starts from discrete-time measurements u(kT s ), y(kT s ), sampled at a sampling frequency f s = 1/T s . No information is available how the continuous-time signals u(t), y(t) vary in between the measured samples. For that reason assumptions are needed, and the measurement setup should match the intersample assumption well. The two most popular intersample assumptions [16], [33] are shown in Figure 2: the zero-order-hold (ZOH) and the band-limited assumption (BL). A detailed discussion of both intersample assumptions (the facts and their appreciation) is given in Sections 13.2 and 13.3 of [16].
ZOH setupThe ZOH setup puts a condition on the excitation that is assumed to remain constant in between the samples. In this setup, the IR/FRF are estimated between the discrete-time reference signal in the memory of the generator, and the sampled output. The intersample behavior and the actuator characteristic are an intrinsic part of the model: if the intersample behavior changes, also the corresponding model will change. The ZOH-assumption is very popular in digital control. In that case the sampling frequency f s is commonly chosen 10 times larger than the frequency band of interest. A discrete-time model gives an exact description of the continuous-time system.