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Autocorrelation is a mathematical tool used frequently in signal processing for analysing functions or series of values, such as time domain signals. Informally, it is a measure of how well a signal matches a time-shifted version of itself, as a function of the amount of time shift. More precisely, it is the cross-correlation of a signal with itself. Autocorrelation is useful for finding repeating patterns in a signal, such as determining the presence of a periodic signal which has been buried under noise, or identifying the missing fundamental frequency in a signal implied by its harmonic frequencies.